Right Place, Right Time (Post #7)

It is the beginning of a new academic year and I am heading for my first ES2007S lesson. With trepidation I open the door to the tutorial room. What greets my eyes is the sight of students with seemingly glum faces and a stern looking Caucasian lecturer. I silently berate myself for making a poor choice of tutorial group.

Not long after, the lecturer flashes the first of his presentation slides and my face turns red. Somehow, I am in the wrong tutorial room. I excuse myself, beat a hasty retreat, and begin to doubt that the venue of the class is accurately reflected on the ES2007S website.

I discovered my mistake a short while later. ES2007S lessons do not begin until the second week of the semester. To compound the problem, the tutorial group that I had initially signed up for had been combined with another group. Thus, lessons were to be held at a different venue. I was literally at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Returning to the present, I look back and know that I have made the right choice in module and tutorial group. Through ES2007S, I have not only learnt skills which I can apply in most areas of my life, I have also had the pleasure of getting to know twelve friendly and supportive individuals through our interactions in the classroom and from sharing our personal experiences in our blogs.

What initially drew me to this module were the lessons on resume/application letter writing and job interview which I felt would be of great relevance to me as I prepare to enter the workforce. However, I have gained much more from this module than expected.

In particular, I now appreciate the usefulness of giving detailed feedback as both the giver and the receiver stand to benefit from it. By being able to identify strengths in others' work, I can learn from their strengths. On the flip side, by letting them know their weaknesses they can likewise improve as well.

After three short months, we have reached the end of our journey together. As we part ways, I want to first and foremost thank Brad for his unceasing efforts at encouraging interaction in our class and for sharing with us interesting anecdotes of his experiences.

I would also especially like to thank Sheryl, Von Von and Ken Ken (Jie Jie or Mah Mah just sounds so wrong) for their hard work and for being such great company as we worked on assignments together. (Thanks also for tolerating my weirdness!)

Finally, I want to thank everyone from Group 9 for learning and growing with me. I am truly glad to have taken ES2007S with all of you as you guys have proven to be a perceptive and tactful bunch. May our paths cross again someday!

Sway With Me (Post #6)

The presentation I gave on Tuesday was the best that I have given so far in my life. However, there are some things that I know I could have done better. Sadly, this presentation is the best only because my previous attempts at presenting were mostly disasters.

You may be wondering why my previous experiences were so negative. I attribute it in part to my lack of preparation in the past. The other part of my negative experience lies with the audience. Occasionally, I get an unresponsive audience who look as though they would rather be somewhere else. At such times, I cannot help but wonder what I could be doing wrong such that I am losing their attention. By doing so, my train of thought inevitably gets derailed. Thus, credit has to go to the supportive audience I had the pleasure of presenting to on Tuesday. You gave your rapt attention, which made me feel at ease and that really helped me continue presenting (somewhat) smoothly.

However, like I said before, I do feel I could have done better. On a few occasions, I had some difficulty in expressing my thoughts fluently. What I said probably came out as pidgin English which would grate on more discerning ears. When that happened, I felt it was imperative that I continued to speak confidently rather than worry about my lapse in fluency. After all, as we have learnt in class, people are more aware of non-verbal cues and the tone of voice than what is actually being said.

I would also like to share that Evonne informed me that I was pacing back and forth while presenting. She commented that it was as though I was dancing while presenting. This came as a big surprise to me as I did not notice that I was moving about at all. I guess that on a subconscious level, my body had to find an outlet for all my pent up nervous energy.

Thank you everyone once again for your attentiveness during my presentation. Is there anything else that you feel I can improve upon?