Wow, how time flies. Three months are gone and now we have to write our final reflections post.
Initially when I took this module, I just wanted a light module so I can concentrate better on my heavier mathematics modules. Boy was I wrong...once we settled into the module, all sorts of assignments were thrown at us---blogging, peer teaching, writing of the application letters, resumes and personal statements, conducting mock interviews, researching, writing our proposals and then finally, giving our oral presentations. Phew! I can't believe I did all those in such a short period of time.
One thing that helped me to cope was the peer reviews. To me, when I go through my coursemates' work, I see certain mistakes and then when I go back to look at my work, I try to use what I've seen in the work of others to improve my own. Personally, I felt that was more useful than receiving a ton of feedback from a tutor and then trying to sift through all the information you get to try to produce something better. That's really overwhelming work. I have definitely learnt a lot from Brad as well as my coursemates. The feedback they gave for every single one of my assignments have been invaluable.
Looking back at my very first post, I think I've come far from where I was three months ago. I wrote that I rather work alone and that I was terrified of oral presentations. While I still think I'd rather work alone if given a choice, I now think that I wouldn't go out of my way to avoid group projects as I previously would (reflections on group project given in previous post "Pre-OP"). Also, I think I've overcome my fear of public speaking through the peer teaching, oral presentation as well as the numerous speaking opportunities I get in class.
Besides working on the aspects of communication that I fear most, I've also managed to gain many life skills required for the working life. For example, I used to think that you should dump all the work experience you have had into your resume. However, the peer teaching done by Michelle and Van made me realise that only the work experience relevant to the job you're applying for should go into your resume. This information really helped me streamline my resume and tailor it to the job when I applied for a vacation job recently to write teaching materials for primary and lower secondary level students. By the way, I got the job in the end.
So thank you, Brad and all my ES2007S coursemates. :)
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Penultimate Post --- Group Evaluation
The module is just almost over and done with. There's still the matter of the form we have to hand in and our last blog post. Over the last couple of weeks, I have tried my utmost to resist typing a blog post similar to what this will shape up to be but today's class just gave me a little extra ammunition to get this out in the open. I'm not the kind of person to wash dirty linen in public but Brad's suggestion that Feodor was the one who was testing the limits of my patience throughout the project really caught me off-guard because of how wrong it was!
Just to clarify, I actually liked working with Feodor. He contributed actively to our group discussions, gave great suggestions, is hardworking and responsible, and like I've mentioned before, is the glue of the group. He is a wonderful platform for bouncing ideas off. At the end of our numerous group meetings, he'd always be the one asking, "so where do we go from here?" He made sure we knew our tasks and that everybody had a part to work on after the meeting. He was also the guy who kept us focused on our tasks whenever it gets late and we start to lose focus. Also, he kept us sane during those crazy long nights by providing home-baked cookies. HAHA. I honestly enjoyed working with Feodor. And yes Feodor, we are still friends.
Michelle has been the "pusher" for the project from the very start. I think everybody will remember Feodor mentioning that he finds the girls in our group (being Michelle and I) to be panicky. Panicky, we certainly are not. We just want to complete things as soon as possible. I really want to give Michelle credit for that. She really pushes the group to hold meetings concerning different parts of our project and rushes us to finish the tasks we have on hand so that our complete work can come together as soon as possible. Every group setting definitely needs a person like that to push for work to be done. She has been exceptionally focused on this project and has given no less than 100% from the very start. In a semester where everybody has so much to do, I have to admit, my dedication towards this project wavers depending on what tests I have in the upcoming week. For that, I admire her dedication towards this project.
Jake, for me, has been seriously disappointing from the start. He may be Vietnamese, but that isn't the issue here. He didn't contribute much during project meetings and seldom produces work that is up to standard. It's not as if we have some sort of nationality thing going on---we don't! We don't discriminate and discussions are almost always fast and furious. If you have anything to say, just say it. I don't think us giving him no opportunity to talk is a valid excuse at all. Besides his lack of contribution during group discussions, we would often have to repeat what had been discussed to him. So if something could be improved, it certainly would be his listening skills. One other thing I (I won't dare speak for my other group members) found extremely frustrating was that when work has been delegated and a deadline set, he usually submits work that are of minimal effort. Hence, it was extremely extremely frustrating to have to redo or to do major overhaul to his work. Delegation of work is supposed to make things more effective. Somehow this time round, it sort of became an extra workload. It was one which we had to continuously do throughout the project. Covering his work became a bit of a hassle especially when we're all busy people.
