Community Spotlight: Sophia Cheung, University Student

Curious about what volunteerism and Time Auction events are all about? Meet our community who has shared their memorable experiences in their volunteering journey and meetings with our featured guests!

“What if the cure to cancer is trapped in the mind of someone who cannot afford education?”

Sophia’s commitment to transform the lives of the intellectually disabled and the poor through education is truing inspiring. Let's hear her story!

Meet Sophia Cheung!

Sophia is a year 3 student studying Finance at the City University of Hong Kong. She is also a member of AIESEC, an international NGO that aims at developing young people’s leadership potential by offering internships and service projects opportunities. She is in the Finance and Labor Department, managing the financial operations of AIESEC.

Knowledge is Power — Sophia’s Volunteer Journey

In her secondary school years, Sophia has been actively engaged in volunteer work such as visits to elderly homes and homes of the intellectually disabled where she would teach drawing class. In her spare time, she also took up tutoring jobs for impoverished secondary students.

“People are always alarmed by the thought of being around the intellectually disabled. But, after interacting with them, I can confidently say they are kinder and purer than most people. ”

Sophia pointed out that the general public has a big misconception about the intellectually disabled. But all we need is patience and empathy. Maybe sometimes they don’t know how to express themselves, they have kind and pure hearts that are worth for us to know more about.

Through offering tutorial classes to students, Sophia released that narrowing the learning gap between the rich and the poor students is really important. And she invested a lot of time to achieve this goal, and ultimately, to achieve equality in education

Learning soft and hard skills from Time Auction experiences

In choosing which Time Auction events to join, Sophia mainly focuses on speakers with a business background and positive thinkers. She has learned many skills such as business management from guests including Angel Ng, the CEO of Citi HK & Macau and Maaike Steinebach, GM of Visa Hong Kong & Macau.

In this fast-changing world, it is precious to show perseverance and stick with their goals. Their determination has driven them to strive for excellence.

Sophia also met many friends along her journey. In particular, she befriended a lawyer in an event and the two remained as close friends. Her lawyer friend offered useful career advice when she was thinking about getting a law degree.

Happiness for yourself and happiness for others

“Joining volunteer work helps me reflect on my own self.”

Sophia wishes to continue her work in education, even after she graduates and becomes a working member of society.

Participating in volunteer work has helped her to become a more positive and cheerful person. She hopes that Hong Kong people will think more about others and don’t forget their roots.

Thank you so much to Sophia for contributing 105 volunteer hours and participating in more than 9 of our events!

To see our upcoming experiences, head over to the Time Auction website!

Interviewed & written by Isaac Chang| Edited by Dolphin Chan