Alissa Harrison
MPhil graduate 2008
Reflecting back to my four years at CUHK, I remember a good portion of it was spent walking up the mountainous hillside of the campus. Yes, I knew there were air-conditioned minibuses that would leave every fifteen minutes from the train stop and drop me off right at the door of the linguistics department. But not long into studying for my M.Phil. in linguistics, I took up the habit of walking the hillside whenever possible and whatever the temperature.
When with my classmates, we always had a good conversation to distract us from the steep slopes. If not comparing our different experiences growing up in the U.S., PRC, Netherlands, Taiwan, etc., we were wrangling with our latest seminar reading on Chomsky, optimality theory, or wh-movement. What a joy to engage with such passionate and thoughtful classmates!
When I was alone, the walk was a serene escape into the dense forest via a circuitous trail along the Chung Chi College stream. During the latter part of my time at CUHK---while writing my thesis and also working as a research assistant for a systems engineering professor in language technology---those walks were my therapy. Climbing up the seemingly unending steps in the heavy and humid air, I'd challenge myself to take a longer and steeper path but go slow enough so as not to break a sweat. This was my time to cultivate myself and absorb the valuable lessons which I learned from my advisor, professors, and colleagues at CUHK.
It was such an enriching experience to be part of CUHK's Department of Linguistics and especially so as an overseas student. Not only did I get a unique international perspective on the field, I was able to study with talented scholars whose guidance always lead me to new heights of accomplishments. Wishing the department many more happy anniversaries!