Today I went to a really fantastic talk by Ajarn Brahm, one of the most famous Buddhist teacher in the world. Today's topic was about "How to balanced your study and Personal Life." Not only his content was great, he is wise and he exemplify the great communication skills.
One of the things that he uses was stories and we have been talking about this is ES2007s for very long. Stories get people interested, grab their attention and most important of all memorable. He was talking about having a positive attitude towards whatever comes to your life, Be Positive. This is a story to illustrate my point and to help you in your exam.
This story is called "Good, Bad, Who knows?" The story goes like this. There was a king who went for hunting in a jungle. As he was hunting, he was bitten on his finger by an animal. The cut was pretty swollen and the finger almost came off, so he asked the doctor to came over and examined his condition. He asked how was the wound after the doctor put the bandage on. The doctor says "Good, Bad, Who knows?" The king thought what a stupid doctor, he doesn't even know the condition.
After he went back to the palace, the doctor changed the bandage and was asked again about the condition. Again he said "Good, Bad, Who knows?" The king was stunned but still trust his doctor. Nevertheless, after 3 days, the cut was infected and the finger had to be amputated. The king was really angry with this stupid doctor, so he personally put the doctor in jail. The king asked how does that feel. The doctor once again answered "Good, Bad, Who knows?"
Few days later, the king went hunting again. But this time he got lost in a jungle alone. He then was caught by an indigenous tribe who need a human sacrifice for their god and they thought he would be a perfect one. After all the rituals, the king was at the post ready to be burnt. However, one of the tribal priest realized that he only had 9 fingers. The priest said "he is not a perfect sacrifice for our god, we must find a new one."
After the sweet escape, the king went back to the palace and immediately realizes the doctor because he just saved his life. Then, the king apologized to the doctor. But the doctor said "it's fine. I have 10 fingers. If I weren't in jailed, I would be with you and by now I would be dead."
From this story, we could learn that whatever comes to our life we will never know whether it is good or bad, so instead of worrying and dreading, why don't we take positive attitude and relax in life. " In the light of examination period, whatever we will do for our exam. Why don't we take a step back relax, smile and say "Good, Bad, Who knows?"
May you be well and happy,
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
The start of the learning journey that will never end
I still remembered why I signed up for this course. When the bidding system was ongoing, I still felt the sense of failure and disappointment from interviews with top universities, including Oxford University, Columbia University and Imperial College London. From the experience that I have gone through, I felt that my communication skill is really far from good. I wanted to learn how to express myself well and communicate effectively, so I thought this course would actually help.
I came to the course without knowing anyone, going to class just by myself. However, after I stepped in and saw what was happening around me, I thought this may not be that bad after all. Through this course, I have really gained insights on communication skills. I have never noticed that non-verbal communication can affect the way other people perceived me that much. Resume writing and interview skill were also one of the most important aspect that this course has taught me. I left this class knowing everyone and I have learned as much from them as I learned from Brad.
In term of group work, I really learned how to be patient and more accepting toward others' working style. This is a very important skills that we all need in real life. Through research project and peer teaching, we all have gained the knowledge into what we were doing. However, I think more importantly the skill that we used through these projects have taught us more than we can ever imagine.
All in all, this course for me is just the start of effective communication. It's a football academy where young players learned all the tactics from. However, after the graduation, the real improvement comes when these players actually play in real matches against different teams. Just like what we are now. We are only at the start of the journey. We are now facing the real world where we will hone our skills to be the star in this league, so let the journey begins. It has been great training with all of you in various discussions and projects. All the best everyone.
Cheers,
Billet
I came to the course without knowing anyone, going to class just by myself. However, after I stepped in and saw what was happening around me, I thought this may not be that bad after all. Through this course, I have really gained insights on communication skills. I have never noticed that non-verbal communication can affect the way other people perceived me that much. Resume writing and interview skill were also one of the most important aspect that this course has taught me. I left this class knowing everyone and I have learned as much from them as I learned from Brad.
In term of group work, I really learned how to be patient and more accepting toward others' working style. This is a very important skills that we all need in real life. Through research project and peer teaching, we all have gained the knowledge into what we were doing. However, I think more importantly the skill that we used through these projects have taught us more than we can ever imagine.
