With suffering, you CAN accomplish great things…

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

- Helen Keller (1880 – 1968 )

 

How true a statement indeeed. Mohandas K. Gandhi wouldn’t be the man that he was if not for the persecution he and his band of brothers had to suffer. Through his suffering, he learned to fight and win a war without violence, without bloodshed. What about Martin Luther King, would he be the eloquent and gifted speaker and writer without having witnessed and experienced segregation and racial injustice? Hell, Anwar Ibrahim would not have formed Pakatan Rakyat and the concept of Reformasi without having been accused of faux corruption and sodomy charges. How about Helen Keller herself? Without being deafblind. would she have revolutionized the language of the deaf and the blind? Would she have gone on to proove to the world that despite her disability, she could accomplish great things through writing? Let’s go back to a few centuries ago: individuals like John Milton (he was blind) could never have composed masterpieces like Paradise Lost or On His Blindness without having gone through suffering. let’s jump back to the present: Andrea Boccelli being blind, but yet, he has the voice of an angel. The list just goes on…

 

 

Even I would not be the person that I am today without NF. Through all my trials and tribulations, I have grown and matured from each one. I learned from my very first surgery what true friendship was; I realized who were my friends and who were not. I learned to stick up for myself despite all the teasing from the kids at school.

 

I learned from my second surgery the power of determination. Despite having to learn to walk all over again, I persevered and I succeeded.  At this point, I began to understand the purpose of education and I began to prioritize.

 

My third surgery taught me never to take anything for granted, I almost lost my sight, but thankfully God is merciful.

 

My fourth surgery was the most difficult challenge yet. I faced the risk of being a quadriplegic. Through this experience, I learned the power of Faith in God. I left it all up to Him, and look I am typing this post now!

 

Looking at the bigger picture, I would never be able to write as emphatically as I do without these experiences. Without these painful experiences, I would have never learned to appreciate the true value of human life. I do away with what’s petty, like material gains and obsession with physical image but rather, I focus on more worthwhile endeavors, whether it is writing or helping others. All my priorities are put into place in due part to NF.

 

With God’s grace, I will accomplish great things.

 

P.S. Don’t confuse what I am conveying to masochism. I am simply saying you learn and grow from challenging times.

A valuable lesson by my grandpa

Just a thought running through my head:

 

In my 19 years before my grandfather passed away, he had taken the place of my father without having placed any conditions upon it. He never once mentioned the word responsibility insofar as taking care of me and my brother financially, intellectually and emotionally. As far as I know, he never wanted me nor my brother to feel like as if we were nothing more than a burden to him. Instead, he showed us what it means to love two children unconditionally. That is why he is my hero and my example, I feel so honored to have met someone like him; and I strive each day to emulate his actions in the hope of doing him proud.

God give me the strength

Dear God,

Please give me the strength to endure tough times, that no matter what happens, give me the courage to soar over the skies. In my time now, I am afraid, afraid to lose what I’ve worked so hard to put together. But whatever happens, let it be done according to Your Will. I know that You Lord will be my guiding Star, so show me the way Lord, and I will gracefully accept it.  Amen

We Wear a Mask — A Rondeau by Paul Laurence Dunbar

I studied this rondeau (a french-type of poem) by Paul Laurence Dunbar in American Literature. This paticular rondeau was crafted beautifully by Dunbar in response to the brutal oppression of slaves in America. We Wear a Mask speaks for itself, and its words strike a chord in you that just makes you feel what these people had to endure. Simply put, it was astonishingly painful to experience these words of torment and suffering. However, the poem does provide a sort of insight into the lives of such individuals, and that their suffering will be forever engraved in the history of oppression. Their memories will never be forgotten because those memories live on through poetry such as We Wear a Mask.

WE wear the mask that grins and lies, (A)

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,— (A)

This debt we pay to human guile; (B)

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, (B)

And mouth with myriad subtleties. (A)

Why should the world be over-wise, (A)

In counting all our tears and sighs? (A)

Nay, let them only see us, while (B)

We wear the mask. (C)

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries (A)

To thee from tortured souls arise. (A)

We sing, but oh the clay is vile (B)

Beneath our feet, and long the mile; (B)

But let the world dream otherwise, (A)

We wear the mask! (C)

 We Wear a Mask — Paul Laurence Dunbar

Clerihew – Hellen Keller

Today in my English lesson, I learned about a certain form of poetry called a clerihew — a light verse form, usually consisting of two couplets, with lines of uneven length and irregular meter, the first line usually containing the name of a well-known person (Dictionary.com definition). I love it because one has the opportunity to honor a famous person or someone who inspires you in four lines, yep just four lines. In five minutes I came up with a poem honoring one of the most respected individuals ever to grace this earth, Hellen Keller. In four sentences, I summed up the essence of who she was, check it out:

 

Hellen Keller

A woman whose character was stellar.