My own evaluation of my learning process for this project was covered in my previous post "Pre-OP". I acknowledge, I am nowhere as dedicated to this project as Michelle and nowhere as calm and as in control as Feodor. But I do bring my share into this project.
I have definitely considered what I have learnt about tact and communication in this module. However, I'm also a firm believer that there comes a point where tact ceases to work and the point blank truth comes into play. This isn't a post to slam anybody. It is a post to firstly clarify that I've had a most pleasant experience working with Feodor and secondly to give my unadulterated evaluation of my classmates' work ethics. I can take as much as I give. If any of my group mates want to evaluate my work performance, they are most welcomed to do so.
Just to clarify, I actually liked working with Feodor. He contributed actively to our group discussions, gave great suggestions, is hardworking and responsible, and like I've mentioned before, is the glue of the group. He is a wonderful platform for bouncing ideas off. At the end of our numerous group meetings, he'd always be the one asking, "so where do we go from here?" He made sure we knew our tasks and that everybody had a part to work on after the meeting. He was also the guy who kept us focused on our tasks whenever it gets late and we start to lose focus. Also, he kept us sane during those crazy long nights by providing home-baked cookies. HAHA. I honestly enjoyed working with Feodor. And yes Feodor, we are still friends.
Michelle has been the "pusher" for the project from the very start. I think everybody will remember Feodor mentioning that he finds the girls in our group (being Michelle and I) to be panicky. Panicky, we certainly are not. We just want to complete things as soon as possible. I really want to give Michelle credit for that. She really pushes the group to hold meetings concerning different parts of our project and rushes us to finish the tasks we have on hand so that our complete work can come together as soon as possible. Every group setting definitely needs a person like that to push for work to be done. She has been exceptionally focused on this project and has given no less than 100% from the very start. In a semester where everybody has so much to do, I have to admit, my dedication towards this project wavers depending on what tests I have in the upcoming week. For that, I admire her dedication towards this project.
Jake, for me, has been seriously disappointing from the start. He may be Vietnamese, but that isn't the issue here. He didn't contribute much during project meetings and seldom produces work that is up to standard. It's not as if we have some sort of nationality thing going on---we don't! We don't discriminate and discussions are almost always fast and furious. If you have anything to say, just say it. I don't think us giving him no opportunity to talk is a valid excuse at all. Besides his lack of contribution during group discussions, we would often have to repeat what had been discussed to him. So if something could be improved, it certainly would be his listening skills. One other thing I (I won't dare speak for my other group members) found extremely frustrating was that when work has been delegated and a deadline set, he usually submits work that are of minimal effort. Hence, it was extremely extremely frustrating to have to redo or to do major overhaul to his work. Delegation of work is supposed to make things more effective. Somehow this time round, it sort of became an extra workload. It was one which we had to continuously do throughout the project. Covering his work became a bit of a hassle especially when we're all busy people.
My own evaluation of my learning process for this project was covered in my previous post "Pre-OP". I acknowledge, I am nowhere as dedicated to this project as Michelle and nowhere as calm and as in control as Feodor. But I do bring my share into this project.
I have definitely considered what I have learnt about tact and communication in this module. However, I'm also a firm believer that there comes a point where tact ceases to work and the point blank truth comes into play. This isn't a post to slam anybody. It is a post to firstly clarify that I've had a most pleasant experience working with Feodor and secondly to give my unadulterated evaluation of my classmates' work ethics. I can take as much as I give. If any of my group mates want to evaluate my work performance, they are most welcomed to do so.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
OP Reflections
So...the oral presentation actually went better than I expected. I was also less nervous than normal. Yay!
