Photography Competition 2021

CHAU Soryaly (PhD)

Title: The EdUHK Sunshine and My PhD Journey

First of all, I would like to say big thanks to the Graduate School for bringing me to the EdUHK and giving me a great chance to share my unforgettable memory within the first few days of my PhD journey. It was 6:30 am from the dorm JCSQ that the shot included here. I arrived here at the beginning of December 2020, and of course, I faced unique challenges like other international students, especially in the very cold weather of the 2020-winter season. I was struggling with it because I could not concentrate on my study. Even my body felt very exhausted and was covered by numerous blankets for several days. But after that I tried to move out and do a little exercise in the early morning, then I became better. I prefer seeking for appropriate solutions to deal with challenges as I believe that every day is a good day. I am the happiest person in the world when being here, really lucky to meet with great supervisors who are always dedicated and kind, meeting with different mates in the world. The sunshine still rises every early morning, and we all members at the EdUHK, have to work hard but enjoy our life.

LIU Ziying (EdD)

Title: In the name of the classmate

In the summer of 2019, the whole class of our doctoral class had a very fulfilling and enjoyable learning journey at the Education University of Hong Kong. We are very grateful to EdUHK for letting us meet each other, also very grateful for the time and energy that Prof. Lo has contributed to us. Our classmates all come from different places and have their research interests. It is an honour to be able to communicate and grow with them in the learning journey. By participating in courses specially set for us by experts from different fields, we not only broaden our horizons but also consolidated our academic research foundation. Apart from studying, our classmates often shop and cook together. Classmates from different places will cook their local delicacies and share them with us. This is not only the sharing of food but also the sharing of culture. After spending a period of time together, we have forged a deep friendship with each other. In the study journey at EdUHK, in addition to many academic supervisors and friendly students, we were moved by the open, inclusive, and innovative academic atmosphere of the university. I am grateful for having this experience of studying, I firmly believe that this will be a time worth remembering in our lifetime.

WANG Yifei (EdD)

Title: Light Chaser

This is a picture of the first ray of sunshine entering the campus, facing the sea, shining brightly. A year’s plan starts with spring. A day’s plan starts in the morning. Covet not a gold-threaded robe, Cherish only your young days! The desire for knowledge is like our desire to pursue the earliest light of the morning every night. For every doctoral student, loneliness is often perceived as the norm, always looking for the glimmer by ourselves. Without a doubt, we are the light chasers. The pandemic has dragged on for one and a half years, affecting different aspects of our life and work. During the period, I am unable to see my dearest friends and families, studying and working in Hong Kong by myself. Although facing various difficulties and challenges, we should look for the glimmer in the dark. Because in the future, you will be grateful for every day that was in through. You will cherish the fall when you have gone through it.

CHIA Hui Min (PhD)

Title: The quad at my workspace

In EDUHK, the new experience for me is the learning and teaching conducted online. A desktop and a laptop are no longer sufficient to deal with the virtual era. Both of them have to work simultaneously as a dual-screen to improve efficiency. So, I learnt how to connect both of them to enable me to interact with others during the online learning process. Furthermore, a good webcam that comes with a good quality speaker and effective note-taking (Ipad) is important too. This is to make sure that you are presentable and other participants can hear you clearly during your virtual presentation. Hence, the laptop, the desktop, the webcam, and the Ipad, form the quad in my workspace.

LIU Hongdou (EdD)

Title:  The Way to Success

This is the way I enter the dormitory of EdUHK every day. When I first climbed the stairs, I felt strenuous. I even needed to take a break after climbing a few steps with the feeling sweaty and exhausted. But I told myself that exercising every day can make me healthier. After a month, I can easily climb from the first floor to the fourth floor.

My journey of doing research is also like climbing stairs. When I first entered the EdD class, I felt confused and powerless. Compared with other students, I was still lack of some basic training, especially quantitative research methods. Under the correct guidance of the teachers, gradually I figured out the rules. What’s more, recently I have published four articles! I made it!

I strongly believe that the road to success is like climbing stairs. Although it is difficult at the beginning, I will be able to climb to the top despite discouragement!

SAI Htong Kham (PhD)

Title: First Light

Captured at 5:59 a.m. in the morning from my usual sky-gazing point at 706 room’s spacious balcony, it was rather unexpected that I was greeted by the first vibrant light of dawn. It was going to be a study-packed day with data to analyse and a seminar to attend. This gave me just the energy I needed for the day. Oftentimes I tend to forget to appreciate those little things that keep me going as I bury myself in my work. This is a reminder that I wake up each day with a new possibility to start fresh and finish strong. You know it isn’t easy being a [PhD] student.

