A welcoming ceremony organised by Student Development Services of City University of Hong Kong (CityU) was held for new students on 23 August.

The theme was “Achieving Professionalism” and it was the first of a series of one-week orientation activities.

The activities encourage new students to build a solid foundation for professionalism, develop a responsible attitude and contribute to society. The key message is that university is not just a place to acquire knowledge, but is also a platform to develop independence and realise dreams.

The welcoming ceremony began with a video clip to help students understand their new environment. In the video, alumni shared their achievements and learning experience and encouraged the freshmen to broaden their horizons, set high and long-term goals and work hard to achieve their aspirations.

Professor Way Kuo, University President, welcomed the new students to the big family of CityU as they began a new chapter in their lives. For them to have a rich and colourful university experience, he urged them to make new friends, study hard, develop their social responsibilities and enhance their personal experience and professionalism.

Chan Tin-yau, President of the Students’ Union, led the new students to don CityU robes and pledge their commitment to the University. They vowed to live their CityU life to the full, dig deep for knowledge, develop critical and analytical skills, bring out their best and create a better future for themselves, their families, the community, the University, their country and all people.

Mr Robert Lui, an outstanding CityU alumnus who is now Senior Manager in Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, told the new students to build a long-term vision and start early to boost their competitive strengths for their future career.

“Where are you going to be in three years? You may think a question on career goals is too early to ask when you haven’t started your first year of study yet. But actually, it’s not too early at all. We all have different personalities, strengths and weaknesses, and we will only succeed in careers that we really like. However, we need to test our real interests and identify our career goals. This takes time, so the earlier you start searching, the sooner you’ll know the answers,” he said.

The ceremony closed with the song “City Legend”, its verses encouraging the new students to aim high and create their own stories. The song is the theme tune from City Legend, an original musical produced to celebrate CityU’s 15th anniversary.

There will be more orientation activities arranged by individual departments and units to help students integrate with the big CityU community.