A Facilitator of Relationship
“Being admitted in 2012, I am the third cohort of S.H. Ho College graduates. I spent four and a half years in the College. Those years are very happy and fulfilling,” said Mr. Ferdinand Tsang Fuk Cheung, the current Chairperson of S.H. Ho College Alumni Association.
Fer’s participation in the College alumni association could be traced back to his College days. “I pretty enjoyed organizing and joining the College activates with my College peers. There is a home atmosphere when we lived as a family in hostels.” However, Fer was upset that this family relationship seems to cease abruptly towards graduation. “After entering the workforce, I discovered that my connection with the College is still strong. Although we already graduated, we can still maintain the relationship with the College with a new role.” This relationship can extend the deep camaraderie among alumni, as well as between the alumni and their younger fellows. This silent wish to promote the relationship promoted Fer to serve in the alumni association.
As for the visions of and expectations on the alumni association, Fer mainly has two ideas. Firstly, he believes that it plays an important role for the relationship between alumni and their alma mater. Secondly, he also thinks that it can bridge the gap among alumni. “We have grown together and experienced a lot in the College. After we start to work, we may meet different challenges and come to various life stages. During those times, I hope that we can still meet one another on a certain platform looking back on our old days, sharing our current situations and looking forward to the future.”
Graduated from the Integrated BBA (IBBA) Programme in 2017, Fer started a discovery journey of the future and himself. He described that the path “twists and turns a bit with ups and downs.” For more than a year, he worked as a part time for the College General Education Programme. During that time, he ran actively for physical exercise. The longer he took part in trail running, the more he appreciated the beauty of nature and came up with a thought to give back to nature. He established a company with two friends who share his same passion. Their company provides the service to design a trail route for participants and guides them to retrieve what they love in nature. At workplace, Fer is still a facilitator, this time for human-nature relationship and harmony.
Last summer, Fer travelled to Switzerland for 100 km trail running and gained precious experience. The event was held in the mountain area along the Alps in Switzerland. “I had been running for more than 10 hours after achieving 80 km. The sky turned dark gradually and I started to fear.” When Fer just climbed the Alps, he could still see one or two participants ahead but after a while, they were nowhere to be seen. Negative thoughts creeped in with the nightfall, the loneliness and the worry that there was still a big mountain to be overcome. “What if I get lost? Will any wild animals appear?” At that moment, all Fer wished was to get home.
“I was too worried that I needed to make a decision to pause for a second, turn off my headlamp and look up to the sky,” said Fer. He discovered that he could still see stars twinkling on the sky if paying enough attention. The lights were not bright enough for showing the road ahead but he regained his faith. Having rested for five minutes, he turned on the headlamp, started a new step for direction and completed the event. “Maybe the time is not perfect but the experience is very impressive, considering that this is my first European expedition and I was not familiar with the surroundings.”
“The university life is carefree. We need not to worry so much if compared to work life. After graduation, every step we take in life can be decisive. The burden and pressure may take us to emotional bottlenecks. Fer chooses to cope with the bottlenecks by leaving the environment he feels trapped in. He will walk into nature, then maybe run for a while or take photographs. He said, “We need companions and focus and mine is nature. If I go up on the mountain, my horizon will be wider. I can calm myself and then go back to my previous situation and start to cope with it.”
A group photograph of the current alumni association of the College.
