HKU Bulletin May 2005 (Vol. 6 No. 3)

Solar Campus S tudents and staff from eight universities came to our campus in March to celebrate the Kyoto Protocol and place their handprints on a sun-shaped board, symbolizing support for renewable energy. The University was represented by staff from the Estates Office and the Office of Student Affairs, as well as academics, other staff with an interest in sustainability and students. The event was organized by Greenpeace to promote the use of solar energy and other renewable energy sources wi thin local universities. This event was one of many organized around the world to celebrate ‘Kyoto’. 15 14 STUDENTS The Key to Successful Leadership T he Young Leaders of Tomorrow Communi ty Scholarship Scheme is a popular programme that takes the University’s brightest students and nurtures them for leadership. Here one Young Leader outlines what the scheme meant to her. Valentina Wong, is studying for a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Government and Laws) degree. She received a Young Leader’s Scholarship in 2002-03 and said: “Being young and learning to be a leader are precisely the two reasons why I decided to join the Young Leaders Scholarship Scheme.” Now that she has completed the programme she considers it one of the ‘most enlightening, if not drastic changes of my life’. She has impressed her teachers and fellow students as master of ceremonies at various University functions and has travelled around Europe on exchange programmes. “During my fruitful year of exchange to the UK, I was not only intellectually inspired, I also found travelling alone an extremely rewarding experience – an achievement that could keep me talking for hours,” she said. During her nine months of exchange studies she visited Greece, Italy, Paris, Amsterdam and up to ten counties in the UK. “At the end of the academic year, I decided to spend a month in Sevi l le, Spain, pol ishing my Spanish ski l ls at a language institution,” she added. At the University of Nottingham she founded the Nottingham Exchange Students’ Society (NESS) and came to realize that being a leader means far more than the ability to mobilize. “To have the courage to initiate, commit and also have passion in whatever you think is right, is the key to successful leadership. But obviously, it is easier said than done. “I t is true to say that the Young Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship recognizes our achievements, yet it also empowers us to explore more exciting possibilities in the years to come. My next ‘exploration’ is to pursue postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics. “As the saying goes, once a young leader, always a young leader. Or rather, always a leader.”