The CNYSC Dinner and Dance 2019 was a humbling experience for me and the entire committee. The decision to hold the event at Jurong Bird Park in luscious greenery was one of the best decisions made indeed! In comparison to past venues in hotels like The Hilton, the park allowed us an opportunity to present to the scholars a different take on Dinner and Dance.
Admin table with bonus birds in the background
The event boasted a five-course Western meal, entrancing performances, multiple photobooths, lucky draw prizes and door gifts.
A toast to CN Yang!
All these added to put bright smiles on the scholars faces and it was the most rewarding experience for all of us.
All smiles from a table of Year 2 scholars
We all are still grateful for the scholars support and we hope that they have all had a memorable experience at CNYSC Dinner and Dance 2019!
The Resume workshop was certainly a helpful and
eye-opening experience. As an undergraduate student, I have had my eyes set on
resume making tips for a while. It is an important skill that is applicable to
anyone in search for a job.
One of the most important tips was to tailor and
frame my accomplishments in a way that is attractive and relevant to the
employer. One’s resume is more than just the consolidation one’s skills and
talents and it is definitely not an autobiography. Instead, it should be seen as
a quick and brief overview of one’s skills that are relevant to the job.
Key components of a resume
Presentation of the information is also
crucial. Typos, formatting errors can be deal breakers in the highly
competitive job landscape as they can be seen as evidence of a lazy person with
poor attention to detail. In the workshop, Leo from CAO gave us the opportunity
to review several sample resumes. He also gave us time to discuss and choose
who we would choose as a potential employee. This is an interesting exercise
since viewing job hunts from the employer’s perspective is not intuitive. Stepping
in the employer’s shoes is also extremely helpful in clearing past
misconceptions.
Online presence is also important in securing
corporate networking opportunities. LinkedIn is an online platform that is
increasingly relevant to the 21st century. Not only do job hunters,
but also CEOs and industry leaders are on the prowl for potential
collaborations and networking opportunities. LinkedIn is the platform of the
future and I believe too few people know about it today. I will definitely
update my profile regularly and look to spread the word on the platform’s
importance in the modern day and age.
Jeremy listening intently at the workshop
Overall, the resume workshop was not a
disappointment as I have learnt plenty. I will keep Leo’s words in mind and
work on previous drafts of my resume.
During Master Chef Yang, we were taught how to make three (relatively) simple dishes – focaccia with salmon rillettes, pan-seared ribeye and tiramisu. We observed the chef create these dishes and then recreated them ourselves. It was easier since all ingredients were prepared for us, but there were still many things to look out for.
The instructor, Chef Andre, showing the scholars how to pipe out the cream for tiramisu, truly a work of fine art
Having a group of 5 cook with me made it much easier and I succeeded tremendously (in my opinion). I was absolutely delighted when I tasted the results of our labour.
Joseph trying to pipe out the tiramisu cream, with Ruo Cheng giving him “friendly advice” from the sides
I also learned the inner workings of a restaurant kitchen and can now appreciate my food better. At least I know how steak is prepared. Although the event only brought my personal repertoire of dishes from zero to three, I felt that it inspired me to attempt more delicious dishes in hall.
CN Yang Homecoming Day 2019 happened on 8th Feburary
2019. It was nice evening of catching up with old friends (especially for the
alumni) and filled with good food and light-hearted banter. For us
undergraduates, it was interesting to see how our seniors have assimilated into
the “adult working world”, out of the CN Yang shell we called home for most of
our university lives.
CNYSP alumni catching up over buffet dinner and drinks
After dinner and Lou-hei (Because it was CNY!), we were ushered into
different meeting rooms for the alumni sharing session. I attended the talk by
Meldon, a current Year 1 PhD student in Chemistry. He shared about how OFYP and
research attachments outside of curriculum hours have cemented his resolve on
doing a PhD, and his struggles with finding the correct advisor to work for.
His passion and enthusiasm for Chemistry throughout the talk were evident, and
somewhat inspiring.
Meldon’s sharing session
It is always heartening to listen to our fellow CN Yang seniors’
stories, as it reassures us that no matter how though school might be, seniors
have done it before, we will also make it one day as well. Although life might
take us to different paths in the future, we were all bonded together once by
this CN Yang journey and I certainly look forward to day I attend Homecoming Day
as a senior!
As Jia Yong was not present for the other 3 sharing sessions, here
are the reflections by the scholars who attended them:
By Carissa (Year 1, CBE)
I attended the sharing by Jia Xuan, a graduate from NTU CBE who is
currently an analyst at data analytics firm SAS. His sharing caught my interest
because he was working in a different field from what he majored in, and I
wanted to find out why he made the switch. Jia Xuan shared about data analytics
and the SAS Business Intelligence & Analytics Program, which gives a “crash
course on data analytics” for those passionate in data analytics but do not
have much experience. He ended off by sharing how to decide whether data
analytics is for you, which included being willing to deal with numerical
results and enjoying challenging, open-ended problems. During the Q&A
segment, I asked Jia Xuan what made him decide to pursue data analytics despite
majoring in CBE. His answer was that based on his internship experience, he
preferred more of a desk job. He was also interested in coding and mathematics,
which eventually led to him pursuing data analytics. One interesting takeaway
from Jia Xuan’s sharing was that the NTU email is a good source for
opportunities like internships or other experiential programmes. Another
insight I have gained from his sharing is that we should be willing to explore
beyond our majors , and not feel limited to a particular field.
