Alumni Education Ph.D., University of Hong Kong Describe what you do for work and how your experience with it has been. I have recently submitted the final hard-bound copies of my Ph.D. dissertation, titled “Contextualizing Iconoclasm: Early Missionaries and the Textuality of Culture Change in Polynesia.” Before starting my Ph.D., I taught in the United States, Mainland China, and Hong Kong, and served as the developer of a Learning Resources Center in Hong Kong. My feelings about my work have varied over time, but how a person feels about his/ her work is not necessarily an indication of its quality or value. How did you get your job? I chose The University of Hong Kong for my Ph.D. after a positive experience doing my Master of Arts degree at HKU. I mulled over where, when, and whether at all to do a Ph.D. for some time before committing. Factors that influenced my decision included HKU’s excellent global reputation for research of high caliber; a feeling of a good fit academically with members of the university, including my intended supervisor; admiration of the department’s curriculum design, because I’d be helping with undergrad classes; library access; the structure of the program, enabling me to work non-stop through the summers; my love for Hong Kong; and financial support. I received a prestigious scholarship, which enabled me to step away from my job to concentrate on a full-time Ph.D. It also enabled me to travel to conduct research and present my work in conferences. My dissertation research took me on seven trips to the United Kingdom and United States, as well as Tonga, where I served as a guest lecturer, and French Polynesia, where I helped expand a museum in the Marquesas. A Ph.D. application is comprised of several components. The committee deliberating my application should have considered my past academic experience; work and life experience; transcripts; writing samples; publication record; reference letters; and the strength and originality of my research proposal. I was also interviewed, and because the Ph.D. candidates in Hong Kong represent over 100 nationalities, language ability can be a factor. The fellowship I was awarded asked about character, integrity, and leadership potential. Because doing a Ph.D. involves adding knowledge to the world, a person’s intellectual rigor and courage, work ethic, and capacity for independent thought are important. MCAD’s contribution in preparing me for this was probably in being such an intense crucible for creative and critical thinking, and training me to work hard and to articulate the unique character of the ideas I add to the world.