Valerie Sze Ying

Admittedly, engineering was never really one of my career options. In my mind, and in the minds of the people I knew, engineering was associated with machines, buildings, factories, and plants. It sounded so daunting and technical, and no one could really explain it to me. Career tests told me that I was an investigative person, yet I could never tell what I actually wanted to do. So it wasn’t until I started applying to universities that I decided to give engineering a shot and see where it would take me.

Once I arrived at HKUST, I was surprised to find that many other people didn’t really know what engineering was either. And so I dedicated my first year of university to exploring the universe of engineering, discovering what I could do and where it could take me.

I’ve come to find out that many successful people in non-engineering fields started with an engineering degree. It made me realize that engineering lessons don’t teach you what you’re supposed to do, they teach you how to think. And as I heard from a recruiter at the HKUST Career Mosaic, “Engineering is not just a job, it is a mindset, a lifestyle.” I must say, I have to agree.