I personally liked our slides very much. I thought that they were simple enough, with eye-catching colours to match our sports themed presentation. That's really credit to Michelle. I'm not sure if any of the audience found fault with our presentation slides but we tried our best to make it as perfect as we could. We even took time to try it out on a projector. So I was really pleased with our slides.
I felt that I managed to keep my nerves under control. I felt that I spoke clearly and projected my voice well. My personal aim before the presentation was to speak a bit slower and to speak clearly. I felt that I did achieve that. Kudos to myself. There was another thing I tried to do differently for this presentation and that was to keep my voice sounding natural and excited. I realised that my "presentation" voice has a tendency to turn monotonous after speaking for a while. That was something I definitely tried to strive to do during our rehearsals and during the presentation itself. I'm not sure if that managed to translate to the audience, but I felt that it was definitely better than my previous presentations.
One thing that I could have done better would probably be to be internalise my points better. I thought that I was on top of things. Moreover, I was in charge of writing up the background for the proposal so I was confident that I was able to deliver a seamless presentation. However, when it came to crunch time, my mind blanked out. I tried to visualise my points in my head but none was coming to mind. I guess I was able to internalise most of my content because I was able to present my information competently enough. But at the very end, I actually forgot that I had one more slide left! That was embarrassing! I think that it indicated that I didn't internalise my content as well as I thought I did. Definitely something I need to work on next time.
All in all, I think my group did a good job. I felt that it sort of justified the hard work we've put into this. Well done all.
I personally liked our slides very much. I thought that they were simple enough, with eye-catching colours to match our sports themed presentation. That's really credit to Michelle. I'm not sure if any of the audience found fault with our presentation slides but we tried our best to make it as perfect as we could. We even took time to try it out on a projector. So I was really pleased with our slides.
I felt that I managed to keep my nerves under control. I felt that I spoke clearly and projected my voice well. My personal aim before the presentation was to speak a bit slower and to speak clearly. I felt that I did achieve that. Kudos to myself. There was another thing I tried to do differently for this presentation and that was to keep my voice sounding natural and excited. I realised that my "presentation" voice has a tendency to turn monotonous after speaking for a while. That was something I definitely tried to strive to do during our rehearsals and during the presentation itself. I'm not sure if that managed to translate to the audience, but I felt that it was definitely better than my previous presentations.
One thing that I could have done better would probably be to be internalise my points better. I thought that I was on top of things. Moreover, I was in charge of writing up the background for the proposal so I was confident that I was able to deliver a seamless presentation. However, when it came to crunch time, my mind blanked out. I tried to visualise my points in my head but none was coming to mind. I guess I was able to internalise most of my content because I was able to present my information competently enough. But at the very end, I actually forgot that I had one more slide left! That was embarrassing! I think that it indicated that I didn't internalise my content as well as I thought I did. Definitely something I need to work on next time.
All in all, I think my group did a good job. I felt that it sort of justified the hard work we've put into this. Well done all.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Happy.
I'm doing my happy dance. I love today. Today signals the end of two modules. =))) Everybody's invited to my dance.
Post-OP reflections will follow shortly. Watch this space!
Post-OP reflections will follow shortly. Watch this space!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Pre-OP
We (JamFep) have another group meeting tomorrow before our oral presentation on Tuesday. I must say, I'm almost glad that Tuesday is coming and this will be over soooooooooooon. But, until it hits Tuesday 11.30am, I will save my happy dance. I'm sorry I sound a bit jaded here but I guess it is what it is.
As I mentioned in my first post, I don't quite like doing projects and working with people. I think this group project pretty much reinforces that view. But it also brings to mind that group projects are inevitable in life. After almost two years of not doing group projects, I felt that it was extremely tedious this time round. Upon reflection in class, I found that what made it most difficult was the fact that people trust themselves more than they trust each other. Haha, I'm not being cynical. It is just the way it is. Everybody felt that their way was the better way, their sentence was the better sentence, their format was the better format. It was a tad difficult to come to a consensus and it was especially tiring to do it for every small bit of detail. As such, we have had multiple group meetings (and I don't mean the online kinds) where the four of us just sit in front of a computer each, all of us staring at a different section of our proposal on google docs and then asking out loud if something should be changed and asking for suggestions as to how to go about changing it. Editing was never completed; we just continued changing and changing. Somebody would edit a part and then somebody else would say that it wasn't done well enough and so on and so forth. It was extremely surprising, after getting back our proposal, how many language errors still lingered in the final draft! Sorry, I'm just droning.
