Cherry Juliana Sudartono Sudartono, 1
CEP 100.0502
Professor Matthew Siegel
Assignment #1 Part II
September 15, 2006
One of the two accomplishments of my life that I am most proud of is back to the times when I was in high school in Malaysia. I was a member of a club called the LEO Club, which is part of the Lions Club Organization. It is a leadership and social awareness club designed for teenagers who cares about their society. One time, I was assigned leader in a very big, joint project with 4 other LEO Clubs. The project was to clean up the most famous beach in Penang - a city in Northeast Malaysia- Batu Ferringghi. It took us no less than 3 months just to prepare for this project. We have at least 2 meetings per week and constant communication between head project from each schools. We have to make sure that we have permission from the government to commence such a project; we also have to get agreement from our schools to be involved in this community project. Asides from that we also have to make sure that we have adequate equipment, such as gloves and trash bags for every member. On the D-day, due to our thorough planning everything went on smoothly, but more importantly everybody have fun. Later on we asked our members and they said that they felt really content to be able to participate in this event, because not only that they have fun, but also they are doing something good for the community.
My action in this situation is basically, becoming a good team leader. This includes, giving out useful and organized order, delivering constructive criticism, brining efficient meetings to order and organizing mass amount of people to strive towards one goal. Personally, I think without my leadership this project wouldn’t have gone as
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smoothly as it has. Because if I haven’t been constantly holding meetings, I’m pretty sure a lot of members would have slacked off and haven’t done everything properly. Moreover, without one leader we would have strayed off our original purpose and this project might not have materialized at all. I learned all these, I guess from my other previous projects. Even though most of them I’m not assigned leader, I’m one of their most active members. But, most of all, I learned from the previous team leader, I learned from them what to do and what not to do, what decision to make, when is it time for me to consult with more experienced member and how to make decision that will make everyone happy but is constructive towards the goal. After successfully completing the project, I feel really proud not only of myself, but also of everyone that I was working with. I thought they worked really hard and we were all satisfied with what we did. I felt like I gained so much experienced from that project and I knew that I would need all those experiences one day when I’m out living in the society. I think some of the skills that I developed while completing this project includes: Co-operate with my coworker, build a strong network of people, build trust with others, motivate others, pay attention to ideas of others, considering others’ ideas thoughtfully, and to lead a team. I think all these skills are really important once I am employed by companies, because they would want somebody who has the experience to motorized a group of people.
My second achievement that I’m most proud of is when I was listed in the Dean’s List for two consecutive semesters in LaGuardia, Spring 2005 and Fall 2005. Spring 2005 is incidentally my first semester here in LaGuardia. In that semester I took Fundamental of Biology, New Student Seminar, Introduction to Computer and English 101 in session 1
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in which I scored a straight As in all of the classes. In session 2, I took English 102 and sadly received a B+. Regardless, I’m still qualified as a candidate for the Dean’s List and there was my name, proudly sitting on the list. The next semester, I took Fundamental of Physics, Psychology, Mathematics 140 and Introduction to Music. I received As for both Maths and Music, while I received an A- and B for Psychology and Physics respectively. Even though these grades are not perfect, but I am really proud of them because I did work hard for them, although I know I could have done better with them, however what’s done is done and I’m proud of my grades overall. And of course, with my GPA over 3.50 I retained my position in the Dean’s List.
I think I managed to do this, because I believe in myself and I worked hard for it. I listened to professors when they are giving lectures and I always try to finish given assignments on time. I don’t really revised at home, unless it’s exam time, but I do try to be as prepared as I could. However, the most important thing for me is to really listen to what the professor said and also to take good notes in class. Aside of that, I always tried to make use of the things that I learned in school in everyday life. This helped me to remember a lot of materials without really trying hard to. Of course, everyone has a different ways and advices in achieving good grades. But to me, to listen well and to take good notes and of course to revise the notes later on, are one of the best ways to achieve good grades. I’m pretty sure, I managed to be listed on the Dean’s List twice in a row are a fruit to my effective mode. I’ve opted to adapt to this mode since back in high school. I was always the top 10% student in high school, and I don’t really do anything varied to what I am doing now. Moreover, I never really studied too hard everyday like some other
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kids that I have known did. I always make sure that I have time to have fun and to be around my friends. I never wanted to shunt myself in a room to study, and never experienced the fun of becoming a healthy minded teenager. I really prