Endeavour Scholarship

I am not a student of means, so the scholarship can certainly help me develop my talents.  I can use it to buy more learning supplies and books for better learning.  In terms of personal growth, it is both a pleasing recognition of my efforts, and a great impetus that drives me to keep applying myself to studies and put what I have learnt into practice.

I have encountered different challenges in my learning journey.  The most challenging one has to do with my underdeveloped fine-motor skills, which explain my slow movement and reaction.  Because of this, I am often mistaken as being unserious.  Even though I have tried my best in everything I do, no one bothers to see my hard work.

I was previously enrolled in a higher diploma programme in hotel management.  However, I came to realise that I was not particularly keen on joining the hotel industry.  I thus decided to pursue my interest upon graduation and signed up for an undergraduate film programme at the Open University.  As a second-year entrant, I had limited knowledge in cinematography, and my group project partners did not always have the patience to explain things they knew already.  So I could only rely on self-study to catch up with them.  I concentrated in every lesson and watched attentively the movies shown.  After class, I would look up movies of the same genres and keep picking the brains of friendly classmates in order to adapt more quickly to the new learning environment and curriculum.

As the awardee of the Endeavour Scholarship, I would like to share some advice with other students with special educational needs.  Instead of passing up opportunities because of physical limitations, turn your weaknesses into your strengths.  For example, if you are mobility challenged, you will probably be travelling less but have more time to spend on your study.  As the saying goes, “Everyone is good for something”.  We can all shine at what we do best.

As a Year 3 student, I am still curious and ready to make new attempts.  I love film and art creation.  The film programme has pushed the boundaries of my imagination, guided me in finding ideas and inspiration for storytelling, and developed my art appreciation ability.  It enabled me to learn a great deal about directing, acting, shooting, editing and post-production.  I also managed to complete the production of several micro-movies and create a portfolio of my photographic works.  I hope to enter the film industry to carve out a niche and work towards my goals, and by doing so, give back to society.