"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

This famous saying by Winston Churchill shall be no stranger to Aditya Verma, a BEcon&Fin student, who had shared to us his experience of participating in “The Way to Success Workshops and Mentorship Programme 2019” during his freshman year. With great enthusiasm and aspiration in the financial and journalism sectors, Aditya seized this ideal opportunity for him to interact with professionals from these sectors. 

From January to April 2019, the ten sessions of workshops enable the participants to acquire different facets of life skills for long-term success under the guidance of a professional team of top echelons from various non-government organisations, banking and legal corporations. Here, Aditya deeply realised that being successful may represent something more than skills, which is moral values. 

He recalled one session about Trust and Integrity and sought to connect the workshop content with the socio-political situation at his hometown, India. “Being from a place where bribery is often justified, I found it inspiring to hear about the challenges that my mentors had been through and how they have coped with them.” It proves that the mentorship programme is distinctive for its organic intellectual stimulation to motivate a person to live with contextual consciousness. 

"With great enthusiasm and aspiration in the financial and journalism sectors, Aditya seized this ideal opportunity for him to interact with professionals from these sectors."

“He was having trouble deciding on whether he should head a large bank in New York and stay away from his family or drop that opportunity and stay with his family. He chose the latter and said that he didn’t regret that,” said Aditya, also quoting the career navigation tips shared by his mentors: 

“Pay attention to where your mind naturally tends to. You don’t have to be any either way.” 

When asked to define success, this HKU student provided his interpretation as follows: “when a person has achieved a state of dynamic equilibrium, meaning that he moves towards his goals effortlessly and without self-doubt, that is a success.” 

The university life is probably one of the most critical periods in one’s life orienteering, it is normal for young souls to get lost on the journey. Above all, fostering a mentality to find the right track requires life-long courage, a kind of courage that deals with every different definition of, success.

Written by:
Amadeus Cheung
Year 3, Faculty of Law
March 2020