LIU Donghao Steven, a Year 1 IBBA student from northeast China, looks and sounds more mature than young men of the same age. His taking on business studies, poetry, and serious drama all at the same time is rare on any campus. Thoughtful, self‑aware, and quietly ambitious, he treats his creative life not as a side interest but as a source of empathy and imagination that is already shaping the kind of person he hopes to become.

Steven grew up in Changchun where his father works at a university whose campuses almost surround the city, and he was educated entirely in its affiliated schools from kindergarten to senior high. As a child, he wandered the campus watching students with laptops and textbooks and thinking, ‘That’s my dream. I want to become one of them.’ – a dream he has now realised at CUHK.

As an only child, he is keenly aware of the expectations resting on his shoulder, yet he has been allowed by his understanding parents to take things at his own pace, and this mix of expectation and emotional freedom helps explain his cautious and courteous demeanour uncharacteristic of his young age.

In high school, Steven’s strengths had always leaned towards the arts subjects—English, Chinese, geography, and history—while maths was never his strong suit; in the gaokao, he did just enough to pass maths. When he applied for CUHK, he put business above other disciplines, not really expecting to get an offer from the business school because those programmes usually require higher scores and are in higher demand. When the IBBA offer arrived, he decided to ‘go with the flow’, especially because he is drawn to marketing and business analytics and curious about how analytical thinking might meet his literary sensibilities.

The choice of CW Chu College, however, was driven by careful research and instinct. He studied the ‘spirit, style, and vibe’ of different colleges online, narrowing his choices down to CW Chu College and one other. He finally chose the former because he saw the offering of English calligraphy and Toastmasters opportunities on its website, alongside a rich menu of student activities that immediately resonated with him. Now, after a year in residence, he says, ‘I could not have found a college that suits me better. Its wonderful environment, very good facilities, and even the small college library are more than I could reasonably ask for.’

What truly excites him, though, is how CW Chu College has provided a nurturing ground for his extra-curricular interests in literature, drama, and public speaking. He particularly cherishes communal dining, which he experiences as both a social ritual and a part of university life that balances his packed schedule. Serving as MC at a High Table Dinner in the second semester stands out as a defining moment: although he was nervous and worried about his delivery, he eventually relaxed into the role, and feedback from staff and peers about his calmness and control over the evening’s rhythm gave him fresh confidence to stand at the front stage of college life.

Parallel to his academic studies, poetry has long been his private sanctuary. He admits, ‘When pressure builds up, I turn to writing verses. Emotion can be a kind of energy that can be transformed into literary inspiration.’ He writes mainly in Chinese, with only a few poems in English. Moving from his hometown to Hong Kong has been a kind of poetic fount. The more diverse social and natural landscapes of the city, together with the climate and the contrast in food—his hometown delicacies, such as sausages and pickled cabbage, remind him of German cuisine—have nourished his literary sensibilities, tinged with occasional homesickness.

If poetry is his way of turning pressure into words, drama is where he tests himself in public. As a member of the CUHK Mandarin Drama Club, he spends at least nine hours a week in rehearsal. In his first semester, he took one of only four speaking roles in a two‑hour production of Albert CAMUS’s Malentendu (The Misunderstanding). The experience has taught him mnemonic techniques as well as how to overcome stage fright. ‘An assistant director told me,’ he recalls, ‘to become the character, not to repeat every word the character says exactly. Put shortly, “Let the sentences flow from your mouth”, which has stayed with me and deepened my love of drama.’

Drama has also reshaped how he handles the stage more broadly. Techniques from the drama club—such as abdominal breathing to relax the body and give the voice more power and texture, and meditation exercises that draw the mind away from tension – now support him whether he is acting or addressing an audience. His love of poetry, in turn, enriches his speeches: he enjoys employing vivid images and occasionally dropping Shakespearean quotes, amusing himself while waiting for that knowing smile from his audience.

As mentioned before, one of the attractions of CW Chu College for Steven was the presence of Toastmasters‑style speaking activities, which have given him an informal yet structured space to hone his voice acts. For example, he learned the ‘sandwich method’ of giving feedback—specific praise, gentle suggestion, then another positive comment—which he now applies in daily life when responding to others’ work. Through such practices, he has gained a small but meaningful sense of managerial experience: how to run a meeting, manage an agenda, and design an event that draws his target audience in.

Looking ahead, Steven expects to enter the corporate world in areas like marketing or business analytics, but he does not see this as a break with his literary and dramatic aspirations. He notes that effective marketing requires a deep understanding of what customers really want and need. Drama, he believes, trains sympathy and empathy by allowing you to live different lives through different characters, qualities that will be vital in communicating with and persuading others. He believes that the qualities he is nurturing now—through college life, poetry, drama, and public speaking—will become strategic assets in whatever future workplace he enters.

For now, his dreams remain modest but revealing. His wish list includes that one day CW Chu College might have its own drama group. It may be some years before the dream becomes reality, but it captures the arc of his story so far—a young man following his passions and discovering, with some relief and a lot of excitement, that CW Chu College is an ideal place to grow dreams.