Mentorship, reflections, more learning-Week 5 of Summer Internship
Besides the 3-day trip to take Mom and Dad around Hong Kong, I met up with a few seniors and all of them shared great insight in their experiences and career blueprints. Only a few years apart, thy are like mentors already, guiding with insight and experience as people can go through and grow substantially in one short year-this I always believe.
Met with Jennies from HKU, and as one of our seniors said, “The best learning is from those who are 2~5 years older than you. Ask them about advice over a quick meet, and put yourself in their perspective to learn and grow.” Jennies is interning at JP Morgan asset management division, and she shared her experiences over lunch at Central. She recommended a vegan café with great ambience-dark, light music, and featuring a wide variety of healthy and delicious light food. Anyways, she shared her learning pathway and adaptation in HKU-International Case Competitions, Asset Management Challenges, CV building, exchange, and encouraged me to apply to activities proactively in the second year. Jennies shared her interview experiences on other banks besides her current internship at JP Morgan- the timeline, the application, and what they look for in your CV-might not be a certain major (Finance related will be a plus), they look for all-roundedness and if this student has endeavored to try out interesting activities-can be student initiated events/ case competitions/ job experiences etc. Jennies also asked if we can jog together, as she’d like to run a 10K road race for a start, will look out for that haha.
Also learned a lot from Lu, fellow intern at Prive who studies at Smith college in the US and exchanged in LSE last semester. Asked her about teaching styles in the UK and the US, and she gave a lot of insight in these fields. Top tier universities in the US offers a lot of great courses from famous lecturers, and you can actively listen to talks from some prize-winning scholars. Yet the small classroom experience in US colleges is extremely valuable, you learn and debate with peers, and substantial personal growth is installed. I also admire Lu’s personality in many ways-presentable, warm, and kind, approaching people with well-rounded business etiquette (For example in the IBM Cyber security conference we attended together) and sharing her traveling experiences in 北疆(among many other places) with great insight of an observant traveler.
Even though I just went to office for two days this week, I was exposed to quite a lot of new job experiences. Finished polishing Prive Alpha’s marketing pitch deck, organized interviews for candidates of the fund operations job post, and best of all classified transactions into the bank ledger and bank book, both in US dollars and Hong Kong dollars. It was a fun experience, as consolidating many financial figures that seemed to be all over the place seemed challenging at first, yet when all figures balance out to the last digit when all is done-you feel a sense of accomplishment and gratefulness. Accounting might be tedious for some people-precision and efficiency is emphasized, and there’s not a lot of room for interaction and creativity-but it is nice to explore the field-so I’ll keep on helping on the Accounting division next week.
Overheard Charles’s meeting with a female business partner. The woman had short cut hair, around 50 years of age and nicely groomed-with feminine features that blends beauty and sharpness of a businesswoman. They were in a business deal conflict, and had opposing values expressed with discontent. Both Charles and the woman were eloquent leaders, expressing strong views with force and clarity, and I admire them both. Don’t see a lot of woman leaders in the office-all management were men, but I’m learning a lot from their emotional intelligence and ways of addressing professional negotiations.
Had hotpot with other interns at Tommy’s place, first time I’ve ever stepped into the tall residential buildings that so many locals reside in. It was one of the bigger places though, still quite small in Taiwanese standards, yet it’s just a glimpse of the struggles of Hong Kong-of densely packed housing and privileges of space. After finishing our hotpot with other interns, I returned late around 12:50 p.m. at midnight as I waited for the bus-and surprisingly, bumped into 怡蓁! Must have stared at her for around 5 seconds with disbelief, and later found out she came for a joint summer program. Anyways, had the best time catching up with her-always humble, considerate, and gentle, her personality and kindness will be her biggest asset.
Lived my Sunday to the fullest with a slow pace, enjoying my breakfast, going for a midday swim, and then visiting Sai Kung and exploring it like visiting the first time. The weather was brilliant and the vibes were great, and as I walked along the pier, can’t help being in awe of how beautiful the coast and sky blended into each other in shades of blues and green. Huge fluffy clouds hung in the clear blue sky, and a feeling of sublime and peace bloomed inside me as I sat down at the bench along the pier. Sauntering with independence and energy of a self-traveler, I visited the deserted alleys and hidden shops-where afternoon sippers enjoyed the brisk afternoon, walked to the end of the pier towards the beautiful beach-where dog lovers swum along their paddling puppies, and finished my weekend grocery shopping in the traditional wet market of Sai Kung. Wonderful evening, as said, it is until you give time to yourself-reading, reflecting, slowing down, that you return fuller, more independent, and more present in life.
