SKILLS
“What critical core (soft) skills have I developed in the past 4 years?”
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Through the Skillsfuture website, I learnt about the new critical core skills that all Singaporeans should develop, in order to adapt to a changing work environment. As I reflected on my SST learning journey, I decided to consolidate some examples that have demonstrated my competency in some of these non-IT core skills.
Science Castle Conference (2020)
Skills Tag: #collaboration #sense-making
Science Castle ASEAN Platform was set up to create opportunities for researchers who have different experience and backgrounds to exchange ideas in hope to create new research project ideas. This was the first time I joined a conference at this level and had fun working with my classmates Yeji and Joel to research and present our findings to judges.
What I did:
Studied on the effect of different chemicals on the growth of bacteria so as to determine the effectiveness of different cleaning agents and the optimal amount required to still kill all germs effectively.
What I learnt:
Value of Teamwork. Although it seemed daunting at first, it would eventually be possible because the team worked tirelessly together to come up with the best output. It also taught me how important receiving feedback is, as it allowed us to do many iterations of improvement to our studies and presentation slide deck.
Date started: 21 September 2020
Date completed: 5 November 2020
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URL:
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https://chiahowie.wixsite.com/eportfolio/post/science-castle-competition-2020-before-the-competition
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https://chiahowie.wixsite.com/eportfolio/post/science-castle-competition-2020-day-1
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https://chiahowie.wixsite.com/eportfolio/post/science-castle-competition-2020-day-2
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https://en.s-castle.com/2020/11/06/science-castle-asean-2020-event-report/
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http://sstscitdp.blogspot.com/2020/11/science-castle-asean-2020.html
SST Inc, Chief Design Officer (CDO, 2020-2021)
Soft Skills Tag: #leadership; #design
Ran for my first election and won. Would serve SST Inc for a one year term as role of CDO.
What I did:
During this period, I supported SST Inc in co-creating several designs used for different school events. Example, greeting cards for our social media pages.
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What I learnt:
Leadership is tough but meaningful. After a year, I moved on and tried to be a better leader elsewhere. I would accomplish success at Guitar Club CCA where having like-minded students helped greatly. Key is to never give up!
Date started: 11 April 2020
Date completed: 29 April 2021
URL:
Social media presence for Guitar Ensemble (2021-22)
Soft Skills Tag: #leadership; #collaboration
Prior years, Guitar CCA had a FB page (2017) but was not sustainable. So for the past 4 years our CCA did not have any social media presence.
What I did:
In my term as chairman, I worked with the new EXCO to set up a webpage, a FB & instagram page as well as a recruitment video to engage different audiences. To ensure that these platforms were launched on time and will continue to stay updated, I set up Trello to coordinate with my EXCO as well as a documentation for new EXCO to take over.
During the school holidays in Nov-Dec 2021, I liaised with teachers, FB directly as well as SST corp comms to connect all the different pieces. By the end of 2021, SST guitar social media presence was completed. Along the way, I also bonded with the new members and enjoyed paying-it-forward, continuing the tradition of helping others, the same way my seniors supported me during my early days with Guitar Ensemble.
What I learnt:
Doing more with less. Design requires us to not just create effective products / spaces but to allocate resources optimally to create the final product. Meeting deadlines and deliverables that are aligned to stakeholder’s (SST Teachers, students’ parents) expectations, is a simulation of how I will work in the real world.
Date started: 01 Nov 2021
Date completed: 29 Dec 2021
URL:
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A*Star competition: SST- NJC (2021-2022)
Skills Tag: #leadership #sense-making #collaboration
To satisfy my curiosity, and challenge myself to do research-worthy work, I took part in 2 research related competitions. This one was a collaboration with a student (Kang Kai) from NJC to study the different effects of light on water. https://tinyurl.com/58mw2a4e
What I did:
Worked collaboratively with Kang Kai to come up with Research questions, hypotheses and plan out how we were going to conduct the experiments. Specifically, we wanted to understand how the intensity of the light given out impacts the environment and how that knowledge can be applied to better design a better living environment. We then split the different tasks but consolidated our findings via google doc. After getting feedback from our Teachers, we did the refinements before doing a final presentation on 16 February 2022.
What I learnt:
Due to COVID’s safe distancing policy, we were not able to meet F2F, and Kang Kai was not able to join me at SST to conduct the experiment. It's understandable because schools were very afraid of cross-institution contamination. Nonetheless, we were able to still complete the project by planning which portions to be done independently and scheding date/time to meet and discuss our findings. In a nutshell, physical distance is no longer a limitation! So much can be achieved via virtual communication and collaboration.
Date started: 4 June 2021
Date completed: 16 February 2022
SConnect (2021)
Soft Skills Tag: #communication #collaboration #developing-people
As main host and coordinator, I lead the SC to create games and also facilitate the event to engage the Secondary 1 students. I worked closely with my partner (Isabell) to co-plan all activities and logistics. After which, I ensured clear communication to other SCs, preventing any duplication of effort.
What I did:
I facilitated many activities to help the secondary 1 students understand how to better manage themselves in school. For example, I helped to plan and co-host SSTlife, where our SCs shared their personal experiences on how they overcame the challenges they faced during their first year.
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What I learnt:
This event has showed me that leading and coordinating a big group of students is not easy. Managing timeline, resources for an event can be nerve-racking. but if things are thought through and planned well in advance, even the toughest challenges can be overcome. I picked up some experience in trying to lead others as well as facilitation and coordination skills.
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Date started: 25 November 2020
Date completed: 7 January 2021