Final Post

I only decided to take ES2007S after NUS module registration was closed and all other modules had started their lectures for a week. My reason for taking this module was simple: getting a free time out of other 6 science modules. However, only after I got to know this course, I realized 7 modules per semester was not easy, AT ALL, and especially one of them frequently requires writing and presentations. :-Q

Every weekend, all my friends would not to bother me since they knew that I would lock myself inside room, writing blog online. I also remember how nervous Rach and I were when we prepared for the peer teaching, since it was first time to be a teacher in front of peer classmates, and the heat discussions and disagreement we had regarding the activities to facilitate our teaching. Then was the time for me to write the resume and cover letter. I should thank a lot to it since that I send out my resume edited in this course and got an internship opportunity in December. Also in this course, I learnt to conduct surveys and how to write out a proposal. I did suffer a lot during the process of writing my part in the proposal. Our team communicated nearly every day and met up quite frequently. I always remember we boiled night oil in student lounge the other day; I remember my mailbox was filled with proposal drafts and discussions, and I will not forget that morning when I printed out the proposal, I was so excited that I wanted everyone I knew to have a look at our product and give comments on. Times flies to the end of the semester, and we prepared for the oral presentation. Our team had an email arguing about the way to prepare for the presentation, but we finally reached to agreement and did a great job.

So what does this course bring to me? I would say it outweighed all modules I learnt in NUS. I had three semesters in NUS before this school year, in total of 15 modules learnt, and I have to admit that I forgot them all after I went to exchange. I even cannot remember the fundamental theorems in my major studies, and have to pick them up this semester. I am so glad now that at least I had one module that I won’t forget in my history of studying in NUS. This course not only taught me how to write resumes and business letters, but more significantly, it equipped me with the skills in effective communicating. I will not be that nervous to do my FYP presentation and will not be over-frustrated after entering work place, because I have been trained to communicate professionally in this course. And moreover, this course brought me a lot of friends who I also learnt from and shared laughers with.

Thank you Brad for being our teacher, you are like the teachers in my high school years back in China, who were always nice and responsible, who always cares about their students. Thank you Van and Rach to be my team mates, for the wonderful time we spent together. And thank you for all my class mates for sharing four hours together every week. Now I know many people from engineering too, and I appreciate the way engineers think which is different from how scientists do to some extend.

Hope everyone does best in the exams and may a happy holiday for you ahead!

Reflection on oral presentation

It was a good learning process of both writing the proposal and preparing the oral presentation. I found it was easier to prepare the presentation and the slides than any time before, since I have digested the topic when I wrote the proposal.

My presentation part homologize with the part I did in the proposal: the background information and the survey questions. It has been a hard time for me to write the background in the proposal, but when I prepared for the presentation, I knew it worth that I suffered writing out the proposal. I was supposed to reveal the significances of taking extra naps and showers during the day and to show the results of survey question 5 and 7 in the presentation. I meant to make everyone get the ideas how naps and showers benefit us and hope they might develop such habits, and then my teammates could deliver our topic of creation a new concept of student lounges with these facilities. Because there are many research data and textbook knowledge about the benefits of naps and shower, I thought I might do something to make it easier to understand, since most of people may get easily tired of reading research papers in the first place. Hence, I introduced in more pictures rather than texts in the slides than ever before. And for the real research experiment, I created the graphs for people to get the ideas. I hoped these vivid pictures and graphs would create some laughers and thus could catch the attention from the audience, so that they would not find it the boring to read the data.

However, problems also arise from the pictures. As one classmate said, it might be too causal to use some of the pictures in a formal presentation. Thus, I should take into consideration that whether every picture conveys meaningful points and whether they facilitates the main idea of our topic.

For the delivery of the presentation, I somehow was still so nervous that I have to have some glance of the slides to the get myself calm and focus on what I was talking about. I tried eye contact and body language, but have no idea whether they were effective.

Last but not least, it was a pleasant experience to do this project with Rach and Van. We did confront some conflicts here or there, but I appreciated that everyone in the team was able to be honest and open to communications and suggestions. We also built up our friendship through the good time and some not so good time together. By the end of the project, I get to know our team name is so true: R and D (research and development) are supposed to be open and it is definitely fun!

