Reflection on course ES2007s

I can still remember myself facing a hard time deciding whether to take ES2007s at the beginning of the semester as I had already fulfilled all my modules for graduation but was looking to take one module just for self-learning. Through several strong positive recommendations made by my friends, i decided to take it. Reason being, I was more interested in honing my skills for presentations and as well as to explore deeper into communications. I was also tired of taking the typical arts or science or general knowledge modules where we had to compete for the bell curve through studying. I did not want a module because of reasons like scoring better, low difficulty level etc, instead I really wanted a module which held classes that help students understand themselves and the outside world better. I wanted to learn and not just plainly studying day and night for it and then immediately forgotten of when that module ends.

After weeks of classes, I can proudly say I entirely enjoyed the module. Despite the fact that ES2007s coursework involves much presentations and preparation, it was not a module of the lightest workload. However, it is because of these presentations and working together, I felt that i benefited most from the extensive groupwork and collaboration amidst it. Being in the faculty of engineering, we hardly get to work in groups, much less meeting new people to work together on a project.The ES2007S class is not only made up of people from all over NUS across different year of studies, it is also across various faculties as well. As such, through working together with my fellow peers, I got to understand matters in various perspectives which I would probably not be able to do that on my own ever.

I also learnt that I had to be more assertive in my presentations as well as to have better voice projections. One of my regrets is that I probably had not improved in my presentation skills in this course as I always never realised that I am not speaking as loudly as my groupmates until they spoke. I will definitely note this down, and hope to improve on it in my future presentations.

I always looked forward to going for class because I know I will never fail to take away something which may possibly positively impact my life in the future. I never saw the link between communicating professionally, listening effectively to be part of the building of my personal branding till the end of the course. I never realised how crucial it is to be able to realise the importance of these skills to, perhaps, have a slight advantage and better edge in some aspects of life, be it to show a higher emotional intelligence or awareness, to promote interpersonal skills etc. Every single peer review presentation put forth by my coursemates were definitely helpful in guiding me not just in school, in search for my career and future job, but also in life as a person.

Having met some of the most wonderful and fun friends in ES2007S as well, this course has definitely ended my final semester in NUS with a big bang. It goes without saying, I definitely would HIGHLY recommend this course to my friends. The life skills and experience one can take away is definitely wonderful. :)

A sincere thank you to Dr Radhika and the class: Reynold, Oliver, ChongSheng, Huiping, Isabel (have a safe flight!), Mingyan, Grace, Qu Kui, Wei Rong, Liying and Lin Han!