Personal Statement for Application to the University of Southampton, Malaysia Campus

Ranked as one of the top universities, University of Southampton is one of the best places in the world to study electronic and electrical engineering. With the new campus built in Malaysia, I can attend lectures delivered by professors from University of Southampton in my own country. This means that I can use the same quality lab and utilities as in the UK campus for a lower price due to the different currency exchange rate and living expenses. Of course I'm in for that.

Since young, I enjoy learning Science and Mathematics. Through science, I understand how things work, be it a natural phenomenon, a chemical reaction or a biological response. My understanding does not diminish the aesthetic pleasure I get from looking into them directly on observation, instead it also reveals the hidden rhythm and pattern between the phenomena of nature which is not apparent to the eye, but only to the eye of analysis. Through Mathematics, not only do I learn to express my understanding in a concise and systematic way, but also use this powerful tool to connect and organize my thoughts and ideas logically. For my interest in science and maths, I took part in many competitions and assessments throughout my primary and secondary school years and got a few distinctions. So, I pursue a career that uses both science and mathematics.

During my leisure time, I spend time on catching up with technology news as I believe the ability to leverage the power of computer is crucial in the technological future. I usually visit websites, like Hacker News, Make Use Of and Medium, and find them not only informative but sometimes enlightening as their articles cover a variety of topic. Amongst them all, my favourite type of article is the how-to article because they are very practical and, most of the time, easy to do. As my time spent on electronic devices increased substantially over years, my interest in them goes far beyond than just wanting to use them on daily basic. I, too, want to know how they work. For that reason, I would like to further my study with a degree course that combines these subjects. I choose to study electronic and electrical engineering.

But, what makes me stand out from all the other bright applicants? Well, I dare not say I am smarter, but I am indeed an inquisitive person who likes to ask questions and wish to know more. Moreover, I am not afraid of making mistakes. I learn from trials and errors because,

Read More»

My UCAS Personal Statement

Since young, I was intrigued by things around me, and would fiddle with objects like a TV remote control, trying out all the buttons one by one. As one would expect, I usually messed up with the settings and got myself into trouble. But that didn't kill my curiosity. Instead, it grew with time and manifests in my curiosity to read engineering.

As a young boy, my first realization about the "brain" of all the electrical devices is just a board of chips had left me in awe, and piqued my interest to understand the underlying electronics. Years later, my encounter with Ubuntu has also opened my eyes, showing me how much control users can have over their computers and all the possibilities that computers can accomplish. Combining these interests to understand the hardware and software, and get the best of two worlds from the electronics engineering and computer science field, I am aspired to pursue the interdisciplinary course: electronic and information engineering.

However, in order to leverage the power of technology to my advantage, a good mastery of both Physics and Mathematics is needed. Fortunately, solving Mathematics problems often offers satisfaction to me, especially when the "Eureka!" moment hits me after a long thought on a challenging problem. To push myself to the limit, I decided to sit for the Further Mathematics exam although it's out of the school subject options. As materials are scattered around different books and sometimes outside the scope of all the books used, I spent a considerably amount of time resourcing in the Internet to search for additional open materials, such as university lecture videos and class notes; and explanations to clear my doubts. That was a tough period of time, but looking back, it turned out to be a precious experience and opportunity for me to grow and prepare for university, where researching skills and independent study skills are emphasized. 

Besides, my team-working skills and leadership qualities are demonstrated as a brass band leader and a senior prefect in school. Being one of them and going through a lot of events, like prefect sport-checks, band concerts and marching competitions, I realized the power of one in contributing to the overall success, because a trumpet alone can never perform a symphony. As a student councillor board treasurer and the organizing joint-chairperson for the school orientation, my organizational skills were also put to test, while finding out how cooperation not only between committees, but also with students and school staffs are important in organizing a successful event and overcoming difficulties.

Only last August, I was given a chance by my institute Chief Executive Officer to give a motivation talk to the fifth form students who are going to sit for the public exam. It was the first time I delivered a serious talk, and it was really challenging to make it informative and interesting at the same time, but I still did my best, seeing it as an enlightening experience to top up my presentation skills. I shared with them my reasons for taking A-Level here and how I studied and prepared for exams using the method which I believe is effective and efficient.

In this gap year, at first I wanted to gain some industrial experience in my field of study, but due to the limited job vacancy at my hometown, I shall be working as my A-Level Head of Department assistant, helping in the laboratory experiments preparation and doing some paper work. It is also my intention, during the year, to provide guidance to my juniors who want to take Further Mathematics too, while using my leisure time to gain deeper insights into the field.

To sum up, surfing the tsunami of technological innovation and bringing new ideas alive into the world are what I'm passionate about. Science has taught what is, and maths has equipped me with the tools; now I'd like to combine them with my creativity to create what never was. Thank you!

Read More»

Lessons learnt from my interviews

I have attempted two academic interviews and about four scholarship interviews, but I’m sorry to inform you that I have only succeeded in one of the academic interview. These are the things I think I could have done better resulted from my own reflection and post-mortem of my failed interviews. So they may be inaccurate and even wrong, but anyways, these are some of the lessons I learnt:

1. Bring pen and paper into the room

- Seems obvious, but it’s the deadly mistake I committed in my first scholarship interview

- Using pen and paper enable me to organise my thoughts before I answer. Some of the interviewers prefer a well thought out answer rather than just a prompt answer.

