Thank You ES2007S

As the title of my blog suggests, I have 2 objectives for this module and this was discussed in my very first blog post. The first objective, about managing my time effectively for 6 modules, has been challenging because ES2007S was more time-consuming than expected. Nevertheless, what I have learnt regarding professional communication more than fulfills my second objective, and it justifies the time and effort spent.

The blogging assignments have been a love-hate affair. I always hate writing because I tend to take a long time brainstorming and translating my thoughts into words. This has been the same case when writing my blog posts. However, I am grateful for these assignments as they geared me up for the ultimate task – proposal writing. What I benefited the most is that I have learnt to write more fluently and follow the 7Cs closely. Furthermore, I realized that I could write reports more efficiently and effectively for projects and labs outside this module.

It always feels rejuvenating to work with motivated and capable people, like when I collaborated with Ivan and Sarah for Proposal Writing. Thanks to the facilitation by Ivan, our meetings were always purposeful and gave me a clear direction of what to work on next. Not only that, we could actively learn from one another when applying the various skills and techniques, from conducting an interview to the 7Cs of written communication. Although sometimes I did feel out of place in front of the love birds =), I really treasure the experience of working with them.

My learning in this course has been enhanced by the constant and valuable feedback given by Brad and everyone else in the class. The comments on my blog posts, peer review on my application letter and interview, comments on Wiki, and feedback after my Peer Teaching and Oral Presentation were truly insightful and helpful. It felt great to know that my classmates were showing interest and concern in my assignments.

I want to end off by saying a big THANK YOU to Brad and all 11 of you. You have made ES2007S an enjoyable and fruitful experience for me.

Self-reflection on Oral Presentation

Over the years, I have done numerous presentations on different occasions. But this is probably my first time writing a self-reflection on my presentation experience.

In comparison to Peer Teaching, the preparation stage for Oral Presentation (OP) was much easier. This was due to the fact most of the presentation content had already been researched previously when preparing the proposal. Furthermore, my teammates helped me identify the key messages for each of my slides to keep my presentation content focused.

Unfortunately, my problem of slurring my words haunted me again during the OP. As Ken Jie commented, I sometimes sounded like Chinese pop star Jay Chow, who is famous for mumbling when singing. I think nervousness had gotten the better of me.

I feel I could have done more to engage the audience. While I observed that most of you were paying attention, I wondered how many of you were really interested about my presentation. I had thought of using humor to balance my dull image, but I was afraid that this would make my presentation slightly informal.

It is now an open fact that I looked laid back during the question and answer session. Actually, I was just too overwhelmed by the quick thinking and persuasive skills of my teammates. Most of the questions really came as a surprise to us. Even if any of the questions were directed specifically at me, I would need at least one or two seconds to properly process and organize my thoughts.

Like many of you, this OP experience has made me more aware of the dos and don’ts of a quality presentation. I will definitely self-reflect on all my future presentations to continuously improve myself.

(P.S. Thank you Sarah and Ivan. Really enjoyed working with you guys. =P)

Religious Belief

I once had an interesting discussion with my friend, Kiruthika, from India regarding our differences in religious belief. It started out when she remarked that she usually coped with exam stress by praying to her god for strength. This surprised me because most of my friends and I would probably relieve stress by playing sports or hanging out. I figured out that she must be very devoted to Hinduism.

In contrast, I am still confused about my religion. Although it is stated as Taoism on my birth certificate, I must admit that my knowledge is very limited. For instance, I will be dumbfounded if you ask me the difference between Taoism and Buddhism. Some of my friends would gladly claim to be free-thinkers, but it may be because they are simply ignorant about religion. The general lack of interest in religious faith among young Singaporeans had been observed by Kiruthika, to her bewilderment.

According to Kiruthika, Hinduism is an integral part of people’s lives in her hometown in Chennai. There are numerous festivals and rituals commonly celebrated and carried out in every household. She further explained to me how Hinduism had helped her deal with difficulties in life and given her a sense of direction. Having benefitted from her religion, she could not comprehend why so many of my friends are free thinkers.

