ICE.COLD.COFFEE

All JC people have to write their own top 3 achievements that will be included in their holistic report card. Since I took so much time and effort to write and submit it to my teachers, I shall post it here for those of you interested to take a peak at my "achievements".

Don't expect me to be modest here, since it's supposed to tell scholarships organisations and university professors how supposedly good I am. Ha! By the way, I squeezed all the stuff I took part in into the third achievement. Since I already participated, don't waste mah... Hope there's no word limit!

Anyway, I'm so glad, cos I just checked the achievements I submitted online and Mrs Chuah rejected mine. So why am I so happy? She rejected it cos she wanted me to include "highly dependable" and "full of creative ideas" as part of my qualities. I'm so flattered. Haha...

Guess I really have to be thick-skinned when writing this. Anyway, here it is...

Achievement 1: Horticulture Society
Charlynn is the chairperson of the Horticulture Society. She is always full of creative ideas, and during her 2 years, she has initiated 2 projects which were well-received by the student body.

The first project would be the sale of flowers during several in-house concerts to raise funds for charitable causes. The purpose of these flower sales were to provide services to the college, allow members to do community service and give them opportunities to plan and implement projects while identifying potential executive committee members among the juniors. Through this project, she has learnt how to work with others and displayed leadership and decision-making skills.

The next project was a rather large-scaled inter-school flower delivery service with Temasek Junior College during Valentines' Day 2006. Though it was a completely new idea, she was determined to implement it. Response was very good. However, being the first time such a project was implemented, some problems cropped up along the way. Yet, she has learnt much through this enriching experience, and is confident of planning such projects in future.

During her term as the society's chairperson, Charlynn was a highly dependable and responsible leader who earned the respect of the executive committee and her fellow members.

Achievement 2: Community Service
Charlynn recognises the importance of community service and has contributed to various sectors during her 2 years in VJC.

She brought children from the Tampines After Care Centre to Sentosa together with her class during their Service Learing Venture. Also, Charlynn took part in a mentoring program where she taught young children from Ngee Ann Primary School how to read. She has leant how to work with children during these community involvement projects.

In addition, she participated in "Picnic by the Park" organised by VJC and Aljunied CC to raise funds for the community. Her other involvements in community service include mass planting at Bedok Reservoir, the flower sales during various in-house school concerts to raise funds, blood donations and other smaller scale activites.

Through these various community involvement projects, she has learnt not only the importance of community service, but also how to plan activities and work with others.

Achievement 3: External Activities and School Representation
Charlynn also participates actively in activities outside school. She went for 2 attachments at the Conrad Centennial Singapore, where she worked in the pastry kitchen, lobby lounge and banquet departments for a total for 5 weeks during her December 2005 and June 2006 holidays. This experience sparked off her interest in hospitality after having gained much insight into the industry. She has earned good appraisals from her managers due to her positive "can do" attitude, and was also praised for being a very fast learner and interacting well with others.

In addition, Charlynn took up an Advanced Placement Module on International Economics at the Singapore Management University. This course required much commitment on her part. And in spite of her busy schedule due to academic and co-curricular activities, she managed to attend every single lesson and achieved an overall B- grade. During the course, she learnt more about Economics, an area she has a keen interest in, and experienced being independent in a university environment. In general, this course gave her the chance to be better-prepared for university life in future.

A member of the school's swim team, Charlynn participated in several competitions such as the 2005 and 2006 inter-school National swimming competitions, the inter-JC swim meet and Methodist Girls' School swimming carnival invitational relay. Though her first time taking part in a relay competition this year, Charlynn and her team came in 7th in the finals of the 4 x 50m Medley Relay. This was indeed an achievement for them. Through trainings with her peers, she learnt the importance of motivation and team spirit. Also, the competitions taught her how to handle stressful conditions and the essence of determination and fighting to the end. These experiences have changed her and she has become much stronger psychologically.

Charlynn also represented the school in other competitions such as Cashflow 101 organised by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) where she became a finalist, Camp Ideaopolis business plan competition, also organised by NTU, and the GIC National Economics and Fund Management Quiz 2006 where she obtained a Merit. These different competitions exposed her to a variety of knowledge where she learnt not only about subject matter, but also teamwork, strategy and presentation skills.