Saturday, November 14, 2009

Time To Say Goodbye...



After being part of this module, my good friend introduced it to me. She thought the whole course was fun despite cursing the heavy workload as she went through the semester. The first thing that came to my mind when I thought of Professional Communication was the amount of writing and speaking I would be expected to do. Being the only child in the family, I was neither brought up to be a social creature, nor am I accustomed to interact with others. But I decided to go for this module anyway because I know it would come in very useful to possess such life-skills. So here I am. 

I walked into this class without knowing anybody, though that wasn't for long! The moment I stepped into class I saw Audrey and found her strikingly familiar, like I've seen her somewhere at some point in time in NUS. So I approached her, asked if she was in Life Sciences and indeed, she was! One friend found! Being from the same major, it wasn't difficult for us to clique and we decided to work together for the first assignment -- Peer Teaching. I must say the peer teaching experience was quite good. The atmosphere was relatively more relaxed and I've never felt more at ease at a presentation. Audrey and I made a good team so I decided to work with her for the project, together with Jas and Gwen who didn't know who to form groups with. There you have it, the formation of The WonderWomen!

The project was painful, yet ironically enjoyable. The very first hurdle was settling on a topic. After exploring several possibilities ranging from environmental to transport issues, WW decided to work on the Alumni. I felt we worked really well in terms of delegating parts of the proposal and being responsible for our work. The meetings, whether face-to-face or online, were not only effective in the completion of the proposal. Those numerous meetings also helped in building a good rapport, which came through quite clearly during our OP. We had good fun, and did good work. Since I'm on this, I would like to extend my gratitude to the WW -- Gwen, Jas and Audrey! THANK YOU GIRLS for waiting for me to finish lab/class to start the meetings! I truly feel bad that I had to make all of you wait, but I really really appreciate it! (: I'm rather positive that the bond forged in this module would continue on as we each pursue different dreams. 

ES2007S has indeed helped me grow, both personally and professionally. On a personal level, I've learnt how to work better in a group, how to make my presentation a more impactful and engaging one and how to interact with people I'm not familiar with and eventually bond with them. These are the essential life-skills which I'd certainly not be given a chance to learn in my major, and these are the experiences which I would probably remember for the rest of my life. On a more professional level, I've learnt the ropes to technical stuff such as drafting up the resume, application letter and proposal. Although the nature of such writing is rather different from the usual scientific reports I'm familiar with, it has definitely enriched my knowledge and ability to go about tackling these genres of writing in the future.


Through this course I've learnt not only to be a more dynamic and flexible individual, I'm really glad to be able to gain experience in presentations and speaking up in class. Not forgetting the 14 friends I've made through the course -- that includes you Brad! :D So, despite the headaches, due to dehydration of the brain because we're always require brain juice for all the blogposts, presentations and proposal (no, headaches don't happen that way, I'm just kidding), as well as high-blood pressure for staying up till 4am in the morning to edit our proposal and serious heart-pumping during the OP, I guess I'm still able to say: 


I WILL MISS ES2007S LESSONS

12 comments:

  1. Thank you, Sherlynn, for this heartfelt post. For a single child who says she isn't accustomed to interacting with others, you seemed like a natural to me. You showed excellent attention in class, you interacted well with classmates, and you worked diligently in your various groups. When reflecting back on your work I have a very positive impression, especially of your willingness to voice your opinion and the insights provided, for example, in the intercultural observation. Thank you for all the effort this term and for your positive attitude. Much appreciated!

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  2. Hey hey,

    I am really happy to know you. You're social, outgoing and easily befriended. I love your natural and confident style when you talk or present. I think I have learnt about that style from you.

    I wish you all the best Sherlynn. Really glad to meet you and see you around in campus.

    Cheers,

    Jake

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  3. Hi Sherlynn,

    You definitely made this class more enjoyable for me. Having someone familiar for the first few lessons made me feel more comfortable and you are a great person to work with, both peer teaching and proposal.

    I agree with Brad that you obviously did very well interacting with others being a single child. You are quite a social butterfly. Hehe.

    I like how you describe your learning experience in a personal and professional way. I think all, if not most of us did. You are always very organize especially in your blog posts. I have learned a lot from you throughout this course, though I can never be as organized. Lol.

