Campus Digest

Fostering students’ resilience through an adventure tour to Penang

Tuesday, 28 January 2025

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Seventeen students join an adventure tour to Penang to enhance their resilience, self-confidence and teamwork.
Enthusiastic students paddle in the dragon boat challenges.
Students put their resilience to the test by climbing the Penang Hill.
A student soars through the jungle on the zipline.
Students share their experience in Penang with 16 kids and design a series of activities to instil them with positive mindsets.

 

A group of 17 HKBU students participated in an adventure tour to Penang, Malaysia from 3 to 8 January, to enhance their resilience, self-confidence and teamwork through a series of thrilling and challenging learning experiences. 

This six-day tour, organised by the Leadership Qualities Centre of the Office of Student Affairs and sponsored by the HKBU Century Club, aimed to encourage students to make breakthroughs and embrace challenges. The tour featured a series of exciting activities, including dragon boat challenges, a zipline ride stretching over 1.1 km through the jungle, a three-level rope course experience, conquering the 833-meter Penang Hill, among others.

Ricky Yung Wai-hin, a Year 2 student, shared his experience. “One notable day was when we had to participate in a dragon boat competition and climb Penang Hill in temperatures exceeding 35 °C. Although the experience was exhausting, we managed to overcome these difficulties through mutual encouragement and by using the positive psychology we learned in a pre-trip workshop. This trip not only provided me with unforgettable experiences and friendships but also strengthened my resilience.”

Prior to the trip, students attended workshops on positive psychology, on how to instill a positive mindset to lead happier lives. Upon their return, they drew on their personal experiences from Penang to share the importance of positive psychology and character strengths with 16 kids, helping them face adversity with a positive attitude.