A Lawsuit due to Intercultural Misunderstanding

Five years ago in a small town in Texas, a Chinese immigration family was facing a lawsuit. The grandfather was sued in the name of abusing his grandson John, who was at the age of nine. The real story was:

The grandpa, Lee, travelled from China to visit his son’s family in this small town, where his son and daughter-in-law had immigrated since 1999. In weekdays, John’s parents went to work for full day, and after John returned home from school, it was always the happy time for the grandpa and grandson to share. They watched football games on TV, gardened, and played games. It was one day when John got cold in the morning, and asked a day off from school. Lee was going to take care of him. However, John felt even sicker in the afternoon, and got heavy cough and a fever afterwards. Lee was thinking about to take his grandson to hospital, but on one hand, the hospital is far away from their home, on the other hand, Lee could not speak English and either drive a car. He remembered the tradition Chinese treatment back in China. People will give sick people a Skin Scraping Therapy (刮痧 GuaSha in Chinese) to help blood circulation and the release of pain. The only thing is after the therapy, there will be some gores left underneath the skin due to scraping. However, it does work well in healing. And this therapy gets much popular nowadays even in western world. I once saw on TV that a famous female celebrity dressing a backed dinner gown stepping on the Oscar red carpet, with the imprint of a skin scarping therapy. Newspapers even gave a zoomed shot to the imprint and titled “Chinese tattoo becomes a fashion”.

Back to the grandpa, he did the therapy to his grandson. And with no doubt, there are gores left on John’s back. The second day, John got better and went to school as usual. Then when he had a PE lesson and got changed in changing room, John’s classmates saw the imprint and reported to their teacher. Lee got the letter of complaint saying he had attempted to abuse his grandson John, and both Lee and John was taken away for investigation. I guess Lee would never picture himself in a lawsuit, neither in a foreign country, nor abusing his own grandson.

It took about a real long time for police to investigate the case. And during that period, Lee was not allowed to get close to grandson.

I have no idea how Lee and the family get over the event, but I can imagine their frustration and uncertainty. There are troubles aroused by intercultural communications, but they are still solvable in some way if both parties calm down and talk to each other. However, when it goes to law, innocent people can become guilty, and they really invloved in troubles.

To Seek Difference

Exams in my secondary school were always stressful and so unpleasant that I have never tried to recall them again. There is but one English exam that I shall not forget, because I developed one of my key principles from it, which also contributes to who I am now.

It was the essay part of an English exam. I was in a desperate attempt to write an impressive ending sentence that would hopefully flatter my whole writing. Just before time was up, I wrote, “…because tomorrow never dies.” Very well. This is supposed to be meaningful because people like to use it.

When I got the exam paper back, I did not see a lengthy comment. The teacher who marked my paper just underlined my last sentence and wrote, in red, “Avoid cliché”; as if that was the whole point she wanted to make me see. It is curious that it was actually the first time I really understood the word “cliché”. The ending sentence suddenly looked grotesque to me. The essay would have been better off without it, but that was not a big deal any more. My important realization was that I did not use my own brain when I should have. I was being lazy and repeated a sentence that was already chewed at least a million times by others. It should be meaningless by now, because people’s ears are no more sensitive to it. How ridiculous that I thought it could be flattering to my writing, which at least had some originality!

I appreciate the teacher’s sharpness. It does not matter much how profound my writing is, how many decorative vocabularies I acquire, and how beautiful each sentence sounds. What matters is whether I can express my own ideas in a smooth and original way, and avoid any unnecessary addition borrowed from somewhere that is neither matching nor creative.

Now I am majoring in science, a field that requires me to regenerate creativity. It is difficult to achieve this goal, but a good exercise for the brain is to explore possible variations of a fine original concept. Giving each variation a distinct personal touch, even the abandoned one, is less inferior to an idea that has been already used by others repeatedly.

Be bold, and seek difference. That is what I believe in and that makes who I am today.

