Radio-Television-Film Student Takes on Hong Kong
- Feb 2, 2018
At first, you can’t see much through the windows. You focus instead on the small screens scattered about the train’s compartments. Curious commercials flash across them in a language you don’t understand and selling goods you’re not familiar with. The train, the Airport Express line of the city’s wonderful public transportation system, moves at an impressive clip.
Then it happens. What must be hundreds of high-rises growing in the distance and then flit past your window, gleaming and huge. Bustling between them are a few of the several million who call this place home. You feel exhilarated. The train jostles you back to the present and it hits you. You’re in Hong Kong.
That’s the picture Hazel O’Neil (‘18 Radio Television Film) paints of first arriving at one of China’s largest cities. She adds that the high-rises and millions of people (7.3 million, to be exact) are complemented by Hong Kong’s stunning natural beauty. Comprised of two islands and an archipelagic region, Hong Kong is surrounded by gorgeous rolling mountains and the South China Sea.
“I feel so lucky to be here,” says O’Neil, “it’s beautiful no matter the weather. Either I’m surrounded by sunny seas or cloud shrouded mountains.”
She particularly enjoys taking the ferry in her everyday life. “My Swedish flatmates may be less impressed,” she says smiling, “but I think it’s wonderful.”
O’Neil is one of more than 3,000 Longhorns who study abroad each year. As a semester exchange student, O’Neil is enrolled at the prestigious Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and lives on campus as an international student. Her program was designed specifically for RTF majors under Texas Global’s curriculum integration initiative which brings Texas Global and departments together to build study abroad courses directly into degree plans. This guarantees that students can study abroad, earn credit towards their majors and graduate on time.
“Texas Global had a list of programs for RTF majors,” O’Neil explains. After choosing her program, she selected her courses based on her interests and degree requirements. “I’m taking a course called Understanding Movies that counts for RTF credit,” she describes. Her other courses, Astronomy for Nonscience Majors, Archeology of Hong Kong and History of Modern Southeast Asia, will count for general education credit.
“Archeology of Hong Kong is one of my favorite courses,” she says, “the professor thinks he’s Indiana Jones and the lectures are really fun.” According to her archeology professor, “Hong Kong is a city that doesn’t look back which can make preserving historic sites difficult since there’s always development going on.” The result is colonial buildings surrounded by high-rises and Hong Kong’s distinct modern style.
O’Neil says even her history midterms are exciting since she gets to experience first hand the places covered in the course. “I was in Malaysia three weeks ago working on my midterm paper comparing colonialism in British Malaya and the American Philippines,” she explains, “I got to do research in the Penang State Museum and cross the Straits of Malacca on a ferry boat! I’ve never taken a proper history class that I’ve enjoyed but I’m having so much fun.”
Class discussions are equally engaging since many of her courses bring together students from all over the world. In History of Modern Southeast Asia, this means that discussions on “colonialism, World War II involvement, and post-independence structuring” are enriched by “the French guy and the Dutch guy in class talking about Vietnam and the French-Indochina region and how that all played out. It’s really cool because you get to hear all of these different perspectives.”
In addition to her formal courses, O’Neil takes an informal course in Cantonese. She says, “Even knowing the numbers makes you feel more connected to the people and what they're saying around you. Any small successful interaction – ordering, asking how much something costs, saying good morning or introducing yourself – is so rewarding.” The class has also been a good way to meet local students she wouldn't have otherwise.
As an RTF student and aspiring filmmaker, O’Neil’s time in China is invaluable. The country is poised to become the world’s largest media market and O’Neil is tailoring her experience in China to meet her own creative goals.
She encourages RTF and students in other creative majors to study abroad saying, “you’re exposed to so much new culture and people and places and visual imagery that it’s really hard not to have your creative juices flowing if you want them to be.”
To those who are apprehensive about studying abroad, O’Neil says, “you acclimate a lot faster than you think you will.”
And to those who are getting ready to go abroad, she advises, “say yes to things, because you won’t regret it. My uncle is a photographer and he told me to take a picture everyday, and I’m really glad that I’ve done that. Looking back on the experience, I’ve done so much and it’s hard to remember what I’ve been doing any given day – but you do a ton and it’s great to have something to look back on.”
Learn more about study abroad programs at UT Austin.