Throughout the discussion, I showed respect to Kiruthika’s religious belief and practices. Similarly, she was willing to hear my opinions when we broached on sub-topics like Karma and vegetarianism. As a result, it turned out to be an enlightening inter-cultural exchange session.

Personal Statement

==Draft 2==
Have you ever been deeply absorbed by any hobby or interest that you really enjoyed? This was exactly how I felt when I started to learn percussion in secondary one. I was so engrossed in picking up the skill that, sometimes during school lesson, I would pretend to be paying attention but secretly beat some rhythms on my lap under the table.

What has fascinated me about percussion is that any composition, no matter how challenging it may be, can be decomposed into the same basic element – a single stroke by the drum stick. On the sub-microscopic level, a basic rhythm is formed by combining a variety of strokes. A drummer has to master all the different rhythms in the composition first, before he can integrate them together and perform in one succession. This bottom-up approach of conquering a musical score appeals to my personality of being analytical and organised.

Akin to interpreting a composition according to its constituting strokes and rhythms, I always break up a seemingly insurmountable problem into multiple achievable tasks. This allows me to stay focused and composed when faced with difficulty. In fact, my ability to solve problems in a systematic manner explains why I have always been strong in Mathematics and Science subjects.

Pursuing honours in electrical engineering gives me the opportunity to apply my analytical skills to solve real life problems in future. My traits will be an asset to the industry where effective engineering design must be carefully planned and systematically executed.



==Draft 1==
Have you ever been deeply absorbed by any hobby or interest that you really enjoy? This was exactly how I felt when I started to learn percussion in secondary one. I was so engrossed in picking up the skill that, sometimes during school lesson, I would pretend to be paying attention but secretly beat some rhythms on my lap under the table.

What has captivated me about percussion, even until now, is that any challenging rhythm can be decomposed into the same building block – a single mallet stroke. As long as you can master the correct variations of strokes in the musical composition, you can perform pleasing drum beats to the audience. Not only that, transfer the same striking techniques to the keys on a xylophone, and you can produce melodious tunes.

Playing percussion has taught me to be more systematic in solving problems. Just like interpreting a musical score stroke by stroke, I have learnt to break up a big task into smaller parts, and tackle them one at a time. When practicing a certain segment of the rhythm, I have to be fully focused and not be bothered by the rest of the rhythm. Similarly, I have learnt to be patient in overcoming one obstacle at a time and not rush into things.

This pretty much tells you about my character - I like things to be neat and organized. I hope to apply my systematic analytical skills in solving real engineering problems.

My Application Letter for Internship

Position Title: Intern

Responsibilities:
-Perform hands on building M&E preventive maintenance and attend to fault complaints like building, basic electrical and air-con works
-Conduct routine checks and update for any defects/ damages for reporting
-Attend to client’s requests and complains
-Daily routine follow up on maintenance job and daily check on equipments
-Familiarise with the location of all equipments and status
-Other duties as and when assigned
-Assist in Supervision of other subcontractors

Requirements:
-Candidate must be currently pursuing at least a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering (Mechanical), Engineering (Electrical/Electronic), Engineering (Others) or equivalent.
-10 Internship duration of 3 month(s).

======================

(my address)

2 September 2009

Lydia Quek
Human Resource Manager
Elyo South East Asia Pte Ltd
146B Paya Lebar Road
# 03-01 ACE Building
Singapore 409017


Dear Ms. Quek,

Re:Internship for Electrical/Electronic Engineering Students

I am very interested in the above-mentioned internship, as advertised on JobStreet.com. I believe I have the necessary skills and qualities to make an impact during the 3-month period.

Currently, I am a third year undergraduate pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering at National University of Singapore. Having maintained excellent academic performance, I believe I possess the analytical ability to handle the tasks assigned to me. In addition, balancing part-time tuition with study has honed my time-management and organizational skills. As I am specializing in Electrical Energy System, I am being equipped with the necessary knowledge to excel in the utility industry.

I have always enjoyed hands-on tasks that require good observation skills, like carrying out simulation tests on printers. During my temporary job as a pharmacy assistant, I was commended by my supervisor to be initiative and inquisitive. This was probably due to my strong sense of curiosity and motivation to seek out an answer. When doing community service work in Cambodia, my team achieved our goals after overcoming obstacles like rural lifestyle and language barrier. This demonstrated my ability to adapt to a new environment and perform in a team.

