Hong Kong’s international school students are once again demonstrating an array of skills beyond traditional academia. This semester alone, we’ve seen students win prestigious awards in fields from music and sport, to philanthropy and STEM.

American School Hong Kong

Himani Vasnani, a Year 12 student in American School Hong Kong (ASHK), received the prestigious Earcos Global Citizenship Award, which is presented to a student who is: “A proud representative of his/her nation while respectful of the diversity of other nations, has an open mind, is well-informed, aware and empathetic, concerned and caring for others, encourages a sense of community, and is strongly committed to engagement and action to make the world a better place.”

Vasnani said that ASHK’s wide variety of extracurricular activities, and being part of the school’s Equity Diversity and Inclusion committee played key roles in helping her win the award.

In addition, Vasnani was also selected to join the highly competitive Take The World Forward Fellowship programme in collaboration with organisations at two of the most prestigious American Universities – Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Mentors in this programme will assist her in her project called “Improving STEM Education Access for Disadvantaged Students”, as well as develop an effective STEM scheme to incorporate into the ASHK curriculum.

ESF Sha Tin College

Year 9 student Jason Tang had his first writing published when he was just six years old, thanks to the Elephant Community Press. This November he published his first full-fledged story book, A Spark of Cerulean Light. All proceeds from the sale of Tang’s book will go to the non-profit organisation Bring Me a Book HK. Hard copies are still available at the Sha Tin College library.

ESF Island School

More success out of ESF as Donovan Yim Wan-him, a Year 10 student at Island School, clinched his first Asian Championship in tennis in the U14 Boys’ Doubles category. The tournament was organised by the Asian Tennis Federation and featured the top young players from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Japan. Donovan’s team managed to beat the No 1 and No 3 seeded teams along the way, and confidently defeated a Singaporean duo in the finals with impressive set scores of 6-2 and 6-4.

French International School of Hong Kong

Zoé Metais and Pauline Courret, who are close friends, training partners and classmates at the French International School of Hong Kong, took home the gold and silver medals respectively at the Asia Triathlon Youth Championships. It took the judges over an hour to determine that Zoé had crossed the finish line just a fraction of a second before Pauline. Both girls were more than seven minutes ahead of the third-place competitor.

German Swiss International School Hong Kong

Skyler Du, a primary school student at German Swiss International School Hong Kong (GSIS) placed third for both piano and violin solo at the 2022 Hong Kong International Music and Arts Festival Global Final – a competition that had more than 1,800 contestants from 32 cities. Du has also been accepted into the Junior Music Programme at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts – an organisation dedicated to nurturing the talents of the most musically gifted young people in Hong Kong.

Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong

Angela Hifume, a second-year student at Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong (LPCUWC), was invited to attend the Generating Amazing Youth Festival in Doha, Qatar, where she got to meet English football legend David Beckham. The festival consisted of youth advocates, coaches, volunteers, star players and participants who care about using football to empower youth and improve the world.