- My first scholarship interview is a report-type interview while the academic ones are discussion based interview

- Also don’t forget to bring your documents too

2. Prepare for the ending question: “Do you have any question for us?”

- “Yes! When will the result of this interview be released? What do you think of my interview performance? How can I do better?”

3. Confront with your anxiety

- “Yes, I’m nervous. I want to secure the scholarship but I afraid they won’t offer one.”

- Think of the worst case scenario: fail to secure the scholarship.

- Interview process involves some selling and buying for two party: you and the scholarship foundation/school. Remember: you are not begging for money. You are here to prove them you worth the amount of money invested on you. Sell like a salesman: don’t be too eager to speak or give all in, nor should you be too hesitate to answer them. Cut to the chase – no nonsense!

I have a feeling that the scholarship interviewers treat it as a job interview while the academic interviewers test you as the first-year undergraduate. So please prepare it accordingly.

For job interview:

1. "Want to get hired? Get that interview" by Kirby W. Stanat
[http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1977/02/13/page/407/article/want-to-get-hired-get-that-interview]

2. "It's don'ts that count most in job interviews" by Kirby W. Stanat
[http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1977/02/20/page/469/article/its-donts-that-count-most-in-job-interviews]

3. "Job-hunting secret -- your personal chemistry is vital" by Kirby W. Stanat and Patrick Reardon

[http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1977/02/27/page/465/article/job-hunting-secret-your-personal-chemistry-is-vital]

4. "'Homework's' the key to scoring with job recruiter" by Kirby W. Stanat with Patrick Reardon
[http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1977/03/06/page/347/article/homeworks-the-key-to-scoring-with-job-recruiter]

5. "Job seekers over 50 must make strong points work" by Kirby W. Stanat with Patrick Reardon

[http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1977/03/13/page/377/article/job-seekers-over-50-must-make-strong-points-work]

6. "You really want that job? Stride in the front door" by Kirby W. Stanat with Patrick Reardon

[http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1977/03/20/page/396/article/you-really-want-that-job-stride-in-the-front-door]

For academic interview:

1. Read the course content of that university

2. Explore the undergraduate course topics, like see what’s taught in CS100

a. To show that you are enthusiast about that subject

3. Get ready for the interview

Read More»

Lesson Learnt from a Year Working as Lab Assistant

After finishing my CIE A-Level exam, I took a gap year working as a Lab Assistant at my former institute.

Here are the things that I have learnt:

1. Divide and conquer

- Break down the tasks assigned to me and tackle them in order. This may be obvious but when the tasks stack up to ten or more, I tend to switch from task to task before finishing it. Another things I learnt is to group similar/related tasks together and finish them in one go. Old wisdom applies here: A stitch in time saves nine. Also, my lecturer’s extensive use of containers to separate teaching materials between different intakes inspired me about this.

- Set a deadline for myself – a self-imposed deadline that due before the actual deadline set by my boss. Completing tasks before the deadline builds people’s confidence in you; shows your discipline, your time-management skills and your ability; and impresses your boss!

2. Backup, backup and backup

- Important documents are just gone if they cannot be found. Prepare for the worst case scenario. However, physical backup copies should be disposed after the next backup.

- Besides backing up, a systematic approach to storing documents is very important too. A cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind. An empty desk is a sign of being ready to deal with new tasks, like a blank paper ready to be written or drawn by people.

3. Keep learning, keep improving

- My job is to get my job done faster, better and more efficient.

- It’s okay to make mistake, but it’s not okay to repeat the same mistakes. Learn from mistakes, not only from your own mistakes, but also from people’s mistakes.

Read More»

Last Lecture to Sixth Form Tuition Class

1. Main purpose of my teaching: To correct your learning attitude

- Learning is about trying and asking

- Trying means go ahead a solve problem even before you are prepared for it to discover my original opinion towards that problem, to discover my wrong concepts

- Question myself, try to answer it and only then ask for verification

2. Main purpose of learning: Clear your doubts, understand something

- Important: Making notes

- Sort out our mind

- Connect the new knowledge to what we have learnt, and possibly what we have not learnt

- Record in the simplest form

3. Main purpose of examination: Time for harvesting

- Pressure to thrust – limited time

- To test how much we know

- The earlier we start preparing, the better, but starting now is never too late

- Method: Self-examining – treat exercises as test

Areas need improvement:

1. Make notes and update them often

2. Revise: revise to remember and to learn new things

3. Study independently, self-discipline, self-driving, but consult teachers to clear doubts

4. Build a strong foundation, and make it stronger and deeper days after days

5. Solve a problem doing your best. Don’t stop until you found the solution(s).

6. Self-motivating, raise to challenges and failures, and do even better

7. Learn concepts from examples. Not numbers from examples.

8. Wake up! Do your works while listening, e.g. solving problems, writing notes, or summarising.

Read More»