SUN Xiujuan (PhD)

Title: Seizing the unseen in the PhD

This photograph was taken on 8 July 2020 at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, where the painting once was part of the ‘Hong Kong Experience • Hong Kong Experiment’ exhibition. My encounter with it was serendipitous but I captured it for a couple of reasons. One was its focus on surfacing and embracing the arresting beauty of the ordinary. Most important of all, I identified it as an ongoing testament to one critical ‘Aha Moment’ emergent in my doctoral experience. As the quote within it says, ‘Pearl in the haystack’, which in Cantonese proverbially means something is far more valuable than it appears. Feeling awestruck at the instant sight of it, I somehow came to realize that this precisely echoed the essence of launching an expedition into doctoral study. Joys and insights of doing research usually occur in many small and quotidian acts. Yet too often, they are not recognized to be something laudable or significant. In a way, the moment of photographing it marked my turn to the notion that navigating the PhD voyage is more about discovering the ‘pearl’ in day-to-day learning lives.

ZHONG Mingzhu (PhD)

Title: Palette

When I try to appreciate all the flowers, grass, trees, and even people in EdUHK, it becomes a beautiful palette.

I like the green mountains around us, and the deep blue sea.

I like the crowd in the canteens, and the quiet and peaceful library.

I like to listen to the singing voice in the music room, and the soft sound in the Pacific Coffee.

I like the butterflies dancing around the flowers, and the lovely white doves on the balcony.

I like to look at the crooked moon, and the stars all over the sky.

I like the stadiums that are still open on September nights.

The most anticipated moment for me is the evening. When the sunset cloud fades and melts into the sky, the harmonious scene seems to be like an inclusive environment: Teachers and students from different cultural backgrounds grow together in coordination, forming a colorful palette and embellishing the sky.

The colours of the palette so pretty in the sky, are also on the faces of people going by! I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do, they’re really saying I love you (References: “What a wonderful world”).

BAO Han (EdD)

Title: A peaceful corner of EDUHK campus

On a sunny afternoon, I walked around the campus with the sound of gurgling water. The warm sunshine sprinkled on my body. The winding path leads to secluded places with unique pavilions, which are full of antique flavour and close to nature. My life at the Education University of Hong Kong has added a lot to my youth. I have been studying here since 2013. I have a lot of memories of my youth in my alma mater. With the accumulation of knowledge and the drops of life, we witness each other’s growth. But the most precious thing for me is the peaceful feeling that sets me apart from the outside world here. Now the COVID-19 is raging all over the world, and the quiet years in the school are undoubtedly a paradise for teachers and students. Seeking a moment of inner peace is the best story between me and the school.

BOGUSZEWSKI Mariusz (PhD)

Title: Sunrise from JCSQ

Easter Day 2020 sunrise. It is not an extraordinary event. It is an everyday view from the window of the JCSQ room. A huge load of positive energy for the whole day. We are all somehow struggling with our dissertations but I’m sure, after all, the above view will leave unforgettable memories from the time spend in EdUHK!

BUENCONSEJO Jet UY (MPhil)

Title: Soar from the Ground

As graduate students at the Education University of Hong Kong, we were taught to soar high, to aim for our personal and professional goals, and to make significant contributions to our respective fields. While these goals are noble and commendable, we are also reminded to stay grounded in the realities of life as well as the experiences of ordinary people, who will most likely benefit from our years of research and study. This photo was taken during my first birthday in Hong Kong and I think it encapsulates the call for graduate students to aim for greatness while at the same time remaining grounded in the realities of life. As shown in the photo, the person aims for skies but remains supported by the railings, pulled by gravity on the floor. In a way, the green colour of the glass also reminds me of the lushness of our university where we are trained and developed as future professionals.

CAI Qinxi (EdD)

Title: Humanity and Nature

When talking about ‘Relaxation’ and ’Campus Life’, a tranquil paradise where I enjoy spending a while after lunch next to the Jockey dormitory comes into my mind. I’m fond of sitting quietly there, embracing the sunshine, listening to the purring sound of the water, reading a volume of poetry, or doing nothing just to sense nature. Earlier this semester, I made a new friend on campus, and I couldn’t wait to share my secret base with her. She also likes the natural feelings there and we enjoy exchanging study experiences and sharing our secrets in this peaceful garden. When I saw the photo competition event, this place popped up into my mind and I wanted to share it with more people. I tried to take lots of photos to demonstrate this place, including the whole view of the garden and close-ups of the waterwheel but I felt something was missing. Until one day, I saw my friend reading beside the pond, and I quietly pressed the shutter to capture her happy moments. That’s my favourite photo because it shows the blended feeling of men and nature and also because of our friendship.

