Ceon Yan Tsz-soen stopped attending school in November 2019 after the youngster, then 16, was given a life-changing piece of news when she was diagnosed with lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.
Her parents cried when they were told, but Yan, now 18, stayed strong and did not shed a tear.
“I was somehow prepared for it as the doctor said my situation was a bit abnormal after several checks. When I really knew it, I was like, okay, I have to face the truth,” she said.
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She is one of five winners in the Best Improvement category of this year’s Student of the Year Awards, organised by the South China Morning Post and solely sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Yan started to undergo chemotherapy in March 2020 and experienced typical side effects. She lost her hair, vomited and felt dizzy all the time, but she soldiered on through the gruelling treatment programme.
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She returned to school in September that year after completing treatment and had to resume her studies in Form Five while her classmates were already in Form Six.
“Returning to school was even harder than the treatment,” Yan said.
“It was so hard for me to pick up my studies again as I had not been in school for a year already,” she said, adding that she ranked nearly last in economics in the first term.
“I cried a lot and always stayed in my room during that time. I was so stressed out,” said Yan, who was later diagnosed with depression and anxiety.
But she said support from friends and teachers helped her to carry on.
“One time, I failed to finish a listening exercise before the time was up. I began to cry but all my friends waited for me to finish and my teachers also comforted me,” she said.
Yan said she managed to get used to school life again and her results improved over time. “I became stronger and more optimistic after these experiences. After seeing a lot of people in the hospital who need help, I would like to help those in need,” she said.
Another winner, Heison Cheung Ka-hei, a Form Six student at Buddhist Wong Wan Tin College, said he shared Yan’s goal to help others after he was invited by his school social worker to join the school volunteer team in 2018.
Cheung had been seen as a troublesome pupil since primary school and some teachers told his parents that he might not be able to study in a mainstream school.
But that all changed in Form Three when a social worker – who Cheung said had “saved” him – realised his “disobedience” was caused by attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
“It was my social worker who kept telling my teachers that I could change,” he said.
After working with the volunteer team for three years, he went through a transformation and made up his mind in Form Four to become a social worker to help those in need.
His hard work led to a huge improvement in his performance at school. His score in maths went from 13 out of 100 in Form Three to 83 the next year. He even did well enough to enter an elite class in Form Five.
“Actually, some students might not be naughty, they are just waiting for a person who can save them. I was lucky to meet my social worker, but others might not have such a chance – that’s why I want to be a social worker to help teenagers like myself,” the 17-year-old said.
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Areeba Afrah, an 18-year-old winner from Bangladesh, passed her exams with flying colours despite facing difficulties in online learning.
She was admitted to the Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong in 2021 for the International Baccalaureate diploma programme, but was not able to be in the city because of strict Covid-19 travel restrictions.
Afrah had to study online for the entire first term, but the erratic electricity supply in Bangladesh made her miss more than 10 online classes.
She also encountered problems studying a new language. “I learned maths in Bengali for my whole life and now I have to learn it in English. I had to spend a lot of time learning the terms by myself,” she explained.
Afrah also had to pick up subjects she had never studied before. “The hardest was economics, because I didn’t have any background knowledge,” she said, adding that she spent four to six hours studying every day.
But, even with the problems she faced, she still managed to score 41 out of 42 in a school mock exam in the first term. “I was really happy with my performance,” she said.
The Student of the Year Awards is now in its 41st year. This year’s event, themed “We’re Together”, will be held on Saturday.
More from South China Morning Post:
- The Hong Kong student who had to balance learning with keeping herself and her brothers alive is now a finalist in Student of the Year awards
- Hong Kong pupils’ resilience amid the coronavirus pandemic to be the key focus of 2021 Student of the Year awards
- Hong Kong Student of the Year Awards: fencing enthusiast, design leader win prestigious youth honours
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