Post 1 - What's your dream?

Post 1

What's your dream?

I'd be honest with you. If you would just compare me to others in terms of academic, I will pale in comparison.

But if you would just give me a chance, and finish reading through my posts, I'll hopefully show you that I'm different, and I'm just as worthy.


If you would just give me that fighting chance.

Today, society still places a large stigma on bad grades. B,C,D and fail grades are constantly frowned upon. Can't blame them - spaces in the best schools are limited, and grades are a good gauge / criteria to select and eliminate.

But the fact that you're actually reading this, brings warmth to my heart. You're different.

Thank you for giving me the chance, despite my not so stellar grades. I'm not proud of my grades, but that doesn't mean I did not give it my best. My bad grades don't mean that I was not sincerely trying hard to push through.

Perhaps I chose to take the wrong subjects at A levels; Perhaps the teaching method was wrong; Perhaps I'm just not intellectual enough; Perhaps its all of the above reasons.

I can spend a lifetime thinking about what went wrong. Or I can choose to focus on the future. Whatever the reason, I'm still going to move forward like I always have - because the ones with the bad grades aren't always the ones who do not succeed in life.

In fact, the ones with bad grades, are often those with a greater wealth of life experiences; those with greater appreciation for things around them; those with greater audacity to pick themselves up from a fall to fight, keep trying& finally succeed.

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm" - Winston Churchill.  History has shown that the world's greatest inventors, leaders and entrepreneurs are those who refused to get weighed down by grades and superficial markings.

The following four examples are good evidences.

(Retrieved from/Credits to: http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/OnFailingG.html)

1. Winston Churchill repeated a grade during elementary school and, when he entered Harrow, was placed in the lowest division of the lowest class. Later, he twice failed the entrance exam to the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. He was defeated in his first effort to serve in Parliament.

2. Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4-years-old and did not read until he was 7. His parents thought he was "sub-normal," and one of his teachers described him as "mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in foolish dreams." He was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School.

3. Thomas Edison's teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything." He was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive." As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."

4. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." He went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland. In fact, the proposed park was rejected by the city of Anaheim on the grounds that it would only attract riffraff.

With their transcripts of failing grades (sometimes not even graduating at all), they were by society's standards - FAILURES. Today, they are our nobel prize winners and renowned individuals we look to for inspiration.


Do you have a dream?? Just like everyone else, I too have a dream. As I type this post, that dream is coming closer and closer to reality. My dream, the goal that I have been fighting to work towards for the longest time (the many years I struggled academically) - to get into a good local university. What's your dream?

My dream is but a small humbled dream. It may mean nothing much to you, as it is nothing close to changing the world. But it is important to me because I know that my parents cannot afford to send me for an overseas education.

By grades, I'm undeserving. However, the next few posts are reasons why I'm different, and why you should take a chance on me.

Post 2 - About Me

Post 2:

About Me
I would describe myself in 3 words. I'm personable, eloquent, and committed.

With my personable character, I'm often times selected by my teachers and peers, to influence and lead.

With my eloquence, I'm able to present confidently (as seen from my PW grades and comments - supporting document), and I'm able to effectively do a sales pitch.

With my commitment, I am unfazed by failures.

I will elaborate more on these, with real life examples in my following posts.

Post 3 - Work experiences

Post 3

Work experiences

Not everyone gets life on a silver platter. For me, since young, I did not get much pocket money. It got worse when both my parents got retrenched. With the little I had, I learnt to be accountable and thrifty in the way I spend, so that I have enough money to last me throughout the week.

To be able to do that at a young age, I took up odd jobs since secondary school. Cashiering and Waitressing were not glamorous jobs, but I am glad I had to do it because unlike most of my peers, I learnt what the textbooks dont teach – How to tweak my communication styles to handle difficult customers; How to be accountable for the tasks assigned to me; How to think on my feet to react in difficult situations diplomatically. Sometimes, the people I work with can also be demanding or uncooperative. I learnt how to manage expectations and gain the liking of others.

Through odd jobs I also discovered one of my strengths, when I worked for Hao Shuen Pte Ltd as a Sales Promoter. I worked hard to equip myself with the full knowledge of the products that I had to sell. Although it was my first time taking on a sales job, I exceeded my sales target, bringing in sales worth $1,000 over 4 days. I believe that it was because of my ability to be charismatic, eloquent and convincing in my sales pitch. To be persuasive, I always try to first understand what the customer needs, and then tailor my recommendations of products to suit their needs. By showing the customers that I care for them, they are more likely to stay and listen to what I say about the benefits of the products. I also learnt that it is important to structure my thoughts so that I can put forth (As this is a public blog, I have decided not to put a reference contact here. If needed, please contact me to get my boss's contact number).

