Personal Statement-Environmental Science

Two scenes stand out in my mind every day I wake up: polluted gases emitted from vehicles and stuffy air due to the pollutants flowing from mainland China to Hong Kong. The recent global environmental issues such as Bonn and Durban Climate Change Conference displayed by the media have deeply captivated my interest in studying environmental science. I believe that the importance of protecting our environment is crucial for the survival and existence of our earth. This has especially driven me to study environmental science in hopes of making a difference on our environment in order to provide a better living environment for our future generation.

During my study in HKDSE Geography at secondary school, my interest in environment has been greatly highlighted. A very special topic in my geography studies—Weather and Climate has increased my interest in studying environmental science. On this issue, I have studied the problems are faced by the earth nowadays and the causes of global warming. The balance has always been tilted towards economic growth at the expense of environmental protection. For example, countries are over depended on non-renewable energy which has led to the high consumption of fossil fuels and might be used up within 50 years. This has boosted my interests in finding different news articles, reports on how governments are going to work together to tackle the problem.
There is an old Chinese saying,” It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read thousands of books.” The study tour to Florida last summer was unforgettable, where I finally understood the meaning of this old Chinese saying. I have found travelling around the world more practical in gaining a better understanding of our earth. Through the study tour I was able to reconsider what other countries have done in order to protect their environment and what we can learn from their approaches. In addition, I was able to see what citizens in Florida have done in protecting their environment and tackling the environmental problems which we are now facing. I also attended a local school in Florida, trying to experience the school life of the Americans. Noticing how much other counties have done in educating the public a on the importance of being environmental friendly, which Hong Kong is lack of, has inspired me, successfully establishing my desire on working in the environmental industry as my future career.

At school I am a member of social science society, in which we have a lot of chances to know more about our environment. Participation in the society’s activities has aroused my awareness of the environmental issues faced by humankind. Through going to field trips, enjoying the beautiful sceneries which I had never knew about their existence, gave me great interest in exploring more about our environment. Studying about our environment is to arouse our self-motivation in protecting our environment.

A healthy body makes a healthy mind, which is why I enjoy playing sports. I love playing different kinds of sports such as swimming, tennis and boxing. Since boxing requires high energy consumptions, it keeps me physically fit for the past two years, it has also helped me to develop higher concentration and a clear and calm mind as I have to predict the next movement of my opponent constantly. I believe these skills would be highly transferable to my university study.

I am very excited at the prospect of going to University. Through personal observation from my daily life, I have come up with many questions and I am looking forward to exploring them in more depth by attending this course. Studying environmental science gives me an opportunity to broaden my horizon by interacting with different people and facing unpredictable challenge. This can help me gain problem solving skills and learn how to cooperate with others which is very important for the path that I choose to take after University.