Wednesday, April 28, 2010

UGRAD Gives Back

April 24 (Sat): English Enrichment Program @ Compassion Charity Home
In conjunction with the Global Youth Service Day, UGRAD alumni together with the YES alumni visited this orphanage in Subang to spend an afternoon with the kids. It's been awhile since the last time I volunteered and I've been thinking about getting involved in community service since I came back from the States. Coincidently, I found out that YES was organizing this English Enrichment Program on the weekend right after my final exams, so bro & I decided to volunteer & help out. I've not had any experiences visiting an orphanage so I was quite excited about it and it was definitely a good learning opportunity.

The charity home...looked very new & spacious!

Using our creativity to introduce ourselves...obviously I'm not good in this...haha!! :p

Mingling with the kids


Started off by introducing ourselves

The kids' turn to introduce themselves

Chatting with the teenagers while the other kids were working on their 'masterpiece'

Straws & marshmallows game...so 'american'...haha!

There were some more activities after this but I don't have the pics in my camera. Bro & I conducted a 'country' game for the upper secondary students. They were asked to list the countries' name from A-Z, then identify the flags for each countries. It was funny when they were competing to guess the flags. Will share more pics here when others upload 'em.

BBQ pot luck for dinner. Bro & I made something 'american' as well...Potato Salad. Learned this from Donna. Spent the whole morning making this...glad that it turned out pretty good! =)

Overall, I think this English Enrichment Program was a success. Perhaps not as great as we expected but it was a pretty good experience considering that this was our first time doing this kind of activities. It was indeed a great learning opportunity for us and I'm sure it'll help us in our future community projects. It also feels great to share some laughters with the kids and see them having a good time.

"Happiness is not so much in having. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

Many of us tend to take good things in our lives for granted...especially when it comes to family. Most of us don't stop to think what would happen if we lost our loved ones one day. Sometimes, we need to stop for a moment and look back at what we've missed in life. We're lucky to have a family who loves us...like what Deanna shared on fb..."Appreciate what you have because there are people out there without it". Remember, everyday is an opportunity to make things better, live life without regrets!


"Life's short...treasure your loved ones, do something special, give 'em a surprise, thank 'em for what they have done for you and...say I LOVE YOU...before it's too late!!"

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Doneee!!! =)

Exam was over 3 days ago...that means I'm officially DONEEE with college here!!! Finally...after 5 years of college life...from Penang to KL, then a detour to US, and finally back to KL last year...I would say it's been a pretty long journey. I still remember how I dreaded coming back from US to complete my final year here a year ago...but here I am now...time to say byebye, pack up, and move back home. Thought I would be exhilarated after my last paper but not really...mayb coz there's still ACCA in June and 3 more months of studying in UK...so technically I'm not completely done with school yet.

It seems like I'm even busier after exams...so many things pending for me to do and I've been spending the past 3 days packing up my stuffs here. Taking a break away from books first...planning to blog about several things so hope that I'll have the mood & time to do it.

Last lecture for Advanced Taxation...'impresive' attendance of less than 5%...haha! Obviously, someone wasn't paying attention...hmm!

After-exam celebration with my 'super' friends...we looked darn tired & hagard...Tarc exams never fail in producing Pandas...

Bro's fiancee came to KL for work so treated us some awesome meal ('La Mian' & Alexis) over the weekend

A quick reflection of my 4 years in TARC:
1st year...nothing much apart from Community Sociology project...spent most of the time studying I guess.
2nd year...was a lil' more active. Joined the debates & some other English competitions. Represented Penang branch for the Intercampus Sports Carnival & surprisingly got 2 gold medals for swimming. Besides, for some weird reason, more ppl started to know about me and gave me a new name...sweat! Graduated Diploma with pretty satisfying result so it was a great ending in Penang.
3rd year...moved down to KL for advanced diploma. Was lucky to be given a lot of learning opportunities by being selected as the course representative & also the chairperson for Financial Accounting Society. Spent 3 months doing internship at Pwc Penang. Found out that I got the Global UGRAD scholarship so deferred my studies for a year.
4th year...Came back from US & joined the juniors knowing nobody. Study life was very much different as compared to the hectic & busy 3rd year. Main focus was only on ACCA...it's really tough. But I was lucky to spend most of my time with 3 great friends who made my final year a joyful & enjoyable one. Thanks guys! =)

