The First Master's Tea

Pleasant sunshine penetrated the window, bringing warmth into the room, where a group of students from Diligentia College sat with Master Yang Gu, enjoying a wonderful afternoon tea time together.

As the college is eager to make students feel at home, the “Master's Tea” on Dec. 2nd was just like a small family gathering party. All kinds of delicate desserts were placed on the table already and students sat with Master Gu on cozy sofas, enjoying delicious foods while talking like a big family. Unlike usual night talks, "Master's Tea", held by Diligentia College, was more casual and closer to the students. Around 10 participants ensured that ideas and suggestions of each were able to be conveyed to the Master. Nobody was reserved or nervous during the chat. We offer suggestions to the establishment of Diligentia College. We also asked questions we didn't understand to Master Gu, who gave proper answers one by one and told us the history of CUHK college construction. Everyone had a taste of the desserts from time to time during the conversation. Although it was a talk with the Master, we felt like chatting with a kind elder in the family. Master Gu listened patiently to our ideas and she encouraged us to open our heart to express opinions. How warm and sweet it was to sit in a room surrounded by caligraphies of our President! During the afternoon tea time, Master Gu reiterated humanistic qualities establishment in our daily lives. She hoped that we shouldn't be bounded by excessive rules, but be edified by humanistic cultures of the entire college and we should subtly become an excellent person inside out, like the silent and soft that moistens everything.

Comments

Master Gu is kind like a mother! “Master's Tea” was much more relaxed and pleasant than I had expected. It's a pleasure to talk with everyone. Many problems were discussed there and I've felt more sense of belonging to Diligentia College. Hope to have more chances to participate and make our college better with more such conversations.

This was the first time to have an in-depth conversation with Master Gu and 2 other teachers from the college office when I instantly became a fan of them. Everyone was a bit reserved at first, but with the conversation progressed, we started to talk from the origin of 3 major colleges in the CUHK Sha Tin to our aspiration to Diligentia College, from that occurrent seen and heard to the goal of educating people. We simply talked about everything!

We enjoyed the thoughtfully arranged afternoon tea, yet the best thing was to chat face-to-face with Master Gu on topics from our new dorm to the college concept. College systems were originally set in Sha Tin, mostly because the CUHK itself was initially a union of 3 colleges and transformed into a university for all-round education since then. Someone may criticize that colleges, as parallel structures with schools, are likely to result in bloated organizations.  However, we don't feel it that way. Because colleges focus more on students' daily life through many heartwarming activities, caring for every aspect of our school life. As for our future college, there are something particular for me to imagine. For example, cafes, bars, bookshops...now I'm even more anticipated!

See you next week on “Master's Tea”.