Dr Allan Au
Dr Allan Au of the School of Journalism and Communication took up the position of warden of Student Hostel II this March. Dr Au had his undergraduate and Doctor of Philosophy study in CUHK. He returned to his alma mater as part-time lecturer in 2008, became a full-time teaching staff and joined Shaw College in 2016.
In Dr Au's impression, Shaw College is a rather free college, willing to accept new things and make different attempts without many restrictions. That is the reason Dr Au joined the Shaw family.
Dr Au led students in the College's summer programme to Saipan in 2018. He described Saipan as a place where most people would only visit once in a lifetime. Apart from learning the history and culture of the island country, the most important thing was he could meet students and understand their thoughts through the programme. Dr Au said with a smile that leading a cultural study group gave him a good opportunity to communicate with students as they usually come and go in a haste for regular classes.
Dr Au said he had been teaching in CUHK for more than 10 years and was getting familiar with the environment, so he could try to take up different positions. Serving as warden would allow him to understand students better, but he also foresees "balancing different needs of student residents" would be the "forever conundrum". The first task would therefore be exploring student residents' interests and communicating with them through activities. Dr Au loves hiking and would be happy to lead a hiking group to let students decompress during the stressful times of study.
Dr Au hopes that hostel would be a pleasant environment with a feeling of home to students for their study and thinking. He believes that friendships built in schooldays are always sincere and long-lasting, and advised student residents to join more activities and make friends with others. Dr Au also looks forward to more public spaces to connect Shawers upon the completion of Mona Shaw Hall, as a comfortable space would definitely increase people's sense of belonging.
This article was originally published in the Newsletter of the College, Shaw Link in Jun 2024.