My resume is enclosed for your kind perusal. Should you require more information, I will be most obliged to finish it. I will be very glad to attend an interview convenient to you. You may contact me at (mobile) or (email).

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yours sincerely,
(Signature)
Chee Xiang Min
Enclosure: Resume

Tution Class Drama

For more than a year, I have been conducting Math competition training every Saturday for primary school students. Yesterday, what transpired prior to my primary 3 class was something I had never experienced before.

The day started peacefully as I chatted with Student A and Mother A, who were the first pair to reach. When Student B and Mother B arrived next, Mother B immediately approached me with an unfriendly attitude.

Apparently, Student B, who just joined the course 1 week ago, reported to his mother that the class was noisy and some students disturbed him. Mother B raised the issue to me and demanded that the class be orderly and mannered so that her son could concentrate in learning. Mother A, having overheard the conversation, quickly confessed to Mother B that her son might be effervescent at times and apologized if he had affected Student B. This was when the drama began to unfold.

Mother B reiterated that she had paid the course fees and did not wish her son to be involved in any monkey business during class. Mother A took offense that Mother B implied Student A was a prankster and commented that parents should not intervene too much into how children make friends. A fiery exchange of words immediately ensued.

This was an interpersonal conflict between an over-concerned parent and a more liberal parent. Emotions fired up because Parent A could not tolerate the insult when someone indirectly labeled her son as an unruly and disruptive student. Furthermore, Mother B was adamant that her expectation was perfectly reasonable. I was caught up in an odd situation because the parents were my seniors.

How could I assure the parents that class discipline was under good control? What could I do to appease both parties and start my lesson?

(P.S: Before the incident, Mother A explained to me that her son had prepared but forgotten to bring a special Teacher’s Day present for me. Now, I wonder whether I will still get my Teacher’s Day present. =P)

Importance of Effective Communication Skills to Me

If you think that effective communication skills are not important to a research engineer - a highly technical job – please think again. I came to realization only after doing a vocational internship at Data Storage Institute, a national research and development organization.

Although my work scope involved computer programming, trust me that I did not seclude myself from human interaction during the internship. (I am not a geek!) In fact, most of the idea generation and learning occurred during the various communication processes with my teammates and supervisors.

Firstly, the daily meetings provided a platform for my team to resolve any issues and technical problems with our chief supervisor. It was especially useful at the start when the research topic was completely obscure to us. Secondly, we had to do PowerPoint presentations fortnightly to update our supervisors on our progress and achievement. The presentation sessions served as an opportunity for us to obtain valuable feedback and suggestions from our supervisors. Thirdly, we frequently approached one another in the team for opinion and help when faced with any obstacle in work.

I may not become a research engineer in future, but still, the internship experience has highlighted to me the importance of effective communication skills at the workplace. It aids interaction with colleagues, and promotes the exchange of ideas, feelings and attitudes. As a result, mutual understanding can be forged in the team and productivity increased at work. This concept can also be extended to project works in school.

Therefore, the impetus for me now is to cultivate efficient communication skills so that I will be better equipped to face the challenges of work after graduation.

Welcome

This blog serves as my entry pass to the community of ES2007S bloggers, an exclusive club that I successfully bid for on an online auction called CORS.

If you still don't know, ES2007S is the module code for "Professional Communication: Principles & Practice". So what attracts me to ES2007S? Firstly, overloading as an electrical engineering undergraduate is no joke, hence I need my 6th module to be light in workload. Secondly, I earnestly hope to improve my communication skills and connect to people - a good departure after 2 years of dealing with programming languages and maths formula.

I am pleased to have Blackstone sinsei as my tutor. Don't be misled by his name. The lesson is actually much brightened up by his humour and cheerfulness. His teaching style is also flexible and creative; not rigid like a stone. With Blackstone's guidance, I am confident that I can achieve my 2 objectives for ES2007S.

What better way to summarize my expectation of the module than the phrase 'kill two birds with Blackstone' ?

Stay tuned to my blog to find out why effective communication skills are important to me.

Have a nice day!