Leap Week HongKong 2026 - Experience the future, discover who you want to become
08 July, 2026
“If students could experience a glimpse of their future before making important decisions, would those choices feel a little less uncertain?”
Perhaps this is something many parents have wondered as they watch their children enter the final years of school. What should I study? Where should I go to university? What am I truly suited for?
These questions cannot always be answered through a test or a single career counselling session. Sometimes, before making a choice, what students need most is simply the chance to experience.
That is also why LEAP WEEK has become a signature experience of Olympia’s Integrated Program, which includes the Vietnam–US Integrated Program and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB-DP).
A week to live closer to the future
In 2026, Hong Kong became the destination for LEAP WEEK.
Over seven days, students did far more than visit famous landmarks. Every stop was selected with a clear purpose: to help them form a more tangible picture of the paths they may choose in the future. At the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) – one of Asia’s leading universities in science, technology, and innovation – Olympians explored the campus, had lunch in the student canteen, and spoke with admissions representatives to learn more about academic programs, university life, and what it takes to prepare for an international academic environment. The journey continued at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), one of Asia’s most prestigious universities. Here, students began to understand that a strong university application is not built in the final few months of high school. It grows gradually from years of experience, projects, and even seemingly small choices made along the way.
When learning moves beyond the textbook
If universities offered a glimpse into future academic journeys, the business world opened an entirely different perspective.
At Odoo – a global technology company whose business management platform is used in more than 170 countries – students observed how a product moves from a warehouse to the customer, how data connects different departments, and how technology helps a modern organization operate efficiently. A process that may initially seem ordinary became a vivid lesson in management, systems thinking, and innovation. It was also when many students began to realize that technology is not simply about lines of code. It is also about how people work together to solve real-life problems.
Stepping into the world without losing sight of identity
One of the most meaningful experiences of this year’s LEAP WEEK was the exchange with students from Kiangsu-Chekiang College – a leading IB school in Hong Kong. In these conversations, Olympians did not simply listen. They also shared. Despite differences in language, culture, and geography, the students found common ground in curiosity, openness, and mutual respect. Perhaps that is one of the most beautiful aspects of international education: not to make everyone the same, but to help each person feel even prouder of where they come from.
What students brought home could not be packed in a suitcase
After one week, what remained was not simply a collection of beautiful photographs or a list of places visited.
It was a shift – subtle, perhaps, but meaningful enough for each student to see their own future a little more clearly.
For one student, it was the first realization that a research-intensive university environment truly appealed to them.
For another, it was understanding that technology is not merely a school subject, but could become a career worth pursuing.
For someone else, it was the confidence to stand before international peers and tell the story of their own country.
For Minh Trang (Grade 9 International), the most memorable part was not the prestigious universities or Hong Kong’s famous landmarks.
What she brought home were memories shared with friends and the feeling that she now understood a little more about the choices waiting ahead.
For Ms. Đỗ Dương Hồng Đào, the teacher accompanying the group, the greatest gift after seven days was not new knowledge, but the students’ growth.
They became more independent in daily life, more proactive in learning, better at listening and collaborating, and more willing to adapt to an entirely new environment.
Not simply to go further, but to move in the right direction
LEAP WEEK is more than an experiential learning program.
It is an opportunity for students to step outside the familiar rhythm of school life, see a wider world, and at the same time understand themselves more deeply.
Because before deciding where to study, what career to pursue, or who to become, the most important thing is not to have as many answers as possible. It is to have enough meaningful experiences to discover those answers for themselves. That is also how Olympia’s Integrated Program prepares students for the future: ready to engage with the world, while remaining grounded and confident in the choices that are truly their own.