By Cerise Lim (Year 1, CBE)
I attended the sharing by Jowell, who was a CN Yang Aerospace
Engineering major, currently studying at Duke-NUS Medical school. As someone
who is interested in medical research, I was keen to hear what he had to say
about his experience. He started off by introducing Duke-NUS Medical school,
which offers 3 different tracks: MD (Doctor of Medicine) track in which Jowell
is enrolled, PhD program as well as a joint MD-PhD program. Jowell very
helpfully provided information on the admissions process for prospective
applicants in the room; he explained the rolling admission process and the
application requirements such as MCAT scores, essays and reference letters. I had the chance to ask him about the
differences between graduating from graduate medical school and undergraduate
medical school, to which he elaborated on the differences in curriculum
structure. Undergraduate medical students have more clinical experience and
more time to study the requisite content. However, graduate school students
make up for it with their mental maturity, research experience and soft skills
that they have developed with time. For those not interested in applying to
medical school, it was still interesting to hear about his switch from
Aerospace Engineering to Medicine. Jowell realised his interest in medicine
during semester exchange and made use of the research opportunities CN Yang
offers to get to know the medical field, which remains helpful and relevant to
his studies today. Overall, it was lovely to hear the valuable experiences of
the alumni and I really appreciate all the alumni for taking time to share
them!
By Ryan Soh (Year 2, BS)
During his sharing, Akshay described his journey through NTU and
CNYSP. Although he was from SCBE, Akshay told us how he was interested in
biomedical research and elaborated on the biomedical research he undertook as
part of the CNYSP curriculum, including his OFYP at Harvard Medical School. He
cheerfully answered the juniors’ numerous questions about the OFYP process,
including how to go about searching for projects and labs. Akshay also
described his internship experience at IQVIA, which was a consulting company
based on human data science, and half-jokingly remarked that the work there was
perfect for scholars from CN Yang! Throughout his talk, Akshay encouraged us to
pursue our interests and not to be afraid of trying out new things. When asked
about what he was going to be doing now that he has graduated, Akshay revealed
that he would be starting work at Abbott, a global healthcare industry, the
week after Homecoming. Indeed, Akshay has truly embraced the multidisciplinary
ethos of the CN Yang Scholars Programme!
It was a new semester for us and a brand new year, so to start the year off on the right foot the CN Yang Scholars’ Club’s Social and Welfare portfolio organised the “New Year New Dreams” event to let us kick back and enjoy before starting the hectic semester.
The event started with a delicious and scrumptious buffet, after which we had ample time to mix around with the fellow CN Yang Scholars before the programmes officially started.
After dinner the programmes started, which included booths with traditional games like capteh, uno and even scrabble. There were also interesting booths like the henna/skin paint, which we usually wouldn’t have done on our own. Traditional snacks like Gem Biscuits and Potato Wheels were given out, which will definitely come in handy during revision time.
Magnificent yet aesthetically pleasing henna drawings made by scholars for scholars
There were also message boards posted around the walls of the function hall, which allowed the scholars to write their messages and hopes for the new year while reminiscing on old times. There were a mix of wholesome and funny messages which also helped lift our spirits.
Some scholars writing messages on the message boards on the walls while others immersed in a game of capteh
Overall, the event was truly enjoyable and relaxing, and gave us a good break in between studies. 11/10 would go again! ?
When you cross ghosts, skeletons and dank memes, you get our CN Yang Scholars’ Club’s Halloween event, organised by the club’s Social and Welfare Portfolio. The event was definitely one of the highlights of the semester, and not just because of all the goodies that we get during the event cough but also all the exciting games we got to play!
Everyone was clad in all kinds of quirky costumes, including Harry Potter costumes, pumpkins, some spooky gothic costumes, even Min Htoo made a budget meme costume for himself. We were split into several groups to roam around the hall playing at the game booths, so the first booth for our group was the origami folding booth where we had to fold our own photo frame and decorate it with the stickers there. Next was the card games in which the game was designed to fit the theme of Halloween, and while it was slightly confusing at first, we all managed to get the hang of it and enjoyed the game a lot.
Min Htoo or Meme Htoo?
Next came the food bingo game where each number is represented by a food item, and we had to place different food items onto the grid and we had to eat the specific food item that was called out until we got an empty row, column or diagonal. I especially enjoyed how we would always sneak a bite of the snacks when we’re filling up the grid, essentially making it a “Free Snacks” booth. Then, we also had a “Shoot the Babies” game where we had to shoot some eerie, Chucky-ish-looking baby dolls hanging from the walls or on the table with a toy bow which looked like something that came out of Sailor Moon. While the bow was being abused by people trying to shoot the babies, the bullets were prone to getting stuck and every time that happened someone would shout “Rifle jam, IA (immediate action)” which made it that much funnier.
There was also a photo booth that came with a twist: people from two teams were numbered and a story is told, the people corresponding to the numbers in the story had to enter the frame and one team had to push the other team out of the frame. Everyone’s hands and feet were literally everywhere from pushing each other to covering each other’s faces, and when the photos were finally taken it was hilarious to see what kind of expressions we made, truly a meme factory. Finally, we had to do a “magic carpet” race (which was actually just a trash bag) to the centre of the hall and find some items within three boxes stuffed with newspaper. Our desperation came to a point where we couldn’t find the items in the boxes, so we flipped the whole box and newspaper flew everywhere, that was epic.
If you can’t beat ’em… 😉
Before concluding, we played a Kahoot game of cartoon characters and had our lucky draw. The winners won lots of lucrative prizes (of which I wasn’t one of them OOF) and with a group photo, the event came to an end. It was really a well-deserved break for everyone after weeks and weeks of slugging through the semester and allowed us to enjoy ourselves before restarting the grind again for finals. Great event, upDOOTed!
The CN Yang Scholars’ Club (CNYSC) is set up and run by the scholars of the CN Yang Scholars Programme. The management committee is elected by the scholars on an annual basis.