#GraduateStory | Wendy Hao: Passion Held Close, a Journey Rich with Growth

Part 01

Discovering an Interest in Business

When I was young, my family noticed how much I enjoyed managing money. From primary school onward, my parents encouraged me to plan my spending. Each year, I carefully budgeted the money I received for the Lunar New Year, working out how to make the most of it over the coming months. As I grew older, my interest in money and habit of planning continued, giving me an early indication of what I might want to study.

In middle school, I began reading entrepreneurs' stories online. I admired their perseverance through the difficulties of starting a business and their decisiveness at crucial moments. I also envied their access to resources that could help them realize their ideas. By high school, that early interest led me to choose business as my intended field, even though I had little formal knowledge of economics or business.

At the time, I barely understood what studying business involved or why I wanted to pursue it. I simply knew it interested me and that I wanted to explore it. BAID gave me the opportunity and confidence to do so.

Part 02

Finding a Clearer Purpose

I began looking for opportunities at BAID while continuing to follow people's life stories online. Accounts of people struggling to make ends meet saddened me. Gradually, I understood how widespread those difficulties were.

BAID encouraged me to take action. I wanted to engage directly with practical problems, however small my first steps might be. By chance, I noticed that some of the accessibility ramps around me had unsuitable gradients or designs that made them difficult for wheelchair users to use.

When the school launched an MFP project focused on the SDGs, I immediately chose accessibility ramps as my research topic. With teachers' guidance, I reviewed literature and gathered firsthand data through site visits. I considered costs and frequency of use, along with management incentives, to analyze the problems and propose improvements.



The research helped me understand how apparently avoidable problems can arise from tensions between resource investment and practical constraints. My childhood enthusiasm for budgeting now had a clearer purpose. I wanted to study business to understand how resources are created and allocated, and find more effective ways to make limited resources achieve greater value.

I began to see how business could serve society alongside generating individual profit. Having once budgeted for my own small goals, I now wanted to help a wider community plan more effectively. That purpose gave me a clearer direction.

Part 03

From Self-Doubt to Self-Acceptance

Application season was painful and valuable. It required me to examine myself more closely than I had before.

I struggled to express my experiences and thoughts in writing, which made application essays particularly difficult. I felt I had much to say but could rarely find precise words for it. I often sat at my computer, wrote a few lines, and deleted them, repeating the process until I closed my laptop in frustration and doubted myself.

BAID's teachers supported me throughout. My College Counselor, Ms. Tan Ling, and economics teacher, Ms. Liang Xiao, along with my subject teachers, patiently helped me review my experiences and clarify my thinking. With their encouragement, I completed what had seemed an overwhelming task.

The process also gave me an opportunity to know myself better. Before I could explain who I was to admissions officers, I needed to consider the question myself. I wondered whether my judgments about myself were accurate and how other people saw me.

After two weeks of reflection, I began with what I had actually done. I listed my high school activities and research, together with my reflections, and chose representative experiences for my essays. I described what I had thought and done, and what I had learned. By the end, I was still discovering who I was. I realized that admissions officers could get to know me through my essays, while the process had already helped me understand and accept myself more fully.

My most memorable moment came one evening in mid-February. I was on vacation with my family, enjoying a rare break from applications, when I received an offer from CUHK. It was an unexpected surprise and an acknowledgment that meant a great deal to me.

Seeing my work rewarded felt wonderful. I also felt a profound relief from the self-doubt I had carried for so long and a renewed sense of my own worth. I learned to believe in myself. The psychological idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy suggests that belief in success can influence our thoughts and behavior in ways that help us pursue it. That greater self-acceptance was the most valuable thing I gained from application season.

Part 04

Learning to Speak with Confidence

I changed in so many ways during high school that choosing the greatest change is difficult. The most tangible was becoming more willing to present myself. These years gave me frequent opportunities to give presentations and speak before an audience.



In Grade 10, even introducing myself at the front of the class made my voice shake and my palms sweat. I hesitated to look at my classmates. Now, I still feel nervous before unfamiliar judges or when defending a complex research project, but I can present my ideas and findings clearly, with greater composure and confidence. That change developed through repeated opportunities at BAID, teachers' encouragement, and classmates' acceptance. Gradually, I learned to speak up.





Many memories from high school still feel recent, especially time spent with friends. We worked late in the library and stayed up preparing activities, and shared our happiness and disappointments. Their friendship gave me wonderful memories and taught me to value companionship and sharing.

Part 05

Advice for Younger Students

My development at BAID depended on the school's opportunities and my teachers' guidance, together with my friends' support. If I could repeat high school, I would plan my activities more carefully and pursue more research to make fuller use of those opportunities. I would also offer younger students this advice:

Choose courses that suit your abilities and allow you to do good work. Genuine interest and sustained engagement help you gain more from a course. Activities such as Beijing Culture Exploration Program and Chinese Cultural Roots Exploration, along with MFP projects on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, offer opportunities to grow. Taking them seriously and producing thoughtful work can enrich your experience and strengthen your applications. Appreciate your time at school and the teachers and friends around you. Those years can give you memories you will treasure throughout life.

Part 06

Acknowledgments

Thank you to BAID for the opportunity to explore and develop. The school helped me find greater clarity and confidence, learn about myself, and care for others.

Thank you to the friends who accompanied me throughout high school. Your friendship and acceptance made these years happy and full of affection.

Thank you to Ms. Lyu Ming for writing my recommendation letter, and to every subject teacher who helped me. Your attentive teaching and guidance helped me move forward.

I am especially grateful to the two teachers who influenced me most: my economics teacher, Ms. Liang, and my College Counselor, Ms. Tan. Whenever I felt discouraged, they supported me and helped me find a direction.

Above all, I thank my mother, Ms. Du Weixin, the most important person in my life. Words can barely convey my gratitude. Your love and support gave me the courage to pursue my interests and opportunities farther from home.

May we use the confidence BAID has given us to pursue what we love and look forward to the future. May our contributions help make the world better.