[Language Problem Edited: Sep 19,8:15pm ]

Will you have the curiosity to have a glance of my resume?

Hi all! If you were the office manager,will you take a considerable time to look at my resume? And how do you think I can improve my cover letter? Pls feel free to indicate anything improper.Thank you very much!


Job Ad:
http://ejobcentre.nus.edu.sg/Jobs/jobdesc.asp?type=0&eid=4763291&jid=2142943&did=314&its=0&src=8&itn=
Job Title: Internship (7 Dec 09 to 9 Jan 10) with Hays Specialist Recruitment Pte Ltd
Job Scope:
1. Adhere to company recruitment methodology, policies, procedures and Service Delivery standards
2. To sit in interviews with Consultants to gain some knowledge on interview skills
3. To assist Consultants in posting ads on job boards
4. To amend candidate records and resumes as required
5. To input and update all candidate and client information as requested in a timely manner
6. Accompany consultants on Client Visits as directed
Specific projects/learning outcomes:
1. Represents Hays in professional manner in all dealings with candidates
2. To understand the whole cycle of recruitment process
Requirement: Full-time matriculated students
=================================================================
September 6, 2009

Ms. Jennis Ng
Office Manager
16 Collyer Quay
#34-01 Hitachi Tower Singapore 049318

Dear Ms. Jennis Ng,

I have come to know that your company is recruiting integrated students for an internship from 7 December 2009 to 9 January 2010 after I was introduced to it by Ms Manjeet Kaur at the career office in the National University of Singapore. Here are some of the reasons why I believe I am qualified for this golden internship opportunity.

I am currently a year four student majoring in Statistics and minor in Financial Mathematics. Being a scholar from China, I have become a more resilent person through experiences such as learning to adapt to a totally foreign education system since my arrival in high school. In addition, to step out my comfort zone, with no prior knowledge in German language, I got the opportunity to study in Germany for one and half year under student exchange program and also to hold another scholarship there. Studying overseas made me a self-motivated person and a fast learner. Moreover, as a debater in the NUS Varsity Debate Team, I was able to hone my analyzing and presenting skills..

Apart from the experiences I gained in school, I also did a few internships in different industries, such as in IT Start-Ups, Sales and Marketing industries, which are located in Singapore, Malaysia, United States of America and Europe. During my vacation in 2007 and 2008, I assisted the same group of investors and entrepreneurs with research on business environment in the U.S.A and Europe respectively. I gained first-hand experience and had a good insight into the real business world at a global level.

After working in various industries, I realized how crucial recruitment consulting plays in company recruitment and personal career development. My career goal is to benefit others and I believe working in recruitment consulting industry is like no other, because helping match people to the right organizations will directly influence their lives and I could do it everyday at Hays.

Enclosed is my detailed resume. I believe I am a person who is capable and responsible to work for you, and I look forward to being granted a discussion with you regarding my application. Thank you very much for your consideration.

Yours sincerely,

XXXX

Kuok Foundation House,
Room XX,
XX Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119280
Mobile: (65)xxxxxx
Email: XXX@nus.edu.sg

A Conflict between My Friend and Her Future Mother-In-Law

Last night, one of my best friends called and we talked overnight. She was very sad and needed someone to give her some suggestions on how she should resolve the conflicts between her and her fiancé, or more precisely, between her and her future mother-in-law. I have totally no idea how to help my friend, so I’m here to tell her story and ask for your suggestions.

My friend, Monica, met her boyfriend Andrew in a hall activity two years ago. Like every romance story, they fell in love at the first sight. Andrew was a gentleman and had a good sense of humor, and Monica was pretty and brilliant. They got along very well, and Andrew took Monica to meet his parents several times. Monica got quite well with Andrew’s family at the beginning. Everything went perfect. This summer, Andrew proposed and they planned to get married right after Andrew graduates from medicine school. In the meantime, Monica graduated and found a position in bank. The job paid her really well, but it also occupied most of her time. Monica became very busy. Since they were engaged, Andrew hoped Monica could get closer to his family, and even introduced Monica to his grandparents and the rest of his big family. They had quite a lot of gatherings, which Monica tried, despite her hectic schedule, to participate in. However, Andrew’s family still found it was hard to meet his fiancée, and Andrew’s mum had complained about it. However, Monica also felt that it is meaningless to visit Andrew’s family so frequently. She got tired of commuting from the city center to Andrew’s home in Yew Tee. It got especially tiresome, since it was common for her to have to work overtime.

