Momentum Award: Hanyin Cheng

Comprehensive research of programs at other universities spawned the umbrella organization Education for Students by Students (ESS), in which Hanyin served as president. “I want people to think of ESS as, you know they run really awesome programs that have a lot of meaning. Something I always tell my team is, the why is more important than the how, which is more important than the what.”

Cheng has laid the groundwork for ESS success and earned an award from ODSD in the process, but his legacy at BC is now for others to take over. He will be heading to New York after graduation to do investment banking for UBS, but he said that’s not his long-term vision. “I feel like I can learn a lot of skills from that job, but my long-term vision and how all of these things will come together is something I’m really passionate about, which is democratization of education.”

Part of his own philosophy, this trend centers around that idea that people shouldn’t let schooling dictate their own education. “Everyone should be lifelong learners, and education should be an opportunity that everyone should enjoy,” he said. “I’d love to be combining my passion for education, my entrepreneurial spirit, and my love for technology, because I think technology is what’s going to make the democratization of education possible.”

Despite his bright future, Cheng’s humility still shapes his communal thoughts on leadership. “When we think of leaders we always think someone who’s the decision  maker, the boss, someone who’s at the helm, sort of heroic too, but we tend to forget that there wouldn’t be a leader unless there were the first followers.”

Cheng’s mission to educate through personal passions will never be lost in his ambitions, though. He has left the BC community with a lasting means of turning work into play.

“I would encourage the rest of the student body to find what they love, however they do that, and just go for it and start something on their own because, in looking back on my education here, that’s been the thing,” Cheng concluded. “I couldn’t imagine what my college life would have been like without Splash or without having tried to start this. Yes, at times it’s consumed my life in an unpleasant way, but I think it’s made my life really fulfilling.”