LIN Wai-Ching, a Year 5 student from the Dual Degree Program in Technology & Management (T&M-DDP), embarked on two exchange programs to the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in Denmark and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in the United States, eager to step beyond his comfort zone and discover how independent he could be.

Drawn to Northern Europe’s lifestyle and DTU’s strong engineering education, and later inspired by his encounters with UIUC students during the T&M-DDP International Business Plan Competition, Wai Ching embraced two very different academic and cultural environments. From adapting to Denmark’s independent learning style and collaborating with an international team on a UX design project, to experiencing interactive classes and the excitement of college sports in the US, his exchanges offered new perspectives both inside and outside the classroom. Along the way, he learned to navigate unfamiliar environments, work across cultures, and become more open-minded about the different paths life can take.

Read on to discover his two exchange journeys and how his experiences in Denmark and the US reshaped his perspectives on learning, independence, and the future.

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What inspired you to join the exchange program? Any particular goals or expectations?

After three years at HKUST, campus life had started to feel routine, and the longest I had ever been away from home was just one week. Going on exchange was my chance to find out how independent I could be: cooking for myself, managing my own budget, and finding my way around unfamiliar cities where nobody knew me. Exchange students also pay HKUST tuition rather than the host university’s, so it was an affordable way to study at top universities abroad—which is why I did it twice!
 

Why did you choose Denmark/ US as your exchange destination?

I had always wanted to see Northern Europe. Life there seemed calm, and growing up in Hong Kong, I had never seen real snow. The Technical University of Denmark (DTU) is one of the top engineering schools in the region, and many of its courses can be transferred back to HKUST, allowing me to graduate on time. As for the US, I had previously met students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) at the Dual Degree Program in Technology & Management’s (T&M-DDP) International Business Plan Competition. UIUC has its own college town and felt much safer to me than studying in a big city.

What were you most looking forward to before departure?

Making new friends and seeing how everyday life works in a different culture. You never know what you might end up being part of. What I did not expect was the bittersweet side: sometimes I clicked with someone at an event late in the semester, knowing we might not meet again for years. At HKUST, there is always next year. Social media keeps us in touch, but it is not the same as bumping into each other on campus.

What was the most memorable experience during your exchange?

One of my most memorable experiences was the night UIUC's basketball team, the Fighting Illini, beat Iowa to reach the Elite Eight, their deepest tournament run in fifty years. I was watching the game in a campus bar, and the second the buzzer sounded, everyone sprinted outside. I just followed the crowd into the streets, and within minutes the whole campus was chanting "I-L-L, I-N-I." As a basketball fan, rooting for my own college team and being part of that piece of history is something I will never forget.

Was there anything that surprised you about living or studying there?

The weather, for a start. Denmark was not as cold as I had expected, with only a handful of snowy days in December, whereas Illinois was far snowier with temperature dropped to -20°C in January. In Copenhagen, I was amazed that bikes could be taken on the S-Tog trains for free . At UIUC, the scale of college sports was unreal: the gym is huge, and the football team has its own dedicated training buildings. And everyone seems to text via SMS, not WhatsApp.

How was the learning experience different from HKUST?

At DTU, each course is graded by a single final exam or project, and assignments are optional. That gave me a lot of freedom to learn at my own pace. UIUC felt closer to HKUST, with regular deadlines that kept me racing to finish everything at the last minute. Classes were more interactive, though: in Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology, students acted out Zeus and Hermes in a theater-style hall, and my negotiation class included live exercises in pairs.

What was the most interesting?

The most interesting course was UX Design Prototyping at DTU. Working with master's students from Greece, Spain, and Denmark, we built Cultoura (a mix of the Greek words for "culture" and "tour"), an app that matches travelers with locals as amateur guides, so visitors can enjoy authentic local experiences instead of queuing at crowded attractions. We each saw "good UX" differently: the Southern Europeans wanted warm social interaction, while the Danes wanted everything minimal and practical.

As the coordinator, I was frustrated at first. Coming from Hong Kong, I wanted an agenda and visible progress, but some meetings seemed to go in circles. Slowly, I learned that the open discussion was the point: sharing ideas freely was how we discovered what users needed, which we then validated through user testing with other groups in class. That change in mindset was worth more than the grade.

What was the biggest challenge you encountered, and how did you overcome it?

Adapting to the weather was a major hurdle. In Copenhagen, winter daylight lasted only about seven hours, and the radiator in my room broke down on some of the cold days. In Champaign, the dry indoor heating triggered my skin rashes that the clinic's medication barely helped. There was no quick fix: I had to be patient and let my body adapt, which took about a month. Weather affects my mood and energy far more than I had thought, and now I take it seriously wherever I go.

How has this experience influenced your future academic or career plans?

I used to assume I would follow the usual Hong Kong path: graduate quickly and start working as soon as possible. In Denmark, most students take gap years after high school; in the US, many devote serious time to their hobbies. Seeing that made me more relaxed about the future, because there are far more options than I had thought. I also discovered I genuinely enjoy working in cross-cultural teams: embracing differences gives you a new perspective on yourself and others.