It was mentioned in class that a solution to such a problem would be to have a head writer. Hmm...easier said that done. Like I said, people trust themselves more than they trust others. Why would you allow somebody else make the final decisions when you feel strongly about the work you have done?
I felt like I tried my best in fulfilling my obligations and responsibilities as a group member of JamFep. My only letdown (in my opinion) was when I overslept and was 2 hours late for a meeting last Thursday. Sorry guys!
I certainly don't think that I was disadvantaged by being in JamFep. I mean, yes, it would be easy for me to say that things would have been much easier if I was in WonderWomen or The Rocks---they seem to have pretty pleasant group dynamics. However I felt that I have learnt quite a bit about dealing with people. I've also learnt quite a bit about myself. I've learnt that I'm an adaptive person. I can adapt and work to the different personalities others bring into a group. I am able to find agreeable compromises between my ideals and the ideals of others. Within the few weeks of working in such a vibrant group, I find that that seems to be my main role in the group. Feel free to disagree (and then comment on it), but this is my bird's eye view. I have also learnt that I am generally an easy-going person but when my patience is tested, I don't pull punches. I think that was demonstrated a couple of times during the duration of this project. Heh. That's definitely something to be improved on. I need to learn to be more patient with people. For that, I really admire Feodor. He has been under immense pressure from the different projects he is handling and yet he has been calm thus far. Personally, I felt that he's the one in the group who has been keeping the crazies together.
On Friday before class, Michelle and I were just talking and she mentioned how wonderful the rapport among the WonderWomen is and how they are all proclaiming their love for each other and I said that I could probably never bring myself to say I love JamFep. Mean as it is, you guys all know it's true. HAHA. While I don't love all of you, I do thank you all for making these few weeks as civil and as bearable as possible and thank you all for putting so much blood and sweat into this project. As Feodor said, there was a lot of "animosity", but we wouldn't be stuck at Com Centre past midnight arguing with each other if we didn't want this to be amazing. Once again, thank you and please, God please, let tomorrow be productive and let Tuesday 11.30am be here sooooooooooooon.
As I mentioned in my first post, I don't quite like doing projects and working with people. I think this group project pretty much reinforces that view. But it also brings to mind that group projects are inevitable in life. After almost two years of not doing group projects, I felt that it was extremely tedious this time round. Upon reflection in class, I found that what made it most difficult was the fact that people trust themselves more than they trust each other. Haha, I'm not being cynical. It is just the way it is. Everybody felt that their way was the better way, their sentence was the better sentence, their format was the better format. It was a tad difficult to come to a consensus and it was especially tiring to do it for every small bit of detail. As such, we have had multiple group meetings (and I don't mean the online kinds) where the four of us just sit in front of a computer each, all of us staring at a different section of our proposal on google docs and then asking out loud if something should be changed and asking for suggestions as to how to go about changing it. Editing was never completed; we just continued changing and changing. Somebody would edit a part and then somebody else would say that it wasn't done well enough and so on and so forth. It was extremely surprising, after getting back our proposal, how many language errors still lingered in the final draft! Sorry, I'm just droning.
It was mentioned in class that a solution to such a problem would be to have a head writer. Hmm...easier said that done. Like I said, people trust themselves more than they trust others. Why would you allow somebody else make the final decisions when you feel strongly about the work you have done?
I felt like I tried my best in fulfilling my obligations and responsibilities as a group member of JamFep. My only letdown (in my opinion) was when I overslept and was 2 hours late for a meeting last Thursday. Sorry guys!
