Jimmy Lee can truly say he was at TIS from the very beginning – not only did he start at TIS in Kindergarten and attend the school right through to Grade 12, he was a part of the very first Kindergarten class in 2002, the school’s first year of operation!
“It is truly a gratifying experience to watch every step of the way a school of a couple dozen grow into the amazing educational institution it is today”.
Jimmy has just finished his junior year at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology studying Computer Science with a minor in Liberal Studies. He also spent the last semester in California doing study abroad at UC Davis. Jimmy was in Macau recently and we had the chance to find out more about his life post-TIS.
What did you like most about TIS? What are some of your best memories?
One of my favorite things about TIS was the relatively small class sizes that we enjoyed. Now having experienced university first hand, where virtually no professor even knows my name, I’ve really come to realize how truly precious it was to be so closely knit together with all the friends and teachers I met in TIS. I really got to know some amazing people, and I’m certain I’ll be staying in touch with them.
Playing senior basketball was definitely one of the best decisions I made in TIS. Not only for its athletic benefits, but just the pure joy of training and fooling around as a team with my best mates is something I will cherish forever. Shout out to Coach Wallis and Coach Lauchlan for the amazing memories.
In what ways did TIS prepare you for life after high school?
TIS offers a truly international atmosphere where you can meet people from all sorts of backgrounds and cultures. Having been exposed to so many people from a wide array of different countries, I have come to value and appreciate the importance of diversity. Thanks to TIS, I can get along with people from all over. You’d be surprised to know how many people don’t have this privilege!
What have been some of the challenges you have experienced at university?
Aside from the dramatic jump in academic rigorousness going from high school to university, I’ve found that the biggest challenge in university is not to give in to the pressure of skipping class and eating junk food all the time. Without my loving parents around to boss me around, it’s quite easy to fall into a vicious cycle of going to bed at 6AM and waking up only at 3PM to eat breakfast. It is also very important to make sure that you feed your body the proper nutrition it needs to function properly!
What advice would you give to Gr. 11 and 12 students at TIS?
One of the best pieces of advice I would give to the current seniors at TIS would be to stay in contact with your homies from school. Hopefully, the friendships you will make in TIS will be ones to last forever! It is quite sad to see people just drift away after graduation, and it does happen surprisingly often, so make sure you stay in touch with your mates from high school. After spending a month travelling across North America, and seeing how truly blessed I was to have an extensive network of close friends from TIS to accommodate me and look out for me during my trip, I am really grateful for my awesome, kind-hearted buddies from Macau.
What are your future plans?
Starting in June, I will be interning at JP Morgan throughout the summer, where I will pick up the skills to hopefully pursue a long-term career in the field of finance technology. I will be sticking around in Hong Kong for the foreseeable future, so anyone who is coming to visit, please do let me know!
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