Feature Stories

Meet Chloe CHAN (BBA in GBUS, Class of 2023), a member of the Hong Kong Women’s Ice Hockey National Team who had a historic victory win in the Women’s World Championship Division III held in Romania last year. Admitted to HKUST Business School with the Student Athletes Admissions Scheme (SAAS) Scholarship, Chloe shares her university journey at HKUST as she balanced her studies, professional pursuits and athletics career.

HKUST supports students from beginning to end 

After trying various individual sports at the behest of her parents throughout secondary school, Chloe found ice hockey refreshing especially the interactions with her teammates. “Through ice hockey, I was able to understand a lot more complexity within a sport. Aside from good hand-eye coordination, you need good skating skills and be able to read the play well. And a lot of times that also involves understanding of different strategies and tactics and certainly understanding your partner and your teammates, in order to be a good team.”

It was towards the end of high school that Chloe considered whether to continue playing ice hockey in university, which had become deeply engraved in her life. “I felt like I really want to keep on playing, and that’s when the school offered me the scholarship and allowed me to have the flexibility to play it as well as study.” As she applied to various universities around the city, Chloe eventually chose HKUST because of its generous scholarship for accomplished student athletes and a bright future career beyond sports. “When it comes to the scholarships offered, HKUST definitely offers a lot more in terms of what they could provide me as student athlete. Another thing is that I played competitively in ice hockey, so that kind of atmosphere makes me want to be in a competitive environment to excel in career and academics.”

Life at HKUST: Support to Play Sports and Study

In the freshman year, Chloe had her fair share of struggles trying to balance schoolwork, ice hockey and university life. Thanks to the support of the GBUS coordinator at that time, Chloe was encouraged as she navigated through her various commitments. “I wasn’t sure if I still wanted to do ice hockey because my training often clashes with different school events, like the Global Business events, which are usually at night. I felt like I was drifting apart from my friends because I didn’t have enough time to invest in these friendships. I wrestled with this question during the freshman year GBUS school trip to Spain with the program coordinator, and she told me, “Hockey is going to make you shine.” While Chloe didn’t understand what that really meant in freshman year, looking back now, she reflected that continuing the sport gave her a life lesson in perseverance and determination throughout university.

Aside from the encouragement from faculty, Chloe feels thankful for the flexibility HKUST has given to the SAAS recipients that allows her to align her timetable with her competition schedule while enjoying university life. “We are allowed to complete the degree in 16 semesters instead of the regular requirement of 8 semesters. For me, I didn’t use up this allowance as I wanted to graduate together with my peers, but I think it is a good practice for student athletes as we can manage our time according to individual needs and progress without compromising on our studies or sporting accomplishments. I was also able to reschedule the exams through meetings with professors and the business school whenever there were time clashes, which enabled me to make it to all my tournaments.” Together with stringent time management, Chloe has never been late to a class, skipped any exams or missed any deadlines while attending regular ice hockey training.

Besides the support from the school and faculty, Chloe also enjoys the diversity and solidarity of the GBUS cohort, which helped her grow throughout her time at university and explore what she wants for her future jobs. “I came to know everyone in the program well and they are sort of like a family to me. As we're experts in different areas, we can always find someone in GBUS that are able to help. We know we're all in this together and competing with the people outside instead. We always talk to each other about the kinds of jobs we have applied for and help each other go over our personal statements. So I think all these helped me to understand what kind of career I really wanted to pursue.” Additionally, with the support of the GBUS alumni network, students in the program were able to explore careers through insightful connections with peers and seniors.

Building a Career beyond Sports

Like many others, Chloe found the academic environment at HKUST competitive and rigorous, but she thought that it also made her a competitive candidate when applying for jobs. “I see a lot of HKUST students performing well. That's why I feel that my journey in HKUST has really prepared me for my future career by being able to handle stress a lot better and juggle between things when there's so much on my plate that cannot be neglected.”

Chloe was able to find her career interests outside of ice hockey and entered JP Morgan’s graduate placement program to continue exploring her interests. “I had taken up several marketing-related internships throughout my undergraduate years, but I realized that I wasn’t very interested in this area. Later, I did internships in fintech and investment banking, but wasn’t particularly interested in these areas either. I still wasn't sure which area I wanted to be in, so that's when I decided to look for something that's in-between like middle office to back office and applied to JP Morgan’s three-year rotational program.”

Life after Graduation: Continuing the Balance

In last August, Chloe started working at JP Morgan while continuing training and competing with the Ice Hockey team. “A lot of people in the team are also working full time as well,” she remarked, noting that she is determined to find a balance for work-life after graduation.

As for her advice to student athletes, national representatives and other competitive non-athletes, Chloe has the following encouragement, “Keep going and don't be so harsh on yourself. But also at the same time, if you dwell in the past, it's depression. If you dwell in the future, it's anxiety and the only way to be happy is to be in the present.”

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