Final Reflection on Learning

Alas, the semester has come to an end and all of the lectures have finally ended. Among all the modules that I have taken this semester, I have to admit that ES2007S is probably the most useful module.

ES2007S is different from many other modules offered by the faculty, which tend to require students to remember a whole lot of information and regurgitate them out during the examination. In ES2007S, the information delivered to the students is not hard facts, but practical knowledge and skills that can be applied across all levels e.g. effective communication skills, ways to write a good cover letter and resume, etc.

I have learnt a lot through this entire module, and perhaps the greatest takeaway for me was the writing of the resume and cover letter. Prior to attending this course, I had absolutely no idea that there were in fact different ways to present one’s resume! But after the lesson on cover letters and resumes, I realize that I was greatly mistaken and that there are in fact different styles of writing one’s resume depending on what one chooses to focus on. While coming up with the resume and cover letter, it also provided me an opportunity to think and reflect upon my own “unique selling points” that I want to build upon so as to give myself an added edge in this highly competitive 21^st century.

In addition to that, the course has also taught me how to be a better presenter. The feedback given to me throughout all the presentations made in class had led me to realize what some of my weaknesses and strengths were as a presenter. These presentation skills that I have took away from the module is very useful and will definitely come in handy when I’m working in the future.  

To end off, ES2007S is a module unlike many others in NUS, for it chooses to focus on practical skills that can be carried into the working world even after one graduates. It is no doubt the MOST USEFUL module I have taken in NUS thus far, and I have absolutely no regrets taking it. Many thanks to all those who have helped me out in this module in one way or another, and lastly a BIG THANKS to Dr. Jaidev for your effort and guidance throughout the course!

Reflection on Oral Presentation

On 31^st October, Monday marked the last of the oral presentations that I am required to do for the module. Overall, I felt that my team did a great job in presenting our ideas to the class, but there were still some areas which we were lacking in that ought to be improved.

In terms of the preparation, I felt that the team has definitely placed a lot of effort on it. As everyone has written on different portions of the proposal, the team made it a point to ensure that the parts that we were handling for the presentation is completely different from the portions that we have written for the proposal. This is to ensure that all of us would get a thorough understanding on all parts of the proposal, making us better prepared for the question and answer section of the presentation.

The team has also met up before the actual presentation to carry out a rehearsal. This was extremely important as it helps the members of the team to familiarize themselves with the slides, as well as providing a time for the team to comment and evaluate on individual members’ presentation skills.

As for the delivery for my part of the presentation, I thought that I did fine in terms of delivery and content. However, one flaw of mine was the pace – I was speaking too fast. The pace at which I speak has been a troubling issue to me since a long time ago, and I admit that I do have some troubles with overcoming this problem. A more conscious effort on my part to slow down my pace is necessary for my presentation skills to become better.

Concerning the slides, the team has decided to make use of Prezi as the platform for our presentation. Prezi is a great interface for presentation as not only is it more uncommonly used (as most would choose to use Microsoft Powerpoint), it also provides good visual effects with the zooming function. The team is able to effectively emphasize on our points by zooming in on the key ideas, which helps to better effectively persuade the audience.

To end off, it has been enjoyable working with the team and I think that all of us should give ourselves a pat on our shoulders for the job well done! :D

Evaluating Intercultural Behavior

A few months back, I had taken part in a 4 days event called “Broadcast Asia 2011” held at Suntec, Singapore. During this event, I had the chance to interact with some Spaniards since I was helping out a company from Spain.

Upon my first meeting with them, I realized that there was a difference in the way Asians and Spaniards greet each other. Normally, when an Asian greets another Asian, they will extend out their hand to do a handshake. Although one may think that this is common and true for people from other nations, this is certainly not the case for the Spaniards. For them, greeting is performed in the form of cheek kissing, and it is alright for men to be doing that to women. My first thought was that this form of greeting is definitely not common in Asia, given that Asians tend to be more conservative in their thinking compared to Westerners. Even if such gestures were performed between Asian men and women, the gesture probably has more of a romantic meaning to it rather than just a simple greeting. As a Singaporean, I was uncomfortable with the idea of doing cheek kissing with others. Hence, I extended out my hand and chose to do a handshake as my form of greetings instead. Of course, I was given a firm handshake backed too.

Thinking back about it, I was glad that I did not try performing cheek kissing. I think that it may be better to avoid doing it rather than to get the entire procedure wrong (e.g. starting on the wrong cheek or kissing the wrong number of times), which may end up offending the other party instead. However, if ever there is a chance for me to go overseas to a place where cheek kissing is common, I would definitely try to do it for I think that it is important to learn to embrace other’s culture when one is in a foreign land.     

