A lesson in education

 

Hundreds of students packed CityU's Lecture Theatre 6 to attend a seminar on education by guest speaker Professor Steven N S Cheung, formerly of the University of Hong Kong, on 26 March.

 

Organized by the Economics and Finance Department, the lecture was one of the most well attended in recent memory. Indeed, it was impossible to walk the stairs on either side of the lecture theatre, because the steps were occupied by students who couldn't find a seat.

 

"To save our time for listening to Professor Cheung's opinions on education, let's start our seminar now. Professor Cheung doesn't need to be introduced, right?" said Dr To-Ming Ho, the Associate Department Head of Economics and Finance. For those who don't know him, Professor Cheung's experience as a student is an inspiring story that begs to be heard. Professor Cheung didn't begin his tertiary education until he was 23 years old. He was a poor student, and was forced to repeat Primary 6. However, once he decided to put all his efforts into studying, he attained a 4.0 GPA throughout the 4 years of his undergraduate degree at UCLA. "Whenever I decide to commit to something, I need a result," Professor Cheung said.

 

To be a successful student, he added, it is important to grab the chance to discuss issues with good teachers. When he was a student, Professor Cheung never missed such an opportunity. He told the seminar that he once spent a week in the library researching the definition of unemployment, just because he wanted to discuss this issue with a famous professor who wouldn't talk with students unless they were knowledgeable about the subject.

 

"To build up a strong foundation in any subject, you need to know the important and the less-important concepts, and then focus on the important concepts," Professor Cheung said. "However, it cannot be done without the guidance of good teachers."