Final reflection on learning

Now that this module has concluded, I felt that it was important to think about what I have learnt in the span of 12 weeks. I have managed to hone my resume and over letter writing skills which I felt was beneficial for me at this point in time. This made job-seeking process much easier because we are prepared with a good resume letter that has been proof-read by our tutor as well as our peers.

In addition, I think that the presentations have built up my confidence when speaking in front of a class of 18 students. This was the first time I have taken a module in NUS that requires me to do public speaking because the other science modules I took so far were graded based on assignments and exams. Therefore, it was a fresh experience and I learn a lot from my classmates when it was their turn to present as some of them have really good stage presence. These are skills I hope to emulate from them and put into good use next time should I have to present in the future when I enter the workforce.

The various projects we have test our ability to work with different people and I learn the importance of communicating well. I think about the different ways and forms of communicating, be it verbally or non-verbally, when I interact with the people around me. I feel that the knowledge that I took away from class will continuously be applied because they are essentially good life skills to have.

Finally, I am glad to have chosen this module as it is distinct from the ones I have taken before. It makes me reflect more and definitely has an impact on me. I would recommend this module for my friends who wish to seek something different that has a different focus other than something that is academic oriented and more on learning new things and becoming more equipped with useful skills.

Reflection on Project Proposal

Challenges, Triumphs, Learning Points, Possible improvements

Challenges

The challenge that I face is coming up with proposed solutions as well as arranging for interview with my lecturer who is a foreign expat. While I was searching for current policies to the problem that we have for integrating foreigners into Singapore, I realised that there are in fact many measures that have been implemented already. As a result, we were required to look beyond Singapore to other countries as case-studies to refer to so that we can get some ideas of possible solutions. It took some time to sieve through all the policies and choose 4 that we think is feasible. For the interview with my professor, it did not result in the way I had hoped when I emailed him requesting for an interview. Apparently, he did not feel comfortable disclosing personal information and felt that this topic was quite sensitive. I approached him directly after lecture but again he politely declined. I felt that this could have been a good opportunity to get some valuable input from a foreigner which can help us to have a more deeper understanding of the problem from a different perspective.

Triumphs

Once we have our proposed solutions, we delegated task on who should do what for the written proposal. I was in charge of explaining how the Buddy Family Program works. Therefore, extensive reading up is necessary and it was quite an accomplishment for me. In terms of my group, I felt that we all did our part and my members are able to make up for what I lack in. For example, I was unsure of APA formatting so I was glad to have my more experienced team mates who have done proposals before to volunteer to do this portion.

Learning Points

This project is unlike most I have encountered since there are many discussions that we have to hold. I learn the importance of meeting up so that we can express our viewpoints and exchange opinions and feedback directly. Our group is able to achieve this part well as we had a few meetings to go through interview and survey questions and solutions. For the written part, after this experience, I am even more certain that proof reading and understanding each other's parts is very important because they are all interconnected and like a flow chart, each links to the next which finally leads up to the conclusion.

Possible Improvements

If possible, I hoped that we could have more candidates for the interview so that if one reject or did not reply, we are able to still carry out. Otherwise, we would have to wait or come up with another person to interview which could delay our schedule and whole project from finalizing.

Evaluating Intercultural Behavior

Last December, I went to Philippines for an overseas community involvement program with a group of volunteers. Over there, we stayed for 3 weeks at the rural area of Bago City. One thing that struck me the most was that the children of this less-developed city were very different from Singaporean kids and this particular scene left me a deep impression that is etched in my mind until today. 

The group of 20 of us were seated at one of the road side stalls having our dinner when we heard children's singing from a distance away. It got louder and louder and before we know it, a handful of them surrounded us singing Christmas carols with one or two accompanying with bells. One of the boy stood right behind me and I tried my best to continue my dinner without paying much attention to him. There was a reason why I did so, because we were told to not get close to them as they will stick to you and ask for more money. From past batches of this same organisation, they learnt that by giving one of them money, the kid will bring more of them and then it will be even harder to reject. I found out from my project directors that they call this pangangaroling.

After a while, they left but for the subsequent days, they came to our doorstep and continued caroling like before with their angelic voices and hands outstretched. This lasted until christmas eve and we decided to distribute sweets to them instead and they were happy nevertheless. 

From this trip, I felt that these children were brought up differently in the sense that they were not afraid to approach strangers. However, it made me wonder what their parents think of it by allowing their kids to roam the streets at night with no guidance from adults. Still, it showed that the people here placed much emphasis on christmas since many of them are christians and it was quite an eye opener for me that the kids will go around caroling just like how I imagined other children in the west to do trick treating during Halloween. 

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

A common situation where interpersonal conflict occurs is at the workplace. This may be due to different personalities and working styles of each individual. Therefore, for occupations requiring plenty of interaction with colleagues or clients, it is important to manage interpersonal relationships and resolve conflict effectively.

After my A levels, I landed a job at a tuition centre working as administrative staff. Not too many months later, a middle-aged woman, who shall be named A, joined the company and was designated to the same post as I am which was working at the front line counter. We do not need to interact with the teachers much except for when parents request to speak to them. However, things did not go too well between A and one of the other teacher, who shall be named B. This teacher has actually been teaching in the centre for many years now and has gained a positive reputation since he was liked by his students. This is evident from the fact that many students actually followed him year after year. On one day, B arrived dressed casually as always in shorts and flip flops despite there being a code of attire for teachers. This issue was brought up to the principal many times, therefore it was something she knew but took no action probably because he was a star teacher. However, A decided to make a remark about her dissatisfaction with his attitude as a teacher. From there on, things escalated and they got into a heated argument. B retorted that she was just an admin staff and that she should mind her own business while A continued to criticise him back saying how he was acting like a big shot. As this was happening, I was seated at the side, at loss of what to do to stop the conflict. To make things worse, a parent who walked in to make enquiries also witnessed the whole argument. After a while, A exclaimed that she does not want to continue arguing and went back doing her work while still muttering under her breath. B also resumed his lesson but slammed the door when he entered his classroom. A immediately messaged the principal and as quickly as she could, the principal came to resolve by talking to both of them separately as well as asked me a few questions about what had happened. Her solution was for both parties to avoid talking to each other to prevent further similar incidences and that I was to help be the middleman whenever possible. Still, A felt that she could not continue working and soon after, went ahead and break her contract and resigned despite much persuasion from the principal. Who would you think is in the wrong in this case? Or are both parties equally at fault? How do you think the situation could be better managed?