I certainly don't think that I was disadvantaged by being in JamFep. I mean, yes, it would be easy for me to say that things would have been much easier if I was in WonderWomen or The Rocks---they seem to have pretty pleasant group dynamics. However I felt that I have learnt quite a bit about dealing with people. I've also learnt quite a bit about myself. I've learnt that I'm an adaptive person. I can adapt and work to the different personalities others bring into a group. I am able to find agreeable compromises between my ideals and the ideals of others. Within the few weeks of working in such a vibrant group, I find that that seems to be my main role in the group. Feel free to disagree (and then comment on it), but this is my bird's eye view. I have also learnt that I am generally an easy-going person but when my patience is tested, I don't pull punches. I think that was demonstrated a couple of times during the duration of this project. Heh. That's definitely something to be improved on. I need to learn to be more patient with people. For that, I really admire Feodor. He has been under immense pressure from the different projects he is handling and yet he has been calm thus far. Personally, I felt that he's the one in the group who has been keeping the crazies together.
On Friday before class, Michelle and I were just talking and she mentioned how wonderful the rapport among the WonderWomen is and how they are all proclaiming their love for each other and I said that I could probably never bring myself to say I love JamFep. Mean as it is, you guys all know it's true. HAHA. While I don't love all of you, I do thank you all for making these few weeks as civil and as bearable as possible and thank you all for putting so much blood and sweat into this project. As Feodor said, there was a lot of "animosity", but we wouldn't be stuck at Com Centre past midnight arguing with each other if we didn't want this to be amazing. Once again, thank you and please, God please, let tomorrow be productive and let Tuesday 11.30am be here sooooooooooooon.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Intercultural Differences
This particular incident happened to me recently and it really made an impression on me when it happened so it was quite natural that it was the first thing that came to mind when asked to write about an intercutural conflict that happened.
I was at Parkway Parade with a couple of friends on a Saturday afternoon. After our lunch at the food court, we wanted to go window shopping so we went to the lift lobby to take the lift up. There was a Caucasian lady, with her trolley and her two children sitting in it, at the lift lobby when we got there. When the lift came, one of my friends moved forward to try to get into the lift but the Caucasian lady snapped at him for not queueing up. We were all completely stunned!
I think that Singaporeans are generally well-behaved. We (sort of) queue to get onto the bus, we queue to buy food. There is a "first come first serve" mentality. However, in the above situation, there was absolutely no question that both groups of people would be able to fit into the lift. And usually, nobody really queues for the lift right?
I was at Parkway Parade with a couple of friends on a Saturday afternoon. After our lunch at the food court, we wanted to go window shopping so we went to the lift lobby to take the lift up. There was a Caucasian lady, with her trolley and her two children sitting in it, at the lift lobby when we got there. When the lift came, one of my friends moved forward to try to get into the lift but the Caucasian lady snapped at him for not queueing up. We were all completely stunned!
I think that Singaporeans are generally well-behaved. We (sort of) queue to get onto the bus, we queue to buy food. There is a "first come first serve" mentality. However, in the above situation, there was absolutely no question that both groups of people would be able to fit into the lift. And usually, nobody really queues for the lift right?
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
A Characteristic That Makes Me Unique.
I would have to say that being passionate about the things I do is a characteristic that makes me unique. I think that this is a trait instilled in me by my father. When I was young, I would watch my father work tirelessly on his computer for hours. He would get frustrated and annoyed but yet he would still be there, in front of his computer, trying to get a formulae right or trying to debug a program.
During the university application process, I asked him for some advice on choosing my course of study in the University. He only had one piece of advice to give and that was to choose whatever I liked to do because if I liked it, it just becomes that much easier to do. And that even if I had to work extremely hard on it, it will seem that little bit more worth it because it is something I like.
I was in the choir in secondary school and I really enjoyed it. In fact, I was so passionate about choral and classical singing that I started attending voice lessons other than just choir practice. I am still taking voice lessons to continually improve my singing technique, vocal production as well as to expand my musical knowledge. After graduating from secondary school, I went on to join the choir in my Junior College and now, besides performing regularly at student recitals, I am also singing in an Alumni choir.