With no eyes to see and no ears to hear

Yet her achievements we still revere.

 

Cool huh..ok la… it’s brief but it’s potent no?

College Board

Last week, I phoned College Board, a company that administers standardized tests for entrance into American universities, and I made the following inquiries:

I need to sit for SAT 1 sometime next year. However, given my physical limitations, I need to apply for accommodations; namely a computer to type my written test and extra time because my hands are physically weak. The lady, whose name was coincidentally Veena, was very kind and responsive to my needs and subsequently explained the procedures involved. One of the formalities was to fill out a written form, of which she would send it to Malaysia for free. (Where do you receive such magnanimity in this country?…just a thought!)

Shockingly enough, the forms arrived to my doorstep yesterday.. I was utterly astonished at the prompt delivery of my forms… i mean I expected to be at least two weeks… given that i wasn’t even paying for this service!

Now to book a doctor’s appointment to obtain proof of my disability.

Whew, patience, patience.

Respect

Someone once told me, “Respect cannot be bought, it has to be earned”. How indeed true.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

It’s a matter of three weeks now before I complete AOA and receive my diploma and boy am I just so happy to close this chapter of my life.  What would have taken four years to complete has extended to five years because of my medical circumstances. I am very happy to be moving on.

I have decided to enrol in HELP University to further my tertiary education in the pursuit of a psychology degree. I know in the past I have always talked about America, but I have grown in maturity these past few years to know that financially speaking, it would be a heavy brunt on my mother. As such, I have opted to undertake what is known as an American Degree Program, in which a foundation is offered for two years in HELP, followed by a transfer to an American university.  

I’ve also vowed to myself and prayed of course, that I would work very hard to achieve excellent grades in college so that I may graduate with honors. I have something to offer to this world, and foremost, I want to do my grandfather proud. If only he could see me now, I am strong Grandpa, and I intend on doing my last name justice!

Without straying off the topic too much, I have pasted an article below with regards to the ADP.

  American Degree Program (ADP), Taylor’s College

Posted on December 26th, 2005 by enghan.

 Email this post to a friend!

“I’m now studying in ADP.”
“Har??? What’s that???”
“American Degree Program. It’s something like a twinning program.”
“Oh. Er. Okay.”

The above scenario is what I usually get when I tell my friends where I’m studying. Okay, not all of my friends are as blur as the fictitious person in the above scenario, but for simplicity’s sake, let’s just accept the scenario and move on with something more important— An Autopsy of ADP.

The American Degree Program (ADP) is NOT a one-year pre-university course even though you can use your SPM cert to enroll in the program. Once you enter the program, you are already pursuing your degree, as the name of the program implies. An American degree takes approximately 4 years of full study to complete. I say approximately because the duration of which you will take to finish your undergraduate studies depends on how many subjects you plan to take in one academic year. If you take more subjects than the norm throughout the academic year, you would probably complete your degree faster, and vice versa. Also, if you have done a pre-u course like STPM or SAM, you might be able to get some credits transferred to ADP, which saves you time and money.

Since you will be joining a degree program, this also means that your study environment will be somewhat university-like. Although you won’t get the huge lecture halls of universities (at least for Taylor’s ADP), you will have a degree of liberty in choosing your own subjects, as long as they contribute towards your intended major. Yes, you heard it right. The moment you enter ADP, you are encouraged to declare your own major so as to determine which subjects to take. Available majors include business, engineering, applied science, mass communications and social sciences. However, if you are unsure of what major to pursue, you don’t have to worry too much. This is because one of the characteristics of the American education system is throughout the first two years of the average American university student, students from different majors share more or less a similar course structure. For example, if you are one year into your business major, you can switch to another major and don’t have to worry about retaking subjects.

Speaking of subjects, this brings me to one of the key characteristics of the American education system. It is compulsory for students to take subjects not only relating to their major, but also relating to other fields as well. Take for example, if you are an engineering student, you will also have to take subjects in the fields of business, social sciences, humanities, and fine arts. This is to ensure the development of a well-rounded person, in other words, a jack of all trades. Some of you will notice how this is in contrast with the traditional British education system, whereby a lot of focus is put on the student’s major, and some of you might argue that a jack of all trades is a master of none. However, I shall not go into pointing out which is the superior system. I will merely point out the differences, so that you, the readers out there, can be your own judge.