CHENG Yaxiao (PhD)

Title: A colourful tree at EdUHK

This photograph was taken in January 2020. I call it “A colourful tree at EdUHK”. The 2020 Spring Festival was approaching, but a terrible outbreak of the Covid-19 suddenly happened in China. My hometown is near the “epicenter” at that time. I could not return home to enjoy a family reunion. My parents were working at the hospital against the virus. I was working on the assignments at the university against the gloomiest time during my study journey. One day, as usual, after supper, I went for a stroll along the road in front of the school canteen, walking back and forth many times. When the light of the day faded away, I saw a colourful tree standing in the moonlight. What a magical view! It looked like a lighthouse in the vast sea at night. Although we, as the 2019 intake doctoral students, have gone through two tough years, our study experience here is still unique. The university provides us with warm help, support, and love, just like the colourful tree gave me hope, courage, and energy during that cold winter. I wish all of us a colourful study journey at EdUHK! 

DARZHINOVA Liubov (PhD)

Title: My most cherished EdUHK photo

This photograph depicts the front building of the Education University of Hong Kong, and it is my first photo taken upon arrival at the EdUHK campus in September 2019. This photo represents more than just a building and carries profound meaning for me. It represents a significant chapter in my life: arriving in Hong Kong for a PhD study on the fellowship. It has been a bumpy road to get this opportunity, from loads of paperwork, the interview with my potential supervisor, and months of waiting for the Council’s decision to the long-awaited email notification and Skype meeting with the Dean of the Graduate School. This photo is a background picture of my office computer and personal laptop, and I am never bored of looking at it at all. 

KUCHERBAYEVA Dina (PhD)

Title: Sunrise at EdUHK

My study journey at EdUHK started in September 2019. When I first arrived in Hong Kong, I found myself in an ultra-fashionable metropolis. The city not only impressed me with its incredible number of skyscrapers and modern buildings but its order in everything: strict adherence to the queue, precise schedule of the transportation system, professionalism of workers, etc. What amazed me more was the abundance of public green spaces in Hong Kong. I did not expect to find Hong Kong such a green city! Upon my arrival in Hong Kong, I settled into a student hall on campus in Tai Po. To get concentrated on my doctoral studies, I tried to wake up early in the morning to go jogging around the campus. Once in the morning when I went outside, I watched the sunrise. I found a perfect spot on campus to see such a breathtaking view; I could not stop myself from taking multiple photos of it. The picture above is one of my favourites. When I look at it, it reminds me of the beautiful days that I spent during my first year of study in Hong Kong; the time that was full of joy and happiness.

MENDOZA Norman Biliwang (PhD)

Title: In between thesis chapters

In between thesis chapters, I walk in the EdUHK’s Central Plaza. Writing a PhD thesis is a tough task. Although a doctoral student in a 3-year PhD program has 1000 days to write a thesis, there are times when one can write 2000 words in a week but there are also times when one can’t write a single sentence in a month. This is the challenge of PhD studies. EdUHK has learning and research facilities available for us to write a PhD thesis: the library’s study carrels, learning commons, and research offices. But an underrated area in EdUHK that can also foster research and learning is the Central Plaza. Overlooking a mountain range, the Plaza is frequented by everyone in the University; from the President and his wife down to first-year students eager to go to the gym. I walk in the Plaza for writing breaks or when I find no motivation to write my thesis. Not only is it a good source of physical movement, but it also allows the mind to rest, think, and rethink. One evening, I caught the photo you are looking at. The purple and pink skies are embracing EdUHK’s façade and as if the beautiful moon is watching over the university.

QIU Yue (EdD)

Title: Colourful Outside Peaceful Inside

In August 2020, I began my doctoral journey. It is a difficult but warm period of life. At the start of the semester, my teacher told us: The difficulties of studying for a PhD may be beyond your imagination, but please remember that we are behind you always. When you want to give up, please imagine yourself wearing a PhD gown and taking graduation photos. We laughed. Pursuing an EdD is full of challenges, particularly during the pandemic. This photo was taken on my first night in Hong Kong arriving from Chengdu when the quarantine began. The time of isolation was not as painful as expected. Rather, it was a precious and quiet time for studying. During the quarantine period, I worked out the assignments, as well as my body. The support and help from my teachers and classmates also made me feel warm and calm. Although this glass blocks me away from Victoria Habour, it cannot stop my thinking and meditating. I believe that my future life will be as beautiful as the colourful sky. Tomorrow will my last day of the quarantine, I can get into my dream campus. I look forward to meeting my friends at the EdUHK and believe everything will be fine. “Believe and you will see!