I have no recollections of those times I spent studying in primary
school. Hopscotch, volleyball, playing soccer using a tennis ball were all that I
could remember. Surprisingly, I managed to get into secondary school but things
remained the same. Lessons remained mundane and the only times I looked forward to were recess breaks and co-curricular activities. Fortunately, math and science
came naturally to me and again, I somehow managed to advance to junior college.
Surviving the 10 years of education without working hard made me believed that
things will be the same for the next 2 years of education. However, I was very
wrong. I did so badly during my freshman year that I had to withdraw from
school. That was the turning point of my life. I tasted failure and that fall
woke me up from my foolishness. Picking up from where I had fallen, my
perception changed. With as much dignity as I could muster, I applied to one of
the local polytechnic. I chose chemical engineering as I believed that math and
science were still my forte. Studying hard was once seemed obvious but never an
important factor to me in the past. Using the drive and momentum gained from
that fall, I was able to graduate with a diploma and also securing a place in
NUS. These extra years were definitely well spent.
Fast forwarding 2 years spent in army, I was sitting down in NUS
examination hall doing the Qualifying English Test (QET) that is required for
all polytechnics' students. I was unprepared, in fact, I was never prepared.
Looking back at my English language journey, I did not learn much at all. My
grammar was shaky since primary school which I did not bother correcting,
English papers in secondary school were basically paraphrasing the passages to
answer questions in the comprehension section and finally in polytechnic,
numbers and periodic table were the only things I touched.
All this while, I relied too heavily on my strengths and neglected
my weaknesses. This QET made me realised how vulnerable I was. I am actually
glad that I was given a chance to pick up what I have left behind after so many
years.
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After 368
Hello Wei Long! I can totally relate on your post where you said "I relied too heavily on my strengths and neglected my weaknesses" because I guess that's what I've been doing too! Good thing about your post is that it flows well and I can comprehend it well :-)
ReplyDeleteBut there are some verb tense problems
"Hopscotch, volleyball, playing soccer using a tennis ball is all that I could remember."
Should it be "was all that I could remember"?
"Surprisingly, I managed to get into secondary school but things remain the same"
Should it be "things remained the same"?
But I'm not sure if I'm right though haha we can learn from each other I guess :-) Thank you!
ahh thanks!
DeleteHi Wei Long,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing such a heartfelt post. I appreciate the vulnerability that was revealed in your reflection, as well as recognize your strength in having shared them.
I believe that you have indeed brought depth in your reflective writing, although I feel it would have made a greater impact if the connection between your primary and secondary school academics and English language journey was further emphsized on with additional focus placed equally on the latter.
Apart from that and the verb tense consistency (which has already been mentioned by Amirah), your written entry is heartfelt and I sense your desire to make the best out of ES1102.
Looking forward to reading more from you and learning together in this journey!
thanks! yea i got your point but really can't remember much. haha
DeleteOh my. You certainly do open up in this post, Wei Long. It is easy to see that you were quite the happy-go-lucky young lad. The good times rolled, and you along with them. Of course, serious study and academic achievement can be "hard rows to hoe" when good times are to be had. It's reassuring when you tell us that you learned from your more negative experiences. I have no doubt that you are now a better man for those hard times.
ReplyDeleteOn this post, I see a few basic problems in areas that we discussed in class: verb tense, subject-verb agreement and sentence structure. (Your classmates have indicated the same.)
As I mentioned, everyone needs an editor. When do you want to start?
yea, Im working hard on those basic problems.
DeleteWhat do you mean by everyone needs an editor?