Application Letter

Aw Yi Xuan Fiona

Blk xxx 123 Street #xx-xxx

Singapore xxxxxx

+65 9xxx xxxx

fiona.awyx@gmail.com

Hiring Manager

Science Centre Singapore

15 Science Centre Road
Singapore 609081

11^th September 2011

Re: Position of Science Educator (Exhibitions)

Dear Hiring Manager,

As a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) student from National University of Singapore, I would like to express my interest in applying for the position of Science Educator (Exhibitions) in your company. Upon seeing the requirements for the position, I strongly believe that I possess the relevant experience, knowledge and skills.

Being a Chemistry student, conducting weekly experiments in the laboratories is an essential part of my undergraduate studies. Such rigorous curriculum has allowed me to constantly reinforce my scientific knowledge and improve my laboratory skills. Moreover, I can operate laboratory equipments as well as scientific programs and databases. I believe that these knowledge and skills will come in handy for the designing and testing of demonstrations and experiments for the Science Centre.

Furthermore, I am also a member of the hosting and radio broadcasting wing of the campus radio station, NUS Radiopulze. I hosted several major external and school events such as Singapore Street Festival and NUS Commencement 2011. Through hosting, I have managed to hone my communication skills. I am not afraid of speaking in front of a large crowd and have no trouble when it comes to the delivering of lines. I am confident that these public speaking experiences of mine will come in useful when I am doing programs in front of any general public visitors.

Moreover, my vacation job experience at Just Education Tuition Centre Pte Ltd has enhanced my interpersonal and teaching skills. I was a frontline staff as well as a science tutor for primary and secondary levels at the tuition centre. In my line of work, I have dealt with nasty customers, and am aware of the ways to handle such situations. These experiences will allow me to handle any unforeseen circumstances while doing live demonstrations at the science centre. In addition, I have learnt to engage and capture the attention of my students ranging from the age of 7-16 from teaching Science tuition classes at the tuition centre.

Enclosed is my resume for your perusal. I have the faith that with the aforementioned experiences, scientific knowledge and skills, I will be an asset to the company. I can be reached at the fore-mentioned contact details should you wish to have a further discussion with me. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Respectfully yours,

Fiona



Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

There have been many incidents in my life where I have made someone upset, and vice versa. But perhaps out of all these incidents, the ones that I remember most vividly would be those little arguments that I had with my family members, who are the closest to me. They would be the last people on earth whom I want to enrage and have a poor relationship with.

This incident happened back when I was in secondary school where I had an argument with my sister. The reason – I had woke her up while she was in the middle of her sleep to head down to carry some stuff up for my parents. Of course, I could have gone down to help my parents out but I just did not do it. As a result, we had a cold war for about two weeks, which was really unbearable for me.

Looking back at it, I knew that I was at fault for this incident. My sister was really tired as she had been out all night, and I was not considerate enough to let her have her well deserved rest. Recognizing this fact, I made the first move to stop the cold war by apologizing to her. As family, we do not bear any grudges. So I was forgiven and the cold war was over.

An unresolved problem will continue to be unresolved if no one were to do anything about it. The longer you drag it, the tougher it will be to resolve the problem as more pent up feelings begin to build up. And so, the morale of the story is this – if one is at fault, then one should not be ashamed to take the first step in resolving it. A simple phrase like “I’m sorry” can do wonders! J  

Why Effective Communication Skills are Important for Me

Everyone can communicate, but not everyone can be an effective communicator. We may think that since we have been communicating since the day we learnt how to talk, we should all be masters at communication. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but most people (including myself) are actually bad communicators. We may talk for long hours, but the information may not be successfully delivered to the person on the listening end. We may think that our words are harmless, but put it in a different context, these words are actually offensive. This is why some say that communication is a form of an art, one that is not easily mastered.

Indeed, I agree with that. Poor communication skills will lead to a communication breakdown, where information is not successfully delivered from one person to another. In some cases, poor communication skills can even damage the relationship of one person with another. This is why effective communication skills are important, because we are not living alone on a deserted island. We are living in a highly globalized world, where there are many people of different cultures staying together in one country, or even working within one company. At many times, one needs to build relationship with others and work with them to get things done, and that is not possible without good communication skills.

Imagine working in a team where communication breakdown occurs frequently because instructions send via emails are not clear enough, or no instructions were given because one assumes that the others know what is going on. A task that could have originally been completed within a month would take 2 months to be completed. This will no doubt undermine your superior’s impression of you and your capabilities, which can be avoided had proper communication skills been utilized.   

I took up this module to learn about effective communication skills as I believe that these are skills that cannot be attained overnight but attained through practice. As demonstrated above, poor communication skills do not bode well for one’s future career and that is something that I wish to avoid. I certainly hope that after this module, I would have enough time to practice on these skills and be able to one day confidently call myself to be an effective communicator.