“It was the best of time, it was the worst of time”—as Charles Dickens wrote in his novel “A Tale of Two Cities”—accurately summarizes my life over the past four years in Hong Kong and New York. Political turmoil and economic uncertainty have combined to thread with our day-to-day reality so that we hardly remember what the reality really was before all these changes. My mind then wandered back to 2018, when I just started college—no virus, no economic stagnation, but an iridescent and promising era.

I joined Department of Mathematics in September 2018 as an undergrad freshman. The first-year curriculum, due to its introductory nature, was quite chill so I got enough time to explore outside of my comfort zone. I joined the CityUHK Mandarin Debating Team, where I developed a professional way of thinking and speaking. In addition, inspired by CityUHK’s “global perspective” culture, I had been traveling around: I went to Morocco for a global volunteer program held by AIESEC, where I collected food donations for a local NGO, and I also went to Nanyang Technological University in the first Summer as a summer exchange student, let alone my countless trips to Southeast Asia by exploiting budget airlines in the region. Not only did traveling give me opportunities to immerse, experience, and observe lives other than mine, but it empowered me with societal sensitivity, an incredible ability to relate to others in different circumstances.

Sophomore year was more struggling for me. I was overwhelmed with more in-depth and hardcore coursework—multivariable calculus, linear algebra, data structures, differential equations so on and so forth—as well as my application to Columbia University through CityUHK’s Joint Bachelor Degree Program. That was the time when I stood at the intersection of my future, figuring out what I truly wanted to do. During that time, Dr. Liliana Gratie helped me a lot. She let me know that application may be more vital than the study itself, and application is not restricted to the four corners of the subject per se, but out in the world. I, therefore, chose to study Math-Stat and Economy at Columbia University, wanting to explore how Math can be applied to big data and economy on a daily basis.

“But why are you currently at law school given your personal experience?” That is truly the question I am asked very frequently. My answer is “trying to fix the loophole.” I did my Data Analyst internship in TikTok in my junior summer, when I constantly interacted with big data collected from its large user base. As I repeated my daily routine as time went by, some questions regarding this data-gathering system gradually emerged—was there notice of this data being collected on the consumer side? Was there a legal licensing process involved? Could such abusive use of data give rise to potential risk or litigation on the corporation side? Can I be one of the problem-solvers to make the process safer for both user and company?—they soon became my motivations for applying to law school.

Now, I am a first-year Candidate for Juris Doctor (J.D.) at NYU School of Law. Having been equipped with relevant transferable Mathematical skills and societal sensitivity, I would like to devote myself to Intellectual Property Law and Data Privacy Law which can really benefit the public in the future when everyone will commit to their work and life mainly online. I am very glad that I (probably) found the area that intrigues me the most. Thanks to every opportunity CityUHK has provided, and everyone lending a helping hand in this process, I can finally land at the place I feel satisfied with. I am nearly finished. I feel very honored to be awarded the College Medal this year. At this very end, I would like to give some reflections on what I have experienced over the years to some of you who just started college or are struggling with introductory calculus right now. The lesson I have learned, if I did learn any, is that never stop experimenting with your life by any means and enlarging the boundary of you as a person. Like the ancient Romans said, “As is a tale, so is life. Not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.” I hope you all have a very good life, not just 4 years of college, but beautiful and meaningful decades ahead.