Dennis Zhengtong

Six years ago, my parents sent me to an American high school for a better chance at getting into a top American university. However, when I graduated, I defied everyone’s expectation and chose HKUST instead. I made this decision because I was fascinated by the HKUST Info Day slogan: “One University, Infinite Possibilities”. After two years of study, I firmly believe that HKUST has stood up for its words.

As early as first year orientation, I was exposed to the myriad of possible student organizations that I could join. I ended up applying to two different robotics teams, a student arts society, and volunteering at intramural sport competitions. My university life was off to a great start...

The only problem was: I got rejected by all of them.

Of course, the possibilities at HKUST are far more than just clubs, teams, and societies. I performed well at a local programming contest in September 2019, and joined the HKUST ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Programming Team. In the same year, we traveled to Seoul, Shenzhen, and Xi’an to compete in international competitions. Representing the university on international stages is one possibility.

Another possibility lies in the chubby machines called printers. At first, I used printers to print things, just like everyone else. Then I joined an internship organized by the Information Technology Services Center last year, and I was paid to maintain the printers at student residences by adding paper, replacing toner, and fixing paper jams. This year, as intern leader, I will be training and supervising new interns on their maintenance work. At HKUST, even a printer can provide personal growth.

I have not even mentioned the research projects that resulted in a journal paper in year one summer, the four postgraduate-level courses I have taken in year two, or the hundreds of overseas exchange partners that I can choose from in the future. At HKUST, possibilities are truly infinite and only sky is the limit.