As 2024 comes to an end, I reflected on the past 12 months. At the start of the year, I challenged myself to do more, i.e. learn / develop new skills while maintaining my current grades. Here’s my 2024 “report card” summarised in an infographic. Like it?
Academic Achievements
Made it to the Honour’s Roll (my first time!)
Collected an Edusave award
Obtained a new professional certification “Meta Digital Marketing Associate Certificate”
CCA Activities
Emcee for various school events, including Noir En Blanc V & Poly50
Participated in projects outside of school curriculum, specifically one on sustainability (Beyond the flush) with NEA and another on reducing carbon emissions (Carlite) with LTA
Overseas trips
Went to 4 different countries this year. Namely, Indonesia (Batam), Vietnam (Hanoi), Japan (Tokyo, Hakone & Osaka) and Thailand (Bangkok, Khaoyai & Pattaya). The first 2 places were thanks to SP’s leadership and cross-cultural progammes. The latter are family trips arranged by my parents - with a little help from me on researching (thanks Gemini!) the various local attractions.
Leadership Camps
SPOT is SP’s leadership programme for students identified for leadership development. I was fortunate enough to attend 2 of these leadership camps in Kampung Siglap (Mar 2024) and again in Batam, Indonesia (Oct 2024). Both camps taught different leadership principles but had activities that allowed similar experiential learning. I made new friends at each of these camp and thankful for the opportunities.
Blog Posts
I started my blogging in my primary school days and continued through my secondary school and now into polytechnic. I hardly find any of my current peers doing it - many citing that can’t we just “ChatGPT” it? I disagree. GenAI like ChatGPT can definitely help with our writing but the practice of sitting down to reflect and putting our thoughts into written words has helped develop my own writing and thought processes.
Coincidentally, CNA posted a commentary (29 Dec 2024) on the decling literacy skills among young adults in many countries. It implied that technology has changed how we consume information. Social media's short form videos has made us passive consumers of content, negatively impacting our skills in doing complex thought or writing. I can relate to this somewhat. My writing has deteriorated along with the fewer number of non-academic books I have read over the years, but also improved ever since I started using ChatGPT to check and fix my grammar and phrasing. So, I will continue my blog writing… be it reflecting on school projects, experiencing new cultures during travel (my favorite!). My personal target is to have at least 12 blog entries per year. My final count for 2024’s blog post is 19. My 2025’s target? 25 blog posts of course!
In summary, I wanted my poly life to be beyond just projects and grades. I am glad that I was able to overcome my fear of public speaking by joining SP’s Emcee club and making new friends along the way. Overall, I maintained GPA (ok, slight dip from 2023) while gaining a host of new experiences… worth the effort!
And that wraps up my report card for 2024. See you next year!
TLDR
I joined Emcee CCA, made new friends, collected new awards and certificates, completed projects / camps, kept my GPA and travelled overseas!
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