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💭 One of my most cherished moments with Melo is the night of our graduation. It was a real challenge when I completed my final exam in late May, leaving us with a mere four days to prepare our presentation. What made it even worse was that during the rehearsal, we discovered that our presentation was far from impressive. Louisa even came to give us some special hints and assistance, which made us even more panicked. So, we spent the entire day in the library fixing our mess. Right up until the actual day of graduation, we were still refining our deck and familiarizing ourselves with the scripts.During the graduation day, Kenny noticed our panic and frustration. With a kind smile, he urged us to enjoy the process, even if we failed. Moreover, Don and Randy provided warm support before we stepped on the stage and even suggested that we have some wine. 🍷🤣The reason why this is my best memory in Melo is not only because we fought together as a team 👥, but also because I could see the precious Melo values: genuineness and support. Through this experience, I learned how to embrace failure and take on challenges even when success seemed unlikely.
Melo for me has been a showcase of the flimsiness of the barriers between the youth and the leaders of society. It has humanized these 'larger than life' figures while raising my own self esteem to be able to have more faith in my own ideas and opinions. The most exciting part of my Melo journey has certainly been the small, casual conversations and drinks I have had with the founders and the CEOs. While not any one specific event, the culmination and collection of all the Joint Discoveries, casual Zoom calls, drinks, and texts exchanged with the leaders of society is what makes Melo for me.
Don’t be proud of your affiliation, be proud of your creation.
We often assume that teenagers’ opinions are not as highly valued as prestigious people in society. The Melo journey has proven me wrong because CEOs are actually quite down-to-earth, and are willing to listen and share. The most impressive sharing to me would be from Randy, the CEO of McDonald’s HK, in which she has given Melo fellows chances to speak up and to express societal concerns. I definitely love her to-do spirit and youth engagement’s aspiration.
I would say the Melo journey has provided me with the lens to see through what shortcomings are in myself and how I should improve. Being humble is sometimes quite contradictory to challenging the status quo because on one hand, you value people’s opinion, but on the other hand, you want to disturb the old ways of doing things. The lesson that lies on me would be how I could balance the two and contribute at the same time.
“This is an amazing program. I had a great time engaging with the Melo Fellows. We need more of this type of community driven leadership in the world and I see Melo an important empowerment platform for our exciting new generation. I am excited. For our new generation, let’s get into the arena!”
Thank you Project Melo for bringing me valuable opportunities to meet and connect with our futuremakers through reverse mentoring. As the perfect wrap-up for everyone’s effort, I’m eagerly anticipating the launch of our Fellows’ “21-Day Challenge Climate Change” Happy Meal book this June! Looking ahead, I cannot wait to connect with more young friends and be inspired by their new ideas and creativity. Together, we can drive positive change for Hong Kong and envision a brighter future for all!
“I really enjoyed the anticipation before each meeting with the students -- you never knew what they would present or what topics would be discussed! Every meeting was refreshing because I felt like I was getting a glimpse of the same world, but through different eyes. Besides the project on hand, we had the chance to discuss a wide range of issues that I normally wouldn't get to discuss with young people, and that was very rewarding for me.”
Who can apply?
Any full-time university undergraduates from these six universities can apply - Baptist U, City U, Chinese U, HKU, HKUST, and PolyU. We will select 20 Melo Fellows from this pool of applicants. Our selection criteria is simple - we are looking for high calibre students with a passion and track record of leadership and impact on the society. We look for authentic stories and real passion.
The program will kick off at the end of January 2025 and end with a graduation in June 2025. The Fellowship has two main components - Co-Creation and Joint Discovery.
In Co-Creation, 20 Melo Fellows will be divided into 5 teams of 4. Each team will be paired with two leading CEOs / social leaders. Each will work towards a proposal on delivering the most impact on their topic for Hong Kong society. One of the leading region VC firms and its managing partner will seed one or more of their proposed programs for implementation.
In Joint Discovery, these are events for the entire fellowship where Melo Fellows will experience and learn from leaders of our society on a few key themes, in the most intimate and engaging way.
In terms of time commitment, each Fellow will be asked to:
Melo Fellows will go through a one-of-a-kind journey of learning and mindset growth. They will learn hard and soft skills and have direct exposure to leading CEOs, social leaders and thought leaders. The Fellowship includes project based learning as well as group-based interactive learning.
For the first time ever, two Fellows will be selected and be awarded the SHK x Melo Scholarship, which will cover the full tuition fee of the remaining years of undergraduate studies of the awardee.
1. Background details
Your name, mobile number, email contact and your year and degree in HKUST.
2. Choose a topic
Choose from one of the five themes we listed as your preferred topic of interest or you can write to us what one other topic you are interested in
3. Tell us your story
Share why you want to join this program and why you are passionate about the topic you choose in one of three formats (A 500-word essay, a 90-second video, or a PowerPoint of fewer than 10 slides). We care a lot about authenticity. We would love to hear stories that come from your personal experience.
