MY JOURNEY
THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
THE PERKS OF ATTENDING A GALA CONFERENCE
IB WORLD STUDENT CONFERENCE
11-16 August, 2013; The University of Hong Kong
The International Baccalaureate (IB) has created a series of World Student Conferences (WSC) to bring together IB Diploma Programme (DP) students from around the world to experience what it really means to “think globally”. At these conferences students are exposed to a mix of cultures and form new friendships as they explore ways to make our world a better, more peaceful place. They also provide delegates with an exceptional opportunity to develop leadership skills and international understanding.
The IB World Student Conferences provide students with opportunities for extracurricular learning in a collaborative environment. Each conference attracts IB students between the ages of 15-17, all of who are eager to dive into rich intercultural experiences with peers and (adult) global action team leaders.
Asia’s first IB World Student Conference kicked off on August 12 (Monday) with interactive sessions and workshops conducted by industry leaders and academics some of who are HKU alumni who have successfully started their own social entrepreneurship projects.
One hundred and fifty high-school students travelled from around the globe to the University of Hong Kong (HKU) to explore how they could harness the immense variety of online tools responsibly and positively to find solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.
Three delegates Pulkit Jain, Aditya Dugar & Parvesh Chainani all from Grade 12 and IB ESS teacher K. Guru Charan Kumar from Pathways World School undertook this splendid journey. We were the only IB school from the Delhi-NCR to participate in this conference.
The delegates’ visit to Hong Kong included getting a flavour of the culture and to meet students from different social backgrounds; however, the main purpose of the visit was to explore and focus on the theme of “iResponsibility: Explore How We Engage in the Online World” and is jointly hosted by the International Baccalaureate (IB) and HKU.
Programme sessions opened on 11 August 2013 and featured inspirational speakers, including social entrepreneur Clive Lee, an NGO leader and director of more than 10 international youth organizations and a high school, who spoke on using social media to support social entrepreneurship. Clement Chung, founder of Wiseman Education, an organization that empowers learners to connect, extend and perform in the 21st century, addressed the students on the topic of “Investment Bankers vs. Artists”.
Ultimately, the range of discussions was as vast as the Pacific Ocean where we discussed substantive issues from China’s Press Freedom to Evangelization/ Online Christian Schools.
Some of the conference sessions were held at Cyberport, a creative digital community of technology and digital content tenants that has partnered with the University for this event. At Cyberport the students were involved in interactive tours of its high-tech multimedia centres and learned hands-on skills from its resident innovators.
Along with immersing themselves in a university environment, students also had a chance to discover the fast-paced, techno savvy, 24/7 metropolis of Hong Kong through a variety of activities and trips around the city.
Keeping in line with the theme, the participants engaged with each other and their guest speakers not only in the sessions, but also over various social media channels like Twitter and Instagram. Several of them were writing regular blogs to record their experience through multimedia online.
The Chief Operating Officer for the IB Schools Division, Dr Siva Kumari, attended the student conference following visits to IB schools in Hong Kong.
The five-day conference at HKU supported examination of global engagement and advancement of students’ personal Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) projects, a prerequisite to earning the IB Diploma, and an undertaking that encourages each student to forge a creative service action plan that can positively make a difference in the world.
During the conference, in between inspirational speakers and tours of the Hong Kong Cyberport, a digital community of technology and digital-content tenants meant to nurture ICT industry start-ups and entrepreneurs--students devised innovative action plans to tackle the world’s most pressing problems. Grouped in global action teams, students collaborated and strategized about how to harness the immense array of available online tools responsibly and positively to benefit communities and create innovation.
Apart from the overall discussions, the delegates also had the opportunity to go sightseeing in Hong Kong in the evenings. It enabled candidates to engage with the richness of Hong Kong’s culture and also helped all delegates to socialize and, as an effect, gain an insight into how culturally different people communicate, behave and are brought up.
From Bollywood Dance classes to African Djembe Performances, the conference was truly a culturally succulent experience and a lifetime opportunity. Not only did delegates learn from the conference, they also had to mindfully present their group project based on what they had learnt from the conference, related to the theme.
Apart from broadening the horizons of all the young minds, the conference also identified and incorporated the true essence of education: to be able to provide children with an environmentally supportive education system for the scientific reason of increasing neural activity in the brain.
The conference was truly a preciously worthwhile experience.
Day-1-In-The-Conference
After the heavy MUN workshop, off went 3 delegates to represent the school in the IB World Student Conference in Hong Kong.
The idea of the visit was not merely to experience the culture of Hong Kong or to meet students from different social backgrounds; the main purpose of the visit was to explore the prescribed theme for the conference “iResponsibility: Explore How We Engage in the Online World” and is jointly hosted by the International Baccalaureate (IB) and HKU.
The tiring first day was spent in travelling, coping with jet lag and unraveling the unexplored paradise of IB and Hong Kong through fruitful interactions with fellow delegates (IB Students) and IB Teachers.
There were many well-prepared introductory activities that enabled a highly beneficial interaction and communication. Day 1 will definitely provide a strong backbone for the rest of the conference.
Day-2-In-The-Conference
Day 2 - 12.08.2013
Another refreshing day with innumerable activities. The day commenced when all the sleepy delegates waited for the bus to go for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. There was a brief yet enthusiastic opening ceremony conducted by dedicated student organizers after breakfast.