I am not only passionate about the things I like, I am also able to find joy in seemingly mundane tasks. I did some part-time work as a waitress once and although the tasks were simple, like taking food orders, clearing of tables, serving of food, I managed to make the most out of the whole experience and I found it quite enjoyable. I made it a personal challenge to provide excellent service to any customer and tried my utmost to fulfill any request they made.
During the university application process, I asked him for some advice on choosing my course of study in the University. He only had one piece of advice to give and that was to choose whatever I liked to do because if I liked it, it just becomes that much easier to do. And that even if I had to work extremely hard on it, it will seem that little bit more worth it because it is something I like.
I was in the choir in secondary school and I really enjoyed it. In fact, I was so passionate about choral and classical singing that I started attending voice lessons other than just choir practice. I am still taking voice lessons to continually improve my singing technique, vocal production as well as to expand my musical knowledge. After graduating from secondary school, I went on to join the choir in my Junior College and now, besides performing regularly at student recitals, I am also singing in an Alumni choir.
I am not only passionate about the things I like, I am also able to find joy in seemingly mundane tasks. I did some part-time work as a waitress once and although the tasks were simple, like taking food orders, clearing of tables, serving of food, I managed to make the most out of the whole experience and I found it quite enjoyable. I made it a personal challenge to provide excellent service to any customer and tried my utmost to fulfill any request they made.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Apologies.
Hey all, I have been really really busy this weekend and I have a midterm on Tuesday to study for. So I have asked Brad for an extension. I will be submitting my entry on Tuesday night instead.
Sorry for the trouble. =(
Sorry for the trouble. =(
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Pick Me, PICK ME!!
This is a slightly different cover letter from the one I brought to class on Friday. On Friday night, I received an e-mail from NUS Career Services advertising some vacation internship opportunities. Maybe it was because I have been influenced by this class? I was actually quite interested in what sort of internships they had to offer so I went ahead to check it out. As it turns out, there was one internship which caught my eye! So there I was, at 2330h on a Friday night, trying to modify my cover letter and resume (the ones I brought to class) into something relevant for my internship application.
At 0130h (Saturday morning), I was done and I thought that my final product was actually much more impressive than the one I produced in class. So, that’s what I’m going to show. Who doesn’t want to impress, right?
Right, so I’m applying for an internship as an Analyst in a Investment Consultancy. Its key candidate requirements are:
Director
XXX Pte Ltd
Level 26, South Tower
One Raffles Quay
Singapore 048583
Dear Sir/Madam
I am writing to introduce myself and express my interest in applying for an internship as an Analyst in your company. I came to know of this Internship through the Career Services website of my school, the National University of Singapore. I noticed, on the website, that you were only looking for Economics majors and Business majors for this internship. However, I believe that with my strong Mathematics background, I would be as qualified for this internship as the Economics and Business majors.
I am currently in my third year of undergraduate studies at the National University of Singapore and with my background in Pure Mathematics, I believe that I possess the appropriate mathematical, critical thinking and analytic skills required for the internship you will provide. It was mentioned, in the website, that the learning outcomes you have planned for this internship include the preparation of financial models as well as the preparation of financial memorandums. And although I have no formal financial training nor any experience in financial modeling, I strongly believe that my Mathematics background has equipped me with the skills to pick up these skills on the job. Furthermore, the purpose of an Internship is to learn. I believe that I will definitely learn from such an experience.
I also have the intention of pursuing a Masters degree in Quantitative Finance after obtaining my Bachelor of Science. This internship would undoubtedly give me a thorough insight into the financial industry as well as prepare me for my graduate studies.
I would welcome an opportunity to further discuss my qualifications with you and how I would be of an asset to the company during the internship. I am excited to also learn more about the skills I will be picking up from this internship. I can be reached at the number and e-mail address provided below. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours Sincerely
Chew Pei En
45 Jalan Taman
Singapore 328991
Ph: +65-91505122
E-mail: chew_pei_en@hotmail.com
At 0130h (Saturday morning), I was done and I thought that my final product was actually much more impressive than the one I produced in class. So, that’s what I’m going to show. Who doesn’t want to impress, right?
