"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." --- Mahatma Gandhi
Indeed, this is how Alan Chua perceived life after 23 years living in this world renowned lion city called Singapore. He lives his happy-go-lucky life with his family of 5 in the northeastern part of the country called Sengkang in the weekends and joins his loyal brothers and caring sisters in the hostel called Kent Ridge Hall during the weekdays. Currently an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor degree majoring in Applied Mathematics, he hopes to fulfill his lifelong dreams of becoming the principal of his alma mater by joining the teaching force once he graduates from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2010.
Since learning is a lifelong process, this friendly and joyful young man plans to enhance his knowledge by reading an advanced post-graduate diploma at the National Institute of Education (NIE). He also hopes to read his Masters in Education when he has gotten enough exposure in his teaching career.
As a very outgoing and spontaneous person, Alan has been extremely active throughout his life. He has been a role-model to his peers, honing his skills as a prefect, a monitor, a peer-support leader over the years. During his national service in the army, he has also exhibited strong leadership skills by becoming the best trainee in the signal specialist course. He was also conferred “Best soldier of the month” award in recognition to his active contributions to his peers, colleagues and organization during his time in the army.
He continues to embark on an enriching life during his university days, taking part in numerous activities ranging from performing in the production to raising funds for the charities during the annual NUS Flag and Rag (Receive and Give) Day. On top of that, he has also been performing and competing overseas together with his alumni choir, winning numerous gold awards and emerging as champions. Despite his busy and hectic schedule, he has also been volunteering at the Salvation Army, giving tuition to the children in the Home.
A Singlish song
As a typical Singaporean, Alan speaks broken English, formerly known as Singlish, and enjoys listening to music ranging from pop to rock. During his free time, he also enjoys playing street soccer with his lifelong friends as well as ‘relaxing’ at a corner with a book and a glass of wine. That is when he sits down and seeks solitude, using the time to reflect on his personal life and to realign his goals and vision in life and in learning. What an old man’s behavior!
"The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving." --- Albert Einstein
Reflections on Module
14 years ago
This is my first blog in my life. While I carry on exploring the different functions such as uploading pictures, videos etc onto the webpage, hope you guys would enjoy my blog entry on personal statement. Play this video as you read through my blog entry. Have a relaxed and enjoyable time reading.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your style of writing. The 3rd person POV added with a dash of humour gives it a really personal touch. Good job!
ReplyDeleteDear Alan,
ReplyDeleteI like this post! In fact, I learnt to write this week's post from yours~ I believe you will become a great teacher! =)
Cheers,
Jason
Gotta love your style of writing Alan! From the first paragraph I can see your personality coming out. Interesting that you picked a third-person way of presenting your statement. It makes your post that much different and makes an impression automatically.
ReplyDeleteI like that you mentioned your goals of becoming a principal and talked about furthering your studies by taking Masters. Shows you have a clear path in mind and that you plan to develop yourself further.
I especially like your last paragraph where you talk about your interests and later on go on to make it link back to how you use it for reflection instead of stopping there.
Nicely done in my opinion! You statement shows your capabilities and goals and also manages to capture your personality perfectly with the light-hearted writing and mild humour.
Cheers,
Priscilla
Hey Alan,
ReplyDeleteSeeing so much good comments up there, i really got to admit that this post is very interesting and indeed the 3rd person stand add to making this post more lively and humourous. I feel that the additional of an appropriate pictures or video is always useful and a good way to enhance a blog post. Thus i am certainly, looking forward to all your up-coming post :)
Lastly, I want you to know that me too have that "old man's behaviour". HAHA ^_^
-yongshen-
Hi Alan,
ReplyDeleteThis is indeed a refreshing read! Apart from making your personal statement interesting, I think writing from a third-person perspective also reflects an attempt to remain objective in your judgment about yourself – this enhances the persuasiveness of your personal statement.
Also, while I’m not sure if you meant for the quotes to be part of your personal statement, I must say that the themes of lifelong learning and giving are very clearly presented in the body paragraphs, appropriately echoing the quotes.
Finally, the self-deprecating humour embedded in your last line also conveys a certain measure of humility in you – quite important life-long learner, don’t you think?
Thanks for the well-written post!
Bing Fu