All in all, this course for me is just the start of effective communication. It's a football academy where young players learned all the tactics from. However, after the graduation, the real improvement comes when these players actually play in real matches against different teams. Just like what we are now. We are only at the start of the journey. We are now facing the real world where we will hone our skills to be the star in this league, so let the journey begins. It has been great training with all of you in various discussions and projects. All the best everyone.
Cheers,
Billet
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
ENG: Oral Presentationo Reflection
Preparation
This is a really tough part. We all are really busy and it is a little difficult to get together sometimes. Wen Lue was sometime not contactable and we were worried about him. However, when we met 3 days before the real presentation, he was really impressive. I was shocked by how much he improved from the peer teaching session. As for Yan Ling, you are naturally a rather shy person, presentation is not your forte. This is not really an easy job for you.
Nevertheless, I remembered sitting down at the bench at the end of the day, listening to everyone's section. I had an idea of breaking up the presentation into sections, making it like interviewing panel style of presentation. This is a really good solution to a presentation because it make the content easy to follow and there is a moderator who can reiterate the point. I think after we used the idea, everyone in the group gained more confident in presentation. I am really glad that I could help the rest to do better.
As for myself, I think I am a confident person in presentation. However, what I lack is the skill to handle the use of language. Hence, I need a lot of practice and preparation to present what I intend to. The introduction was done over and over again to get all the content inside without any awkward sentences. We also took video of ourselves so that we are aware of our non-verbal communications.
Delivery
In the end, the presentation went well. For me, I did what I intended to do in bringing the audience into the presentation. It was a good experience being a moderator for the group. It's not an easy job. The moderator have to pay full attention to the presenters, looking out for the uncleared or unsaid points, so that I could prompt the presenter to reiterate the points. However, through the experience, I think our group did a really good job helping each other in presentation style.
Use of slideware
Our group had a little disagreement on the slideware. For me, I have always preferred less words, simple and more pictures. However, to my groupmate, they want some of the point to be in the slide, so that they won't miss any point. I actually didn't like the idea and went to changed their parts and they weren't particularly happy about it. I am really sorry. I should have consulted you before. Nevertheless, we all agreed to tone down the slide and use ourselves as presentation.
In summary, through this presentation, I have learned a lot about working with other people and how we helped each other through. Wen Lue, sorry for being judgmental about the way you worked. In the end, you did an impressive job. Xing Quan is a very good group leader, keeping us on track. I am very grateful to work with you all. All the best for exam!
This is a really tough part. We all are really busy and it is a little difficult to get together sometimes. Wen Lue was sometime not contactable and we were worried about him. However, when we met 3 days before the real presentation, he was really impressive. I was shocked by how much he improved from the peer teaching session. As for Yan Ling, you are naturally a rather shy person, presentation is not your forte. This is not really an easy job for you.
Nevertheless, I remembered sitting down at the bench at the end of the day, listening to everyone's section. I had an idea of breaking up the presentation into sections, making it like interviewing panel style of presentation. This is a really good solution to a presentation because it make the content easy to follow and there is a moderator who can reiterate the point. I think after we used the idea, everyone in the group gained more confident in presentation. I am really glad that I could help the rest to do better.
As for myself, I think I am a confident person in presentation. However, what I lack is the skill to handle the use of language. Hence, I need a lot of practice and preparation to present what I intend to. The introduction was done over and over again to get all the content inside without any awkward sentences. We also took video of ourselves so that we are aware of our non-verbal communications.
Delivery
In the end, the presentation went well. For me, I did what I intended to do in bringing the audience into the presentation. It was a good experience being a moderator for the group. It's not an easy job. The moderator have to pay full attention to the presenters, looking out for the uncleared or unsaid points, so that I could prompt the presenter to reiterate the points. However, through the experience, I think our group did a really good job helping each other in presentation style.
Use of slideware
Our group had a little disagreement on the slideware. For me, I have always preferred less words, simple and more pictures. However, to my groupmate, they want some of the point to be in the slide, so that they won't miss any point. I actually didn't like the idea and went to changed their parts and they weren't particularly happy about it. I am really sorry. I should have consulted you before. Nevertheless, we all agreed to tone down the slide and use ourselves as presentation.
In summary, through this presentation, I have learned a lot about working with other people and how we helped each other through. Wen Lue, sorry for being judgmental about the way you worked. In the end, you did an impressive job. Xing Quan is a very good group leader, keeping us on track. I am very grateful to work with you all. All the best for exam!
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