For some, this is a completely new beginning, a new year in a new city in a new university. For some it’s a merely a new semester, either returning from a long awaited journey back home or some exotic trip overseas. For others, like ResLink’s very own Gaargi Sharma, it’s a new chapter in an old journey.
It’s not always easy to start over. Some may be haunted by last semester’s mistakes, some may find it hard to adjust as their friends have either gone back to their home university or are on their way to an exchange semester overseas, some may even feel that nothing is the same as before they went away on exchange.
To different people, this “new” beginning carries very different meanings.
To first year international student Sam Lee Seung Yeob, the new semester means “the end of my transitory period from high school to university and time for me to really start attacking semester B.”
In the words of third year international student Gaargi Sharma and local student Clive Li Ka Fai, both of whom are coming back to CityU after two exchange semesters, “it’s like everything’s so familiar but nothing is the same; having to adjust to hall life all over again seems like a new experience all over again”.
For local third year student Juliana So Nga Man, the new semester marks the beginning of the end of her university life, and the beginning of her job searching mission and her new life out in the real world.
On a different note, exchange student Jordan Brooks from Canada sees this new journey as a real eye opener that has so far confirmed some old assumptions but has also proved some others to be not true.
All in all, the new semester and the new year should be seen as a chance to try hard to keep the fruits of success from previous efforts but try harder at things you didn’t manage to accomplish before. After all, what is a break if not to give you more energy to start or continue a journey? And with the Lunar New Year holidays coming in early February, there’s not much reason not to try your best in this new beginning.