Ting Ho-ching's desire is to just be himself. I am a Hongkonger, born and bred – but I’m also an ordinary Form Four student facing the same academic challenges as many others.
I have an older brother who excels academically, and my parents are proud of him. From an early age, my brother had a dream and he’s been working hard to realise it. I, on the other hand, am nothing like that. I don’t have a dream, and my future is fuzzy. I take everything one step at a time.
In my free time, I enjoy listening to music, playing video games, and spending time with my friends. Like many other students, I wait till the last minute to finish my homework or study for exams. I want to do well, but my tardiness usually means I forget the material or make mistakes.
Yet, (unlike my parents), it doesn’t upset me too much. I’m not dismissing the value of exam results, but I think life experience is equally important, and I like taking part in activities outside school.
It is for this reason that I got involved in the Make A Video project. Initially, I thought participants would get together in groups to make a video. But on the first day of the workshops I realised that each participant would individually produce their own one-minute video.
To be honest, I was worried because I didn’t really know how to express myself through my body language, and I tended to hide my feelings.
I was terrified at the prospect of acting in front of the camera and this slowed down the production. On the other hand, I really enjoyed being behind the scenes and I was able to do a lot more in that capacity.
My video is called My Desire: Be Myself, but I originally called it Start From Zero, because it refects the present stage of my life. Zero means you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Starting at zero also means there is a long journey ahead with many challenges. But, ultimately, it means I have lots of room to develop myself, and I can start working hard to create a better future
for myself.
Edited by Charlotte Ames-Ettridge