The main conflict happened in early August. A male friend of Monica’s was waiting for campus accommodation, and had to sleep in Monica and her friend’s living room for about three days. Nothing occurred until Monica told this to Andrew’s mother in a casual conversation in another family gathering. His mother reacted extremely angrily about a male living in Monica’s home. She, in front of all family members, screamed at Monica, “You are such a profligate girl! How can you let other man live in your room? I won’t allow a dirty girl to enter my family!” Monica felt it was a total grievance that Andrew’s mum had judged her. She snapped back immediately. They had a huge quarrel that night, and Andrew’s mother slapped in Monica’s face in the end.

Andrew was caught in between the two women he cherished most in the world. He is the kind of person who never argues with his parents, so he went to reason with Monica. Monica, however, felt she did no wrong in the case, and insisted on her principles. She refused to apologize to Andrew’s mum. The couple broke up.

One week later after that night, both Monica and Andrew could not stand the grief of losing their soulmates, and decided to get back together. Monica persisted on not apologizing to Andrew’s mum, but forgave her misjudgment. Besides the fact that it was embarrassing to meet her mother-in-law, Monica still had a busy life. She got up at around six and got off from work at eleven every night. Her career just started and she felt much pressure. To visit Andrew’s family was so difficult for Monica, as she felt the time and psychological constraints. However, on Andrew’s part, he considered Monica narrowed-minded and disrespectful to his mother. They had a fight last night and broke up again.

The couple was supposed to get married next year, and it is extremely sad for them to go their separate ways. As friend of both, I also felt sorry. Monica is going to return Andrew the engagement ring. Should I stop her? Do you think there is irreconcilable conflict between them and do they deserve a break up? If not, what should Monica do to save the relationship? Monica and Andrew will appreciate it very much if you have advice for them.

Why effective communication skills are important for me?

Statistics shows, on average, girls talk three times as much as boys do. Women chalk up about 20,000 words a day, but men use only 7,000. When I saw this and told my best female friend, we stared to each other for a second and laughed out. Before that, we never realized our amount of word use is this far lager than male counterparts. I started to think about the reasons behind it, and questioned myself, while I talk so much every day, is my communication effective? My conclusion is not optimistic, and I know I need to improve my communication skills.

Foremost, I am not living in an isolated island. I need to communicate with my parents, siblings, and friends to exchange information, to share feelings, and to understand each other. I call home to let my family know how is my life, to ease them not to worry about me too much. I think we have sufficient communications; however, there are still misunderstandings. I remember last semester, I told my parents that I wanted to look for an internship to enrich myself and also to get some pocket money. It might because of the tone I used was not appropriate. They thought that I did not have adequate financial support for study and living. They then transferred money to my bank account and warned me to focus on academic study rather than earning money. I had to explain to them again the reason why internship is as important as study, and to comfort them I was doing well in university, as well as my financial status.

Effective communication skills are also applicable when there are conflicts between friends. It is virtually inevitable to have misunderstandings, argues, and even quarrel in a relationship. Whenever I had conflicts with my friends before, I took it for granted and assumed that they “should” understand me well; they “should” forgive me, and so on. However, as I grow up, I get to know how important mutual understanding is, and looking for a solution or a compromise is much better than cold wars. If I have certain effective communication skills then, I would not have so many regrets now.

Lastly, after I graduate, stepping into the society, there will be much communication between my bosses, colleagues, clients and me. I have to learn how to deliver the correct message, how to negotiate, persuade, how to talk in a proper way with clients, and the like. Fortunately, I still have time to equip myself through learning effective communication skills before confronting problems in reality.

As for me, effective communication is not only the crucial part of my daily life when sharing ideas with families and friends, solving conflicts in relationships, but also, it is a key skill that I must command for the development of my career.

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