What are your experiences as a student in the JCs of Singapore? (such as HCI, RI, ACS(I), VJC, NJC etc)
My experience was that of an anomaly.I graduated from Hwa Chong and I hated my choice of going there. Don’t get me wrong. HC is an amazing school. I just squandered all the opportunities and assistance the school had offered meI got into Hwa Chong with excellent O-Level scores which i obtained with relatively little effort. Wearing its uniform continously fueled my ego of being smarter than my peers. I was so convinced of being able to score A because I was a student there. Oh what a naive kid I was.Pride and sloth overcame me. I refused to acknowledge my inability to concentrate on work despite failing on tests again and again. Alas my results arrived.Not a single A.The rest of class did rather well with mixtures of As and Bs, some with all As and H3 distinction.I was in aguish. I was too embarrassed to even visit the school.I made a mistake that costed me 2 years of my youth and education. Only realising it after graduation, it was too late for regret.While JC was a period of memories and endeavour for others, mine was just a phase I mindlessly passed through. I stumped my own future. Since young I always dreamed of attending an Ivy League school and becoming a successful businessman. Now it is a just a delusion so far-fetched from reality.I was hesitant in answering this question because I cannot paint the flowery picture of success that my peers had (some going Oxford, Yale, and medicine).This is a reminder to those students who envisioned greatness and success. No matter how smart you are, a lazy person will definitely lose to the hardworking ones. Please do not repeat my mistakes. Be humble and stick your ego where it cannot be shown.Which JC you attend does not matter as much as the effort you put in. Be prepared to study and you can score As from any JC. Hwa Chong is a wonderful educational institution. My teachers never gave on me despite my stubborn attitude. I owe them much more than I can pay them back for. It was because of their unrelenting concern I was able to get even Bs. Every school has great teachers, just be sure to be grateful and learn whatever you can from them. Oh yes, make the best of your time in CCAs, joining my club was one of the few choices I did not regret.Cheers,A prideful narcissist.Update 12/01/2017:Took the CIE ‘A’ Levels during National Service. Scored 4 As, currently applying for US Little Ivies.
How should we start speech in school assembly?
I would ask some questions first:What is the occasion?What is your background that allowed the organizers to choose you to speak.What is a topic that everyone can relate to?Is there anything you could say that could offend someone in the audience? (If so, don’t say it.)
What are the best extracurriculars to put on your college applications?
A2A:It depends on what you have done, what major you're pursuing, and what school you are applying to. Within those limits, consider what you are trying to convey to the admissions committee. For a STEM degree and for a STEM school, you want activities that show both ability in math and science, as well as interest. Math team or Science Olympiad, or one of Math, Phys, Bio, or Chem Olympiad are good options in that case, and science fair can work, provided it's not one of those projects that is clearly done by the parent in the parent's lab. Doing research, provided you can talk knowledgeably about it, is also very good for these schools.To show strength of character, volunteering activities are good options to discuss. Ones that combine volunteering with your proposed major are particularly good choices. Environmental clubs work well for STEM fields, teaching ESL students works well for humanities majors, political activism for social science majors, etc. This works best if it shows a quirk of your personality. It seems hollow if it's an activity that is very generic, while it seems more sincere if it is an activity that is a form of volunteering that incorporates a particular interest you have. To demonstrate time management, you need to show the ability to manage time commitments during the school year, which would mean jobs, internships, varsity athletics, or other activities that were major time commitments. For leadership, talk about any club, student government, or outside activity where you took on a leadership role, giving preference to those with greater scope and higher and more official leadership positions. Some schools will put a large emphasis on this. Keep in mind though, admissions officials can figure out if a club was created to do nothing but have you and a couple of your friends listed as leaders for it. In general, colleges can figure out if you joined something in name only or if you actually cared about the activity. You also need to balance seeming well rounded with demonstrating how capable you are in your chosen field. Some schools prefer well-rounded students (think large state schools) while others are looking for students that are extremely talented in one or two areas (think MIT/Caltech or Julliard).
To whom do I address a letter when I don't know who will read it (i.e: Dear Mrs Jones, Dear Mr. Rodriguez)?
If you don’t know who you are addressing…Formal letters/emails:Dear Sir or Madam, (you know that a specific person will see your letter)To Whom It May Concern: (you don’t know where specifically, your letter is going)Dear [name of department], (you know the specific department, but aren’t sure who will see it)Informal letters/emails:Hi/Hello [name of company/department],ENDING an email:formal email/letter:If you don’t know the person, Yours faithfully, is the best option.
Which sentence is grammatically correct: "Neither he nor she was playing," or "Neither he nor she were playing"?
"Neither he nor she was playing" is, as far as I can see, technically grammatically correct. Following "neither... nor..." you conjugate to agree with the subject directly following "nor," here that is "she." (Explanation of Neither and Nor for ESL Students) It is, however, stylistically not a very pretty sentence. Something like "Neither of the children were playing" or "Neither Bob nor Sue was playing" or "Neither child was playing" would be better.
What is your favourite memory from high school?
Time - 8:08 (almost)Place - Our school gate.So our school was having a not very good rule to not allow students who were late or coming to school after time. I was standing outside and my friend came..we insisted the guard to let us enter the school but he declined.Now the conversation starts.Friend - Ab kya kare? (What should we do now?)Me - Ab ek hi option h bunk! (Only one option left that is bunk!)Friend - Kaha jaae? (But where?)Me - Mall m..koi dekhega bhi nhi time pass bhi hojaaega. (In a mall where we should not be seen by someone..)Friend - Chalto (Let's go!)Now we went to a nearby mall and started to discover new things. We were then getting bored and my friend came with an idea to do something interesting.We went to FBB and started trying new clothes. Now here we found a same pair of clothes and I said why not to try this out! We changed the clothes and my friend asked the helper over there to click a photo of us in a same outfit. And I was like bhai nhi bhai nhi!!! (NO BRO NO).By this time the person clicked a photo of us where I was looking at my friend and was telling him beta marwaaega! (Dude you gonna kill us!)My friend is one on the left and I am on the right!Somehow that helper clicked the photo and asked us to make the bill.. To which I replied bhayya khuch jacha nhi ye…Rehnedo.(Bro it doesn't suits us..leave!)And by the time the helper was telling all these to the manager,We in a hurry changed to our normal school dress and rushed out the mall.This is one of my favorite school memory and I still remember these moments!Porrapo!