Essay 3 - Why I love photography

Once when I applied for the university, most of the choices are about media creation. Photography is one of my favourite hobbies since I was young. Someone may ask why I have to bother in taking photos instead of having deep memories in my heart. However, composing memory is not that easy. Every time I dag out the photographs that I have taken, I could renew my memories once. Photography builds my personalities, helps me to confront with time, and views the world in details.

First of all, most photographers are very handsome. I have noticed that photographers do always hold a heavy camera with several lenses in their bags, wear wet t-shirts and a cap to fight against sunshine. They looked professional and smart. I was a part-time photographer during my A-Level break. At that time, I concerned about my appearance very much. I wanted to buy the most expensive camera and lens so that my client could sense my professionalism. However, my senior, Sunny Wong told me that there is no sense to become a great photographer based on your equipment. He emphasized that photo taking is a job that trains your responsibility. Photography somehow is an art creation. You have to suit your clients’ expectation, but clients at the same time are hoping for surprise. Therefore, doing photography enables me to become responsible and creative.

In addition, photography helps me to confront with time. It could capture the moment that I wish it to be forever. Throughout the growing stages of my life, I found that human memory is not reliable at all. Hong Kong people are busy, and also lazy. We are too busy to figure out what our life is going on and we are too lazy to reconstruct the scene from our memories. However, there is no time constraint in photography. Once I have pressed the shutter, the photo belongs to me forever. Whenever I am tired, I could always read the smile from the photos. Every time when my world is losing hope, I could revive myself with my dreams within the photos. Photography is somehow a method to take me away from the nasty and put me back to the reality with a purer mind.

Last but not least, photography enables me to observe the world with details. I remember this was one of the main points that I have included when I am conducting the interview to enter the School of Creative Media. When I take photos, I have to focus on the viewfinder or the screen of my phone, and then press the shutter. Throughout the process of getting and deciding the focus, I would get the chance to view this world in a different way. Like when I am waiting to cross the road, I would basically watch the traffic light or just play with my smart phone. However, with a camera, I may make the focus on the car front light, or the pedestrians on the opposite side. These are the things that never come to my focus when I am going with my busy life. Photography certainly helps to slower down my life pulse and gives a chance for me to observe the world again.

All in all, photography is maybe a very time consuming and exorbitant hobby but it changes my life. It builds my personalities, helps me to confront with time and view the world with details. Developing a hobby is very important because it can help you to release your pressures in daily life. At the same time, it can always accompany you along your growing stages. I found photography to be one of my favourite hobbies, and I would definitely stick with it. 

Essay 2 - My Father

People said no men would love you from the very first beginning till the last end of the world, except your father. This man was the first one who kissed me, hugged me and held me tightly in arms. My father is a medium-fat person. He has a medium height with a medium outlook. He walks with medium speed and he talks with medium voice. He is not classified as a stand out person, all medium, nothing particularly special, but all are unique to me.

My father is a very strict person, not only to me, but also to himself. When I was young, he seldom held my hands like what other parents did. For instance, he asked me to look carefully before crossing the road, and then he would let me cross by myself. This indeed quite dangerous at the time when I was young, I was very frightened every time. I did usually confused on how he treated me and “whether I am your daughter” was the question that I asked most frequently when I was young. This was a very controversial teaching act among my families.  However, this trains me to become strong and independent during my formative years.

My father is also a serious person. Whenever he has determined for something, he would stick with his goal until he reached it. I could hardly make jokes on him. He always tells me that if you make jokes on others, you are making jokes on yourself too. Though it might be a bit too serious, it apparently is a fact. I remember once I told him that I wanted to lose weight but it was too hard. My father spoke seriously to me that if I could not control my weight, I could hardly even control my life. Sometimes I do think that my father is too harsh but somehow there are always two sides of a coin. Being serious could actually prevent many tiny mistakes that may ruin my life.  

Other than strict and seriousness, my father is also very hard-working. When I was a kid, my father joined the university study courses from Australia. Distance-learning occupied most of his sleeping time at night. Once I asked him why he had to studied so hard as he already had a stable job with reasonable paid. I remembered he answered me with just a sleepy smile, he said “Life is just like a running competition, if you once stopped, others would run across you in just a second.” He showed me the importance of hard-working. As the saying goes, “Everything you do counts”. This appears to be my life attitude since then.

You may say my father is not a perfect one but he must be a good one.  He never teaches me just by talk, instead, he always works out and provides me with the opportunity to ask. His personalities have a lot of influence to my life attitude. Whenever I want to give up with my busy and stuffy work at school, I would always recall how my father burnt the mid-night oil, just for making a better living for the family. My father is the only, unique and the best father to me, ever. 

Essay 1 - Why I Write

When I was young, I wrote because it was my responsibility. Writing was always one of the most time-consuming assignments during my school stages. Teachers urged us to write because they said practice makes perfect. We could improve our writing skills; enrich our vocabularies all by practicing writing. Thus I wrote in my young age.

When I was a teenager, writing became a way to hide myself. For Hong Kong students, we are all very familiar with public examinations. By which, this occupied nearly all the time during teenage. Pressure was always accumulated where I could hardly squeeze time for a walk, or do any other activities to release it. Therefore, writing became the only way to have relaxation on the desk. Every time I wrote, I could hide myself between wordings, I could write whatever I want, but not simply restricted by topics. And I wrote, because I did not want to face the reality and pressures in studying.

And now, I am still holding the tail of my teenage in twenties, I write, because I want to find myself back. I am still continuing my education. However, study is no longer a difficult job for me. Being a university student, I could have a larger range of choices in my studying. I wish to find back instead of hiding myself in writing. Through writing, I could figure out my wishes. In addition to, I could also find out and organize what is in my mind between wordings.

Writing is not the only way to figure out myself. However, I found it the best way to accompany me through my growing stages. Of course, writing could also help me to enrich my vocabularies and even improve my academic results. However, understanding myself is indeed the most important reasons why I write. Exploring yourself is a life-long job. You could always find the best way to move on if you understand yourself thoroughly. I wish to understand myself more; and therefore, I continue to write.