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Valuable Opportunities Ahead

April 19 (Mon): Dinner to meet Ms Maura Pally at the Royale Chulan Hotel
Bro & I was invited to this dinner to represent the UGRAD alumni, along with other U.S. Alumni members & embassy staff, and guest of honor Ms. Maura Pally (Acting Assistant Secretary of State Bureau of Education & Cultural Affairs) & her assistant Ms. Dana. 

Like the last time, all alumni shared their wonderful experiences in America and Mr. Nicholas Papp urged all other alumni to support the upcoming community projects (English Language Camp) that will be led by the YES Alumni. This will be part of the effort to bring all Malaysian alumni members together and strengthen our ties as we give back to the community.

I'm definitely looking forward to more wonderful opportunities ahead to work with all these people, contribute more to community projects, and strengthen our UGRAD alumni!! UGRADers...Let's Go!!! =)


Intervarsity Business Tycoon Simulation Game

April 9 (Friday): Business Tycoon Simulation Game at Nottingham University
Officially my last competition as a student here. As I mentioned on fb, I've definitely cherished my last days as a student here to the fullest. Joined several competitions which happened to take place towards the end of the semester...busy till wanna kisiao d...haha!

Didn't win any prizes in this competition but what matters most was gaining the experience. It was like a mini class gathering for us. This game was actually pretty fun and fast-paced...it was just like a pasar in that hall...you can see that from the pics below.

TARCians at Nottingham University...hmmm....like 'sam pa lou'?

Crazy classmates: Joshua, Shalinni, Rachel, WeiChih, KimLoon, MingKhuen, ZhaoQin, KeanTat, Me, MsG!

Time to get serious for the game...our team was 'car manufacturer'.

This is what I was talking about...PASAR!!!

Group photo with the sponsors and organizers

Friday, April 9, 2010

Case Study Challenge Finale

April 3 (Sat): UM-CIMB Intervarsity Case Study Challenge Grand Finale
I knowww...I'm supposed to be studying now but here I am again...distracted with everything else apart from my notes....blahh!! Another quick update of my 'busy' schedule lately...still more updates to come but perhaps I'll update the rest after exams.

This case study challenge had been going on since end of January. For the 1st round, our team submitted an executive summary...then we got into the semi-finals where 10 teams went for a site visit at Kuala Gula. We were then asked to prepare a powerpoint presentation for the 2nd round whereby 3 finalists will be selected to present our proposals in the finals. So after all the effort, sleepless nights, & pekchek-ness...I managed to complete the slides...and woolala...our team was selected as 1 of the final 3 teams!! TC & I presented during the finale...only 20 min + 10 min of Q&A by the judges...and yeah...we emerged as the 1st runner-up!! =) At least got some 'compensation' for all the hardwork that we've put in for the last 2 months...kudos to all of us!!

Reached UM at 7.30am (as required)...and ended up jaga pintu coz others were late. =.=

Team WLC (TAR College) - Me, SzeSze, HengFai, TsuChong

During the competition...bro took vid instead of pic during our team's presentation so no pic here. Top right: UM (Versatile) Bottom left: Metropolitan (Quintessential)

Our 'super' cheerleaders....the TRIPOD! Appreciate y'all for the support!

Yay...2nd place with our RM2000 'cheque'! Not bad!

Good job guys!! =)

Thanks also to bro for coming all the way to support...and also helped me a lotttt from the beginning! :p

With UM Biz Club Committees