    Same as you, I will miss the classes too. Luckily I will still see you in class. Hopefully. Heh.

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  4. Audrey: Yeah, the first few classes were indeed MUCH more enjoyable with you around! Trust me you wouldn't know how thankful I was to have found someone in the same major! :D

    Thanks for the compliment! Perhaps the structure of lab reports has been ingrained into me while I write so it may appear more organized but I believe I've still got alot of room for improvement! Like you said, writing and communication can't simply be improved in just merely 3 months (: I guess it's gonna be a continuous lifelong process.

    Cheers!

    Jake: Thanks Jake! It has been great knowing someone like you who's from Vietnam too! Definitely learnt quite abit out vietnamese culture and all those during class!

    All the very best in your exams and hopefully someday I'd bump into you at science canteen while you're working on your tutorial! :D

    Thanks for commenting Audrey and Jake!

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  5. Hi Sherlynn!

    If you aren't sociable, I really won't know what sociable means anymore! As Brad and Audrey have said, the only word I can use to describe your interaction with others is "comfortable". You were very easy to talk to and never hesitated to voice your opinions in class.

    And fret not, we didn't mind waiting for you. You were worth the wait, haha! Of all the ES2007S memories, WW will certainly be the best one. Never mind how torturous our late night meetings were. (:

    Looking forward to our lunch date. Meanwhile, study smart/hard and take care!

    With love
    Gwen

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  6. Gwen: Thanks Gwen! I'm glad to know I didn't arouse any unhappiness because you girls had to wait for me most of the time! :D

    And yes! I wouldn't hesitate to say that the part of ES2007S which I'm going to miss most is the experience of working in the WW. Surviving the torturous meetings is definitely enough to brand us as superheroines! Hahah! (:

    See you around! Thanks for commenting!

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  7. Hello Sherlynn,

    I did not really have the opportunity to interact with you in class. Our main form of interaction is through blogs. I personally like reading your posts 'cause your posts are a pleasure to read (and with cute pictures). You have excellent writing skills and great people skills :) You are quite a natural speaker and I am sure (equipped with those skills) you will have a bright future ahead of you :)

    It was great knowing you and I will too miss having ES2007S lessons. See you around in school :) Good luck for your exams tooo

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  8. Hey Mich,

    Yeah, if my memory hasn't failed me, the only time I interacted with you in person was some class group discussion! I wish there were more chances to interact with you, but perhaps blogs make a good alternative too! (:

    Thanks for the comment! I'm glad my posts and pictures are appreciated! I believe I have tons more to learn and improve on be it my writing or interaction skills.

    Hope to see you around in school too Since we're both from Science! (:

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  9. Hi Sherlynn

    You were one of the first few people who left a deep impression on me when Gwen and I transferred into Group 7. If I remember correctly, you and Aud were the first pair up for peer teaching and you two definitely set the bar "way up there". I went off thinking, "Oh crap, why is everyone in ES so competent!"

    So I must say I am very fortunate to have such competent group members who made the late night editings and meetings so much more memorable. I will miss you all and the ES classes! (: All the best for the finals!

    With Love
    Jasmine

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  10. Hi Sherlynn!

    You're definitely not a shy girl!! And I hope you realise it too after going through this class. You definitely have the ability to connect to people and that's something you have to use to your advantage.

    I guess we will all miss ES2007S lessons and the people we got to interact with every Tuesday and Friday morning. But we'll still see each other around in school!

    Pei En.

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  11. [Jas]: I'm very fortunate to be in the same group with yourself and Gwen! An awesome secretary and a brilliant Thesaurus :D All the best in finals too! We'll meet up during the holidays! <3

    [Pei En]: Yeah, I've realised that interacting with people isn't that difficult afterall, even though there are many aspects to take note of since my actions and words can have a huge impact on others. Yupp! I'd miss ES2007S lessons too! Those are the only times that made me feel like I wasn't having academic lessons but in some enrichment class! :D Good luck for finals and thanks for commenting!

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  12. Hi Sherlynn,

    I want to thank you that you did editing for my post before I publishing it. Though we did not talk much in class, I'm happy to get to know. From the peer teaching and proposal presentation you made, I can tell that you are a responsible and self-disciplined person, I learnt a lot from you. Thank you~

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