inspiring

i attended a talk yesterday.
The speakers were the executive chairmans of Yakun International and Qian Hu Corporation.
it was quite inspiring to listen to their experience, the way they do their business etc.
I came away from the talk with a inspiring quote from Mr Kenny Yap, Executive Chairman and M D of Qian Hu.

"Successful people don't do diferrent things. They do things differently"

i thought that this quote is very true and applicable in everyone's life if u ever aim to be a successful person.

to end this blog entry on a lighter note, let me share with u another quote that one of my keppel fren told me yesterday.

"Work-life balance is when your work is your life and your life is your work"

should i

i received an email from the school.
the email talked abt the off-campus recruitment talk by Goldman Sachs and that 55 slots have being reserved for both 2nd n final year students. an invitation was sent out to selected students to send their CV to the school by 24 sept so that they can forward the CVs to goldman sachs. GOldmans sachs will then send an invitation to the students that are selected for the talk.
i went to their website to have a better understanding of the kind of characters they are looKing for. I believe i have a decent idea of how to 'sell' myself to them.
but i wonder if i sld send in my CV.

this email made me thought of 1 thing.
i remembered that i wanted to convince myself of my ability back then when i came out of army. n tt's one of the reasons y i applied for a scholarship.
now that i had being awarded 1, i believed that i have what it takes to convince local home-grown listed companies that i have the ability.
since i have to source for my internship next yr, i was thinking of using this chance to c if i have what it takes to convince world-renowed companies like goldman sachs, citibank etc that i have what it takes to be part of their organisation.
if i manage to get an internship at any such company, i will have a better idea how far my ability can take me to.

but i have a question. am i being v bad by making use of such internship to gauge my own ability, given the fact that im under a scholarship. i know that i run the risk of getting myself into a big dilemna if i got offered an internship n a job (plus buying out of my bond) to work at a company that's alot bigger than my current scholarship sponsor.

even if i were to reject the job offer, i would have a better idea of the kind of firms that i can apply to, if i choose to work for another company after i have fulfilled my bond obligation.

my internship next yr is perhaps my only chance for me to gauge my own ability and to try out other industries to c if they are my cup of tea.

pls give me some guidance.

making a difference

i had lunch with the assistant dean of NBS (accountancy) today. it's the NBS way of getting to know the students better.
The prof was asking if i was involved in any school activities and if i was a student leader in nbs. i told her that i wasn't. The school does encourage the students to be student leader.
but will u b making a difference if u were a student leader? whose lifes are u making a difference to? do those people require you to make a difference to their lifes?
as i get older (n hopefully more wise and mature), i dun c much value in being a student leader and trying to make a difference to the lifes' of the student population.
the futures of the undergraduates are so bright. it doesn't really make much of a difference if you are there to help them. their future will still be as bright as before. so are u making a difference? and is this difference that u make important to those lifes?
As i get more involved in volunteer work, i believe more n more in being a servant to the community, to help people who really need your help and you are really making a DIFFERENCE in their lifes.
suddenly, my volunteering works take precedent over my other cca (mainly tkd) because of this reason. i still enjoy helping out in nuh, helping to communicate with those patients who are mentally not so stable. i c that as making a real difference.
i m also starting to get involved in keppel volunteers' programme. for those who are not aware, keppel's adopted charitable organisation is APSN (association for people with special needs), Delta school etc.
we were discussing during meeting that one of the most important things for this group of people when they grow up is financial independence. this would mean finding a job and earning money which may not b a easy thing for them, compared to undergraduates. so we were exploring the idea of trying to find employment for them within keppel group. i like this new initiative and i can foresee myself being v involve in this meaningful initiative as i can c myself making a DIFFERENCE to their lifes.
i was sharing my view that the young APSN kids could reach out to other people who needs help more than them. my rationale is that, while u need the society to help u, it doesn't mean that u can't give back to the society as there are definitely less unfortunate people than the aspn kids in spore and in this world. in fact, i think by getting them to help otheres, they can learn that they are not so unfortunate after all. this will increase their self-esteem and confidence. in fact, i think all charitable organisations should try to help each other out , rather than just wait for help to come to their door steps. u can take from the society but u need to give back to the society. if i become influential enough like gerard ee, perhaps i can try to implement this big plan of mine.

a fatal 'B'

when i received my yr 1 sem 2 result, my nbs senior alvin told me that getting a 'B' for my IT module is v painful for people like me who has the potential to get dean list.
it was only until yest that i realized the meaning of that sentence he told me.
it's confirmed that i din get my dean list for yr 1 and i was so close to dean list. 'so close yet so far' should be more appropriate in my case.
all it takes for me to secure my dean list is to get a 'B+' for that IT module and i would have gotten my dean list.
i remembered that it was one of my new yr resolution that i maintain my academic excellence while i strive to build up my 'life' experience by participating in various activities be it in school or other organization. getting the dean list is the benchmark i set for myself.
it's quite a sian feeling to find out that i was so close to attaining my goal.

i guess fact is a fact and all i can do is to work harder for yr 2 to try to make up for my disappointment.
this is only a small setback and i will b back stronger than b4.

disappointed

I went for a interview just now. it was an interview to be a student ambassador for the Ministerial Forum 2007 to be held in NTU in oct.
i was disappointed by two things.
first, i was told that the roles of the student ambassador is to help the main comm in the execution of the event and this entails helping out in logistic, reception, security and ushering. so i concluded that any tom, dick n harry can be a student ambassador and apparently to the student union, this is the meaning of student ambassador. if we were in the army, this would be known as the sai-kang party rather than being known as the army ambassador. so i m annoyed at this crap. can't an young adult differentiate between sai-kang/student helper and student ambassador. i must say ntu student union has done a very gd job in giving such a nice name to such a shitty job.
next, my interview was scheduled at 9pm and it lasted for a total of about 5min. the interview went like this.
'so i shall now brief u on the roles of the student ambassadors. they are to assist the comm by helping out in logistic, reception, security and ushering'

'do u have any experience with handling events? '

'thank you for coming down for this interview and we will notify u shortly'

these were the gist of the interview and this is one of the most lousy interview i have ever went thru. in fact, none of the student-conducted interviews in ntu impressed me. while i do not expect such interview to be of those standards that i went through for my various scholarships, i do expect a bit of substance in each interview. or can someone tell me that such expectation is too much?

the student ambassador interview was a total waste of my time and i have more or less lost faith in any interview of whatever nature that's conducted by students.