The opening ceremony led to an introduction to our Chaperone groups. We were told to prepare an approximately 4-line catchy slogan to introduce our group, where the best introductory slogans received surprising prizes.
After the opening ceremony, we attended various awe-inspiring sessions conducted through speeches by various profound leaders such as Mr Clive Lee, social entrepreneur, Mr Clemen Chung, investment banker, and Mr Donald Chan, a highly successful businessman.
Apart from attending these sessions, we also gathered for the Global Action Team Meetings in which we discussed the sub-topics under I-Responsibility and also further shared our viewpoints and feedback related to the sessions we attended.
Not left with even a single hour of free time, the extremely zestful delegates continued to the Peak, the spot from which the entire Hong Kong city can be viewed, to spend the night. A fantastically unique day spent learning, communicating, eating, breathing and walking around the University of Hong Kong...
Day-3-In-The-Conference
The world isn't always a perfect place to live in. Today, the monsoon acted as a hindrance to our outdoor activities. Nevertheless, we enjoyed all the indoor activities even appreciated all the talks, discussions and our Cyberport visit.
The day began with the aroma of the bread and butter signifying breakfast in the student's amenities centre. Rain began to conquer the day, and hence, we were given sticky plastic raincoats to cover ourselves while proceeding to the hall for today's insightful conference sessions. All delegates discussed the most substantive issues in accordance with the theme " I-Responsibility", which includes China's press freedom, The Damage caused by Plastics and also the "Peace One Day" awareness.
The Global Action Teams further reflected on these discussions and focused on a key area for an in-depth study and analysis to prepare a creative and vital project by the end of the conference.
The delegates then visited Cyberport, a creative digital community with a cluster of technology and digital content tenants. The beauty of the office and management left all delegates puzzled.
The day still did not end. Surprisingly, the university conducted a Bollywood Dance session where a majority of the delegates participated. It wasn't much appreciated by most delegates at first. The whole scenario, however, changed as the session started; eventually, none of the delegates wanted to stop dancing! The poor instructor had to continue teaching despite his sweat and de-oxygenated limbs.
A sumptuous dinner was served in the student lounge where a brief practice session for the cultural night followed. We wished that the magnificent day would not end. A sense of optimism pervaded the minds of all delegates to pray for supportive weather and a well-prepared day tomorrow.
Day-4-In-The-Conference
Typhoon warnings were the only thing all the delegates heard of in the morning. It terrorized the day. As a result, we were all in the residences till the rainy evening. This, however, does not mean that we were sitting idle. There were the global action team meetings that kept everyone occupied.
Discussions, arguments and critical suggestions were all a part and parcel of what will lead us to the final project of the conference—making a website to create awareness on various issues that addresses the plethora of problems in an imperfect world.
The evening was enlightened by a visit to the Ocean Park, when the typhoon subsided. Delegates were delighted to see the Hong Kong paradise.
Dinner was arranged separately for every Chaperone group. Most of the group, however, walked in the Hong Kong streets to find affordable restaurants for dining. It must be mentioned that today was the day when all delegates interacted the most with each other. It was a day in which we could critically explore our cultural differences and unite with each other as brothers and sisters. Looking forward to a special tomorrow...
Day-5-In-The-Conference
Day 5 in the Hong Kong
After the dreadful typhoon, the Hong kong weather finally softened. The planned informative sessions proceeded without disturbance.
Today, we learnt the darkest mysteries of the online world that include various subjects such as, its 'transparency', 'password setting' and 'facebook dangers'. Sessions skillfully, not discouraging delegates to make use of social media, emphasizes on the importance of using it carefully, thoughtfully and mindfully.
The global cultural night, in the evening, provided a strong support for all delegates to taste and experience various cultures ranging from Indonesian, Australian to African and Fijian.
It was truly a lot of fun and this day surely satisfied the objective of exploring cultures in the conference. Tomorrow is the last day and we aren't yet ready to face the situation of paring from each other...
Day-6-In-The-Conference
Day 6 in the Hong Kong
Today was the last day of the conference. The delegates just didn't want the day to end. While conversing with other delegates, none of them wanted to be reminded that it was the last day. Breakfast was served at the student amenities centre and all delegates can be seen treasuring each and every second they had with their peers.
We, then, attended highly productive sessions by 2 of the best speakers discussing the online privacy and China's Press Freedom. Apart from these sessions, we also had the global action team meetings where we had to stress fully yet enthusiastically discuss, in our respective groups, the final projects to be presented to the entire conference.
Our final presentations were much appreciated by the judges in the closing ceremony. It was awfully sad to bid goodbye to our fellow delegates. We all went ridiculously absurd in the ferry where we last danced and sung English songs to our highest pitches for the last time together, when travelling to the Lamma Islands. The seafood dinner was served when we reached.
Vegetarian Delegates found it rather difficult to adjust with bean curds (tofu) but, food was secondary that day for what is most important is that we will be facing the emotionally dreadful situation of bidding our last goodbye's. Sincerely Hoping that the day doesn't end too soon....
We would like to thank Mr.Guru charan kumar who travelled all the way with us and guided everything about this conference an also Mr.Aravind Chalasani & Mr.Suprio Bhomick who supported all of us for this conference.
