Three years, four majors

Some people would say Vincent Leung is crazy, and he might agree with them. "Sometimes, I think I'm crazy," he admitted.

Leung is graduating after three years of college, but that is not the amazing aspect of Leung's academic career.

Leung is attempting four majors in computer engineering, computer science, economics and mathematics. He also seeks a certificate in business.

ECE student Vincent Leung will be graduating in August. His current GPA is 3.969. (Reprinted from the Daily Cardinal 05/3/00) (25K JPG)

At first, he had only planned to major in ECE and computer science. The rest was a gradual process.

"After taking some economics classes, I found it to be great fun so I tried to work out a schedule," Leung said. "It seems to all fit in three years.

"Then I heard about the Business Certificate program from some friends and worked that into my schedule as well."

"As for math, I have some extra `remaining credits' that I can spare, and I think that it will be helpful for my Master's if I decided to go to grad school."

"He's a genius," Leung's friend Mike Fung said. "I do the same things he does, and it takes me a day. For him, it takes an hour!"

Professor Charles Kime, associate chair for undergraduate activities in the electrical and computer engineering department, serves as Leung's academic advisor.

According to Kime, students like Leung are rare. "I have been fortunate to deal with very talented and dedicated students. Among them, I have encountered students similar to Vincent infrequently, perhaps one every five years or so," Kime said.

Kime said he believes it is Leung's talent, motivation, discipline and hard work that enable him to maintain a 3.969 grade point average while carrying the heavy course load required to graduate with four majors in three years.

He is cramming his majors into three years because the full scholarship program he receives from the government of Hong Kong only covers a three-year period. "Since I don't want my family to pay for my college education, I decided to graduate in three years with whatever I got," Leung said.

He has had some 23-credit semesters as well as 12-credit summer sessions.

"This semester I have 20 credits," Leung said. "Then this summer I will have nine credits. It's going to be pretty pleasurable," he added with a smile.

The ECE department allows students to take a maximum of 20 credits.

"Very few students make a request to take the maximum number of credits," Kime said. "When a request is made, the ability of the student to handle the load is assessed in each individual case. The advisor then recommends to the associate dean of engineering whether or not to grant the student's request. The dean makes the final decision."

Leung said he appreciated the support from Kime in efforts to obtain his four degrees and a certificate in three years.

"I think I put a lot of pressure on him [Kime]," said Leung. "Kime once said to me, `We're a little bit worried about your health and mental health.' He's a very nice person."

Leung said his semesters have been very tiring, but he said he has no regrets.

Because of the amount of work involved with 20 or 23 credit semesters, Leung does not get a lot of sleep around the end of the semester.

"I sleep a couple hours a day for several weeks and then fall asleep in class," he lamented. "It's not because I went out at night, but because I was in the lab all night. People look at me and think I am a bad student, because I came to class and fell asleep, but no one knows the whole story."

Leung said he survives by using a certain type of mentality.

"I just want to get everything done," he said. "I think that's the kind of mentality that has kept me going."