Let us move into something more specific: the classroom environment. When courses are being conducted in class, students are expected to proactively participate in class by offering constructive opinions, offering solutions to questions, or even pointing out accidental errors in a lecturer’s teachings. Perhaps this might prove to be a stark difference from secondary school, and some people might shy away from such a change, but believe me, grooming your communication skills and confidence level will be paramount of succeeding in being employed.

Now that you have a basic idea of what the American Degree Program is like, let me now talk about partner universities. Remember the above conversation where I mentioned ADP being somewhat of a twinning program? Well, the correct term here is credit transfer program. As the name suggests, you transfer your credits (a.k.a subjects) to a partner university. However, the partner universities are so numerous that I will not be able to list them down in detail. Also take note that every different partner university will have slightly different requirements and credit transfer policies, therefore rules that may apply for University A might not necessarily apply for University B. Take for example, MATH161 (Introduction to Calculus) is transferable to University A, but not transferable to University B.

Before I bring this entry to a close, let me briefly list the scholarships available in Taylor’s College ADP. First, there is the Tan Sri Loy scholarship for SPM or ‘O’ Level students which is only offered for the Januray intake. Second is the ADP General Merit Scholarship, of which five are rewarded, each scholarship worth RM7,200, eligibility being SPM students with 9A’s and above, or O level students with 7A’s. Then, there is the UEC scholarship, five scholarships worth RM7,200 each for UEC students with 7A’s and above, and ten scholarships worth RM3,600 for UEC students with 10-12 points for the best 7 subjects (UEC students, you should know what that means). Finally, there is the General Special Achievement Award Scholarship, of which 20 are offered, each worth RM3,600. To qualify for this, students have to:
a) Obtain no more than 20 points for their best 5 subjects in UEC examinations
b) Obtain no more than 20 points for their best 5 subjects in SPM examinations
c) Obtain a minimum grade 8 average in SMU3
d) Obtain a minimum of 4B’s in their O levels

For those who are worried about the costs when one transfers, scholarships are available, albeit only partial. If you maintain a high enough GPA above 3.0 or 3.5 depending on the university, scholarships range from USD1000 to USD13,000 for one year. That brings down the total cost to about USD 20k per year or higher, depending on the university you transfer to.

I admit that ADP is not a cheap program. In Taylor’s College, one credit hour costs 400 ringgit and the cost for a semester of 12-15 credit hours ranges from about 5800 ringgit to about 7000 ringgit. Furthermore, when one transfers, the cost can average about USD 20k per year even with scholarships. However, it does give an opportunity for middle class families who would otherwise not be able to finance all four years of their children’s education overseas to still be able to send their children overseas. To give an idea, the total cost of one year in ADP only comes out to about one-fourth of the total cost per year if enrolled in a US university; one saves quite a substantial amount.

Now that you have obtained some basic information regarding the essence of the American Degree Program, feel free to e-mail me at shogun_clancyfan@yahoo.com for more enquiries.

———————————-
by Chuah Shu Guan

Chuah Shu Guan was a student of Taylor’s College American Degree Program from January 2003-August 2005. While in ADP, he was the President of Student Council, Editor of Flipside (College Magazine), and President of Be_ADP(Business Entrepreneurship Society of ADP). He was chosen as the ADP Valedictorian for Summer 2005 and will be transferring to Wichita State University this January. There, he intends to major in Economics and Political Science.

NOTE: Besides Taylor’s College, INTI College, Nilai College and HELP University College among many others also offer scholarships that can range up to a full tuition fee waiver for their ADP courses. Contact the relevant institutions for more details.

For more info, visit www.tinkosong.com

Sonnet 43 from “Sonnets from the Portuguese”

Poetry, what do you think the essence of poetry is whenever you approach the subject? Well, for most people, it is the idealistic potrait of Love. Elizabeth Barrett Browning was no different, however, I wouldn’t go so far as to call her poetry idealistic, because the way in which she expressed herself in Sonnet 43 confers with the idea that true love is unconditional; that is, it transcends arrogance and selfishness. I think this sonnet is depicted beautifully, especially because she wrote this poem as an inspiration of her marriage to Robert Browning. I think you guys will enjoy this poem because of its simplistic and emphatic nature. So sit back and take it all in!

Sonnet 43 from Sonnets from the Portuguese

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.