Through this life experience, I learnt that we don’t have to be rich, or the smartest, to make it out in life. With the right attitude, perseverance, commitment and the willingness to try and keep trying, we will ultimately get to where we aim to be. Compared to the rest, it may be a tougher and longer road, but what is important is that we learn at every step of the journey.

Post 4 - Achievements

Post 4

Achievements

While juggling academics and extra school curricular activities, I pursued my interest in Music - completed Piano ABRSM Grade 8 and learnt the clarinet as part of HSCS Concert Band.

In JC, new to floorball, there were many techniques to learn. Committed and disciplined, I trained hard, made progress and built camaraderie with my teammates. I was selected to be part of the team that represented school in A-Division.

 

 

 

Post 5 - Community service and leadership

Post 5

Community service and leadership

I was a student leader for 4 years in Secondary School. It wasn't that an easy job. I remember I had to champion for my school's Environment, Health and Safety - a topic which at that age, many youths will deem as "uncool" and "not important". However, I was sensible enough to know the importance of creating and maintaining an environment that is conducive for studying. After school, I would patrol the classrooms to check if the conditions are right. Whenever there are "problems", I would have to tap on my network of friends from the different classes to nudge them into getting their class to cooperate and make the school a better place for all of us. I believe that because of my personable character, I had my network of friends, and the ability to influence them on an "uncool" matter.

I also participate actively in many Community Service Projects(please refer to Supporting Documents), the most memorable one was leading a group of 26 students in the Willing Hearts Soup Kitchen Volunteering Programme. As I was overall in-charge, I had to coordinate the duty rooster, assign work and time schedule for everyone. As a leader, I had to motivate my peers towards the good cause of caring for the Elderlies & Disabled. Some had bad attitude of reporting late, whilst some did not want to get their hands dirty. I had to be the positive source of energy to effectively inspire and lead them to complete a common task.

 

 

 

Post 6 - The not so nice part - my failures and how I overcame it

Post 6

The not so nice part - my failures and how I overcame it

I consistently failed Geography and GP exams. I knew that if I wanted to get into a local university, I cannot afford to fail at A-levels. To overcome, I tackled the problem at its root – inadequate knowledge stored in my brains.

I redesigned lecture notes and information from case studies and the textbook, to craft my own notes in point form to help me to memorize better. I also went on learning journeys, read model essays, and analysed articles from the Newspapers to widen my knowledge and improve my ability to structure and present logical arguments.

In the end, these two subjects gave me my two highest grades in A-levels. Everyone has their own weaknesses, but good learning attitude and discipline can overcome it.



Few images from the Geography learning journey to LTA and ERA

 

 

 

 

 

Post 7 - so, why SUTD

Post 7

So, why SUTD?

I am drawn to SUTD because of its unique pedagogy. To me, SUTD is different from the mainstream universities because of the following 4 reasons.

With the lowest student to faculty ratio of 11:1, the quality of teaching is enhanced as the professor will have greater bandwidth to customize his or her teaching to fit the needs and learning styles of a student.

I am also attracted to the hands-on learning styles. Unlike in Secondary School and Junior College, where the huge focus was on theories and concepts, SUTD allows its students to test concepts through hands-on experimentation (which makes learning more fun and interactive, and therefore better understood and remembered).

Through videos on YouTube, I was also inspired by the SUTD Internships that I will be exposed to. With more than 50 industry partners, SUTD brings its student a step closer to their dream careers. This is encouraging because I want a bright career too.

Lastly, unlike other universities, SUTD allows its students to have flexibility in designing their curriculum. Being able to take a course across faculty will allow students to have an all-rounded education, whilst at the same time being able to pursue their passion and interests.

Post 8 - Thank you

Post 8

Thank you

I can't thank you enough for reading through what I have so honestly put forth about myself.

In school, its always about the grades. However, in the future, at work..in the real world, it will be about life experiences, character and drive. What matters will not be an alphabet, or some numbers that supposedly define your intellectual worth. What matters is one's ability to adapt, innovate, and thrive wherever, whenever and with whoever.

I hope that the above words/posts that I have so desperately tried to get out of myself, allowed you to feel my sincerity.

"Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid" - Albert Einstein. Look pass my grades and take this chance on me, and I promise I will work a lot harder than the rest to be somebody, someday.

Thank you, with all my heart.