Joy’s story

How Joy changed her leadership approach and broadened her networks

Joy Pamnani, Student, University of Hong Kong

“I was a participant of the University of Hong Kong - Common Purpose Leadership Development Programme this summer. This programme truly changed my life: it gave me exposure in leadership and provided opportunities to explore a new city and to meet wonderful people.

“I’ve learnt about myself as a leader and experienced different contexts in which to practice leadership. It was much easier to be a leader back in high school, because not many people were eager to take up the responsibility. In addition, we all came from similar backgrounds and communication was almost never an issue. This programme was a chance to communicate with people across cultures, with different academic backgrounds and walks of life in general. 

“More than learning about myself, I really cherish the friendships I’ve made along the way. For me, opening up to a group of people has always been an obstacle in forming friendships. The programme gave me an opportunity to spend more time with other students and I found myself opening up to a group of friends.

“I am so grateful for the wonderful friendships I know I’ll cherish for life. I’m grateful to the Common Purpose team and the University of Hong Kong team for organizing this programme.”

“International opportunities are so important as they broaden our students’ horizons. HKU students are likely to work and live in mainland China and overseas after they have graduated, and we want to prepare them for that. We’re committed to developing our students’ leadership skills, and the leadership dimension of the Common Purpose offering, with a focus on leading across boundaries, really delivers on that.”

Ian Holliday, Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning), The University of Hong Kong