Right, so I’m applying for an internship as an Analyst in a Investment Consultancy. Its key candidate requirements are:
- Full-time matriculated students from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (Economics) or School of Business (Accountancy, Business Policy, Finance, Management & Organization, Marketing)
- Preferably in the third year of study.
Unfortunately, I only fulfill one criterion, the lesser one. But I thought, hey, why not just apply? It won’t hurt. If I don’t get it, I don’t get it. If I get it…I get extra moolah in December. Yay! I realize that I’m being extremely long-winded here. I just wanted to explain (to Audrey and Feodor, if they happen to read this) why my cover letter is so stunningly (can mean either good or bad. You guys decide) different. So here goes…
5 September 2009
Director
XXX Pte Ltd
Level 26, South Tower
One Raffles Quay
Singapore 048583
Dear Sir/Madam
I am writing to introduce myself and express my interest in applying for an internship as an Analyst in your company. I came to know of this Internship through the Career Services website of my school, the National University of Singapore. I noticed, on the website, that you were only looking for Economics majors and Business majors for this internship. However, I believe that with my strong Mathematics background, I would be as qualified for this internship as the Economics and Business majors.
I am currently in my third year of undergraduate studies at the National University of Singapore and with my background in Pure Mathematics, I believe that I possess the appropriate mathematical, critical thinking and analytic skills required for the internship you will provide. It was mentioned, in the website, that the learning outcomes you have planned for this internship include the preparation of financial models as well as the preparation of financial memorandums. And although I have no formal financial training nor any experience in financial modeling, I strongly believe that my Mathematics background has equipped me with the skills to pick up these skills on the job. Furthermore, the purpose of an Internship is to learn. I believe that I will definitely learn from such an experience.
I also have the intention of pursuing a Masters degree in Quantitative Finance after obtaining my Bachelor of Science. This internship would undoubtedly give me a thorough insight into the financial industry as well as prepare me for my graduate studies.
I would welcome an opportunity to further discuss my qualifications with you and how I would be of an asset to the company during the internship. I am excited to also learn more about the skills I will be picking up from this internship. I can be reached at the number and e-mail address provided below. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours Sincerely
Chew Pei En
45 Jalan Taman
Singapore 328991
Ph: +65-91505122
E-mail: chew_pei_en@hotmail.com
Edit: 2244h, Sunday. Thanks Michelle.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Help Me Solve This!
It wasn't hard at all, for me, to find an interpersonal conflict to write about. There has been an incident that has been weighing heavily on my mind recently and I think that it would be a great opportunity to gather some suggestions as to how one should go about resolving such a conflict. I think that this is a situation in which many will sooner or later find themselves in, although it might not be in such a setting or to such exaggerated proportions. So, it will be very useful for everyone to pull a couple of suggestions together.
I have a friend who is the President of some CCA in a particular university in Singapore. One night, I received an sms from her telling me that she has been crying every night and she was afraid that she might fall into depression if this kept up. So I called her to try to console her. When I got her on her phone, she was crying hysterically and was hiccupping in between words. This was what she told me, in brief:
Three nights ago, she was in her CCA studio when she saw a group of people in a heated discussion. She went over to try to mediate. They told her that the event her CCA was supposed to be rolling out the very next day was still not completed. This event was not headed by her, but by her Vice-President, who has never taken a liking to her. However, as they were unable to contact the Vice President at that time, my friend decided to step in and lend them a helping hand.
When they were finally able to contact the Vice President, the Vice President became monosyllabic and cold when she learnt that my friend stepped in to help. My friend mentioned that she wanted to explain things to the Vice President but was never given the opportunity to because the Vice President kept ignoring her.
They still have a couple of months in office before handing over to the new committee and my friend says that she doesn’t want to leave things in such a bad state. She says that their relationship now is worse than before (and it was never good to begin with).
How should my friend go about repairing this broken relationship so that their committee can work well before the hand-over?
I have a friend who is the President of some CCA in a particular university in Singapore. One night, I received an sms from her telling me that she has been crying every night and she was afraid that she might fall into depression if this kept up. So I called her to try to console her. When I got her on her phone, she was crying hysterically and was hiccupping in between words. This was what she told me, in brief:
Three nights ago, she was in her CCA studio when she saw a group of people in a heated discussion. She went over to try to mediate. They told her that the event her CCA was supposed to be rolling out the very next day was still not completed. This event was not headed by her, but by her Vice-President, who has never taken a liking to her. However, as they were unable to contact the Vice President at that time, my friend decided to step in and lend them a helping hand.
When they were finally able to contact the Vice President, the Vice President became monosyllabic and cold when she learnt that my friend stepped in to help. My friend mentioned that she wanted to explain things to the Vice President but was never given the opportunity to because the Vice President kept ignoring her.
They still have a couple of months in office before handing over to the new committee and my friend says that she doesn’t want to leave things in such a bad state. She says that their relationship now is worse than before (and it was never good to begin with).
How should my friend go about repairing this broken relationship so that their committee can work well before the hand-over?
Sunday, August 23, 2009
What Effective Communication Means To Me.
I’ve never thought about what effective communication meant to me. I mean, I can speak and I can hear. How is that ineffective? Do we need another sensory feedback facility? Somehow, throughout my life, I’ve never thought further than my tertiary education. With two more years left in NUS, I guess now is as good a time as any to start thinking about my future. Regardless of whether it lies in graduate school or in the workplace, being able to communicate well with others will definitely help me to progress in life.
I’ve never been much of a group project kind of person, or a presentation kind of person either. I’d very much prefer to work alone compared to working with others. Also, I’d cringe whenever I have to give presentations. These things are such a big deal to me that I avoid modules with projects or presentations at all costs. I think I’ve always worried about the conflicts that might arise due to clashing personalities or group members submitting sub-standard work or even about whether I can get my ideas across to my audience precisely. Wow, reflecting on that, I think I would benefit lots by equipping myself with solid communication skills. Just the ability to share my thoughts more accurately with others as well as the ability to communicate and deal with people better would help me tremendously. I believe that being able to connect well with people, being able to perform well during interviews and being able to write informative and impressive applications will prepare me for the world when I leave school. It would even benefit me when I start on my final year project next year.
This blog post sort of functioned as a platform for self-reflection. I started out (yeah, this whole post took me about 3 hours to type out) not having a clue what effective communication meant to me. Yet now I see that even in school, I need to have a good grasp of communication skills so that tasks like group projects, presentations and SEP application become smooth and painless processes. It’ll be even more important out in the real world (that’s not to say that while in NUS, we’re living in some Sims-like virtual world) when we get to interact with a more diverse group of people—people from different races, backgrounds, religion, social status; I still want to get my message across clearly and I still want to be able to speak and share confidently.
I’ve never been much of a group project kind of person, or a presentation kind of person either. I’d very much prefer to work alone compared to working with others. Also, I’d cringe whenever I have to give presentations. These things are such a big deal to me that I avoid modules with projects or presentations at all costs. I think I’ve always worried about the conflicts that might arise due to clashing personalities or group members submitting sub-standard work or even about whether I can get my ideas across to my audience precisely. Wow, reflecting on that, I think I would benefit lots by equipping myself with solid communication skills. Just the ability to share my thoughts more accurately with others as well as the ability to communicate and deal with people better would help me tremendously. I believe that being able to connect well with people, being able to perform well during interviews and being able to write informative and impressive applications will prepare me for the world when I leave school. It would even benefit me when I start on my final year project next year.
This blog post sort of functioned as a platform for self-reflection. I started out (yeah, this whole post took me about 3 hours to type out) not having a clue what effective communication meant to me. Yet now I see that even in school, I need to have a good grasp of communication skills so that tasks like group projects, presentations and SEP application become smooth and painless processes. It’ll be even more important out in the real world (that’s not to say that while in NUS, we’re living in some Sims-like virtual world) when we get to interact with a more diverse group of people—people from different races, backgrounds, religion, social status; I still want to get my message across clearly and I still want to be able to speak and share confidently.
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