My life in the EVMT family

Jasmine Lee
BSc in Environmental Management and Technology

I feel very thankful to be part of the EVMT family. EVMT, or Environmental Management and Technology, is a new program under the Interdisciplinary Program Office. Three years ago, I entered the program fuelled by a passion to learn to tackle environmental issues through new approaches, such as green business, education and environmental policies. Out of all the programs at HKUST, EVMT is probably the one that enrolls the fewest number of students a year; because of that, we were closely knit – like a family.

Some say it is hard to find true friends once you leave secondary school. I think my experience has proven this wrong, because I formed great friendships in my EVMT family. We faced challenges hand in hand. We supported each other. We shared unconditionally everything we knew and everything we had. We observed each other and helped one another improve. When any one of us felt sad or desperate, we would fill him or her with positive energy. There was always laughter in our family; with them I never felt alone.

I also benefited from the experience and knowledge of the department professors.  They have done more than merely transferring knowledge – they gave their guidance and encouragement to us whenever we needed, even when they were busy. I could tell that they had our best interest at heart and wanted us all to succeed. In this way, I really felt a strong bond between professors and students.

One very memorable piece of advice given to me is that I should be proactive and reach out. There are many opportunities out there, but as university students we still have the luxury of making mistakes. And so we must dare to try. With this in mind, I took advantage of many opportunities, such as participating in conferences, forums, workshops and case competitions.

Moving out of my comfort zone and learning from trials and errors have already proved rewarding. Together with my teammate, Keith, I won the Schneider Electric Go Green in the City 2014 – a global business case challenge with contestants from all around the world. For me, the competition has opened the door to the world of energy management and to my future career. A new chapter in my life is about to begin.