Participating in the UCL Summer School was like embarking on a fascinating journey across cultures and knowledge. Students from over a dozen countries came together, and the intellectual exchanges both inside and outside the classroom often sparked exciting ideas, allowing me to truly appreciate the unique appeal of an international learning environment. One of the most remarkable aspects was that our university sent a cohort of 14 students to participate — when we introduced ourselves as students from The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, many peers from Asian and European universities were surprised and impressed by the size and organisation of our group. This collective presence not only helped us quickly adapt to a foreign academic environment but also enabled us to tackle intensive group assignments with strong team cohesion — a sense of belonging that's hard to replicate when attending alone.

If I had to choose the most fascinating part of the programme, it would undoubtedly be the visit to the Lloyd's Building. Known as the 'mechanical beast of architecture,' this iconic structure—with its exposed steel pipes on the exterior and honeycomb-like open-plan interior—completely reshaped my perception of conventional skyscrapers. As the accompanying broker guided us through the suspended staircases, he explained how the architect realised the avant-garde concept of 'externalising the service systems' through steel structure design. Standing by the Lutine Bell in the heart of the trading floor, I could feel a vivid time-travel between the past four centuries and the present. What remains unchanged is the professional rigour and the cooperative mechanism of shared risk. This visit not only made a landmark building from a photo come to life, but also made me realise that this 'steel beast' has become a cultural symbol of innovation and enterprise.

FANG Linan (MBM)