Intercultural Communication

I first went on a volunteer trip to Chiang Rai in 2005 to teach English to village children at a boarding school. During the trip we had plenty of time to interact with the children there. I must say I learnt a lot about their culture during those times. You may not know that Thais hold their king in high regard and insulting the King is a criminal offence. Although I was aware that the king is highly respected in their culture, I underestimated the extent of it. I was playing with the children when the ice-cream vendor came along, and I wanted to try their local coconut ice-cream. I clumsily fished out some coins and one of the coins dropped. Instinctively I stretched out my foot and stepped on the coin to prevent it from rolling away. The children around all dropped their jaws and gave me disapproving looks. I was very puzzled but quickly picked the coin and paid for my ice-cream. I found out later from my team leader that stepping on a coin was tantamount to kicking the king in the head as it bears the king’s portrait. It also extends to stepping on banknotes and licking stamps, which are fairly common practices in Singapore. Although it is tempting to just bring all my usual practices over to a new culture, I realised that I am in a foreign land and I should be more sensitive to their culture.

Personal Statement

I am currently a year two life-science undergraduate in NUS. I am a highly motivated individual with an out-going personality. I love new challenges and the feeling of satisfaction when completing them. My goal in life is “to aspire to inspire”, to add value to people around me and contribute actively to society.

My interest in the field of life-sciences began in secondary school where I was taught by Mr Hafiz, a really engaging teacher. He made me realise the wonders of nature phenomenon such as photosynthesis that we sometimes take for granted. He inspired me to enjoy biology and I became the top biology student in my level, and it also led me to pursue my degree in Life-Science.

I started guitar playing when I was twenty, and being able to play this wonderful instrument has given me joy in life. It also gave me confidence which translated to other areas of my life. Although it was really tough in the beginning, I worked hard at it with determination and perseverance. Within a short period I was able to play comfortably on the guitar. This gave me confidence that I can achieve what I set my heart and mind to.

With life science and music as my two of my greatest passions, I dream of being able to marry the two important aspects of my life. This dream sparked my interest in neuroscience. Although my peers have loftier ambitions of wanting to find cure for incurable diseases such as Parkinson disease, my humble ambition is to explore how our brain interprets music and perhaps make music even more enjoyable.

I also believe in giving back to the society through community work and services. In 2005 and 2007, I participated in overseas community work, planning and experiencing community service trips to Thailand. The opportunities to work with people in my team and interaction with people of a different culture taught me valuable interpersonal skills which has certainly equipped me the relevant organizational and leadership skills to handle the challenges I may face in future.

I am easy going and can get along with people of all types of personality. Being fluent in both English and Mandarin, I also picked up Thai as my third language. Apart from music, I also enjoy playing sports and reading.

Personal statement for Graduate Programme

This personal state is written for the UAB(University of Alabama at Birmingham) Neuroscience Graduate Program.
The website is at http://neuroscience-uab.infomedia.com/content.asp?id=369494

Statement of Purpose

I first learnt how to play the guitar nearly two years ago. I can still vividly remember the first time I tried, it was really terrible. My wrist was sore from bending and my fingers hurt terribly from pressing the strings. However I did not give up as I had set my mind on it. Thus I persevered. Within two years I became the lead singer and guitarist for my church band. This was only possible because of my determined attitude. Although this success came at a painful price, it was totally worth it as music continues to give me great joy in life. I am certain with this tenacity I possess I will be able to persevere even when obstacles arise and especially so in the area of research where the road to success is a long and arduous one.

Playing in a band has taught me many lessons and one of the most important lessons is team work. I play in a five piece band consisting of a keyboardist, a bassist, a drummer and two guitarists. I recall when we first started out, it was difficult as all of us came from different musical backgrounds and was hard to come to a consensus. It was particularly hard to give up individuality to gel as a team, and it took an awful performance for me to learn that lesson. After that particular performance, I realised the importance of teamwork and have to disregard my individuality for the sake of the team. After a short span of three months, the band was able to give a much improved performance at a church event. I believe being a team player is important in a research team where collaborative effort is essential just like in a band, and I possess that attribute.

I used to have stage frights every single time I am on stage. Once I had to sing in front of about a hundred people and I was freaked out. However as I started singing, I felt relaxed and I found I enjoyed it. Singing has brought me confidence and this is translated to other aspects of my life, making me a more assured person.

My fascination with music led me to become curious with the intricacy of our human brain. I marvel at how the human brain is able process electrical pulses generated by the ear into the wonderful thing we call music. It is intriguing as to how the brain is able to recognise the rise and fall of melody, harmony of chords or even discordant. This made me decide to enrol in an undergraduate course in Biology, in hope of understanding the complexity of the brain. I am excited about the research programme your neuroscience department offers as I believe that I will benefit greatly from learning under a neuroscience mentor in permanent lab which is not offered in many universities.

Therefore I believe that with the determination and the confidence that I possess, I can excel in whatever I set my heart to. I am certain that I will be a valuable asset to your Graduate Programme. I look forward to using the creativity and tenacity I demonstrated in playing for my band to meet new challenges at the graduate level and later in my career to become an innovative neuroscientist.