Lis Yeung

It was The Australian National University or nothing. That was the situation for Lis Yeung, who was born and raised in Hong Kong.

“My parents wanted me to go to the best uni,” Lis says. “According to QS rankings at that time, ANU was first. So I literally applied for one uni and that was it.”

Fortunately, Lis got in, earning an ANU Terrell International Undergraduate Scholarship to boot. Four years on, she’s graduating with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English and in Chinese language.

“My parents wanted me to pursue a professional degree,” Lis says. “I told them, for once I just want to make my own decision.”

Studying English at ANU gave Lis an advantage in the Hong Kong workforce, where she’s now a full-time blog writer for a mortgage company – one that specializes in mortgages for Australian expats. 

“They actually hired me because of my language ability, which I highly doubted myself in,” Lis says. “They were like, ‘Hey, you’re good at what you do. You did a degree. You’re going to be fine’.”

A common thread through Lis’ story is how she consistently chooses paths that are difficult, but which pay off ultimately. This was the case in doing both English and Chinese as her majors for her Bachelor of Arts, where neither is her native language. It was a battle, but nevertheless, she persisted. The result was that translating and interpreting between English and Chinese became a highlight of her studies. 

Another example was the side courses Lis did alongside her degree: a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care, and the International TESOL Certificate, which equipped her to teach English to non-English speakers. 

“I kind of want to warn people to think about it before doing it,” Lis says. “It puts a huge stress on you. If you’re not ready for it, don’t do it.”

This extra effort paid off though for Lis. In addition to working as a full-time writer, she conducts English tuition classes and is the Senior English tutor at The Academy of Tomorrow in Hong Kong. 

With the gamut of her qualifications, Lis fielded job offers before she’d even graduated. Tutorial centres wanted her to teach for them. The auction house Christie’s, where Lis had done an internship, wanted her to work in their PR department. Lis believes her English and Chinese majors played a role. 

“Most of the companies are looking for people who have a good command of two or three languages; basically, English, Cantonese, Mandarin,” Lis says. “I so happened to be that person.”

During her time at ANU, Lis wrestled with self-confidence, performance anxiety, and depression. There were the stresses involved with English not being her first language, bouts of loneliness, and making her parents proud of her.

“Growing up in Hong Kong, I always felt like I had to be better,” Lis says, “that I had to do good because I was the first person in the family to go to uni.” 

“In the first year I actually cried a lot because I felt so lonely. But then I moved onto campus in my second year, joined the gym, joined all sorts of clubs and societies, and made some friends at Wamburun Hall. I know that, okay, I actually have a support system. I’m not alone.”

Lis returned home in July 2020 and finished her degree remotely. She misses her Australian friends, but is thankful they return her messages; even when it’s 1am in Hong Kong. Her classmates also created a Facebook messenger group to talk to her. 

“The big thing that I found difficult dealing with was self-doubt,” Lis says. “But apart from that my course mates were really friendly, the lecturers super understanding, and the school was overall pretty supportive, I’d say.”

“Doing my degree, my side courses, and living in Canberra has been an intense experience and a lot of hard work. But I’m glad that I pushed through and I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished.”


Written by Evana Ho / ANU