For Angela, Common Core learning has proved a meaningful eye-opener, not only adding to her knowledge and skillset from her majors but diversifying her perspective and spurring personal development. Having struggled to enjoy chemistry at secondary school, she adventurously chose to revisit the subject as part of her Common Core experience, discovering new interest in the field after being introduced to its real-world significance in areas ranging from fire safety to skincare. In other courses ranging from engineering to anthropology and communication skills, Angela became aware of the importance of study partners and groups in overcoming difficulties in understanding and completing tasks. She realized how working alongside students from diverse fields brought novel insights and synergy, and that “one plus one can be greater than two”, she said. Pivotally, she also realized through her Common Core experience that studying was not only about grades but a way to unlock self-motivation to learn, an impact she believes will be lifelong.

Man Ching looked initially to the Common Core to tackle questions about life that code could not resolve. However, what began as “casual exploration” soon transformed into a profound intellectual and personal journey, unlocking philosophy, anthropology, and cultural studies and “fundamentally reshaping how I perceive knowledge, society, and myself”. These travels have taken her from Buddhism to anthropological fieldwork on Chinese culture and society, especially traditional practices in Hong Kong. They have brought deeper insights on learning, guiding Man Ching from looking outward for answers to reflecting inward, helping redefine her values and aspirations. She has gained crucial transferable skills for excellence, including critical thinking, research rigor, complex problem-solving, and cultural awareness, complementing her technical training. Additionally, she has heightened her community and civic awareness. Man Ching is now resolved to “carry forward the interdisciplinary mindset, critical empathy, and cultural sensitivity” nurtured by the Common Core Program as an integral part of her future as an engineer and a global citizen.

As an individual who loves life, seeks multifaceted development, and is guided by a compassionate heart, Ami has found her Common Core journey has delivered significant new ways of understanding the world. Delving into arts, societal, and behavioral courses, she has amplified her appreciation of Western art and classical music and plunged into causes and solutions to gender inequality, having already observed stereotypes about women in STEM fields. In doing so, she has uncovered fascinating links between these areas and their impact. Furthermore, she has fruitfully moved beyond the “chaotic linguistic environment” of her mixed-heritage background via language courses that have enabled her to thoroughly enjoy the English language learning environment at HKUST while excelling in courses taught in Chinese. Through such varied exposure, she has also gained a greater sense of social responsibility, becoming a donor to different NGOs and planning to undertake Minors in both Humanities and Social Science to contribute to society beyond her professional skills.

To round out knowledge from his major, Chak Hin has pursued Common Core courses in architecture, smart city development, and operations management to deepen his awareness of the interdisciplinary complexities of issues and how technology, design, and responsible business can address critical urban challenges. Such courses have enhanced his overall understanding of social and environmental areas. Meanwhile, related project work has changed his view of how technology should be shaped and why inclusivity needs to be prioritized alongside efficiency after revealing the difficulties that visually impaired people face in navigating around the city. Groupwork has honed his problem-solving and interpersonal skills while casework has strengthened his analytical capabilities, which he sees as essential for his future. Now with his passion for learning fully ignited, Chak Hin has chosen to pursue a Minor in Smart City. He intends to look for internships to further his “smart” career development and is committed to broadening his outlook even after completing his Common Core requirements.

Already interested in communication, media, and sustainable urban development, Ming Kit sought out Common Core courses spanning modern Chinese poetry to smart cities to further his love of storytelling, cultural analysis, and problem-solving. He has found every course has produced experiences that changed the way he thought and built durable skills and competencies in areas such as critical evaluation of sources, research design, multimedia production, and collaboration on solution-finding. This has transformed his view of education from passive to active and motivated him to engage in additional workshops and extracurricular roles to deepen course learning. Meanwhile, internships at diverse companies demonstrated how these new capabilities translated into workplace impact. Inspired to always approach future projects with a commitment to iterative improvement and ethical reflection, he is now intent on applying the knowledge and skills gained from the Common Core courses in developing a career in strategic communications or media and continuing his diverse learning.

Recognizing the many benefits of the Common Core curriculum in expanding knowledge and horizons, Cheuk Hei has joined courses in wide-ranging areas. He has explored telecommunications policy, inspiring the addition of a second Major in Electronic Engineering; taken on board societal and ethical concerns about technology; and learned to analyze Japanese literature individually and as part of a group. These courses have taken Cheuk Hei from a “black and white” view to a more empathetic understanding of life. Among many revelatory personal insights, he has realized how technical “correctness” is not scientists’ and engineers’ only concern but consequences and impact matter too. This has encouraged him to look at issues from others’ perspective and had the happy result of bringing him to fresh academic peaks in his grades. In another unanticipated outcome, he has discovered a new drive to pursue lifelong learning while, most importantly, “Common Core courses have influenced me to become a better person in general”, he said.

Throughout Tiansheng’s four years at HKUST, he has found the Common Core Program perfectly aligned with his personal core values of academic exploration, openness to new knowledge, and the importance of interdisciplinary perspectives. In an impactful start, his initial course on well-being spurred University-wide event participation and self-directed experiential learning, kicking off entrepreneurial dreams. It also brought exposure to volunteering, which then evolved from a one-time experience into a sustained personal commitment to community service. Later, a venture into civil engineering forged the problem-first, technology-aware mindset essential for innovation, propelling on his start-up ambitions. An encounter with international law brought understanding of global systems while his introduction to electronic music – another transformative favorite – provided lasting creative confidence from zero previous musical experience. Together, he has found this voyage to have forged dynamic adaptability, a proactive passion for learning in and beyond the classroom, and directly equipped him for ongoing growth, including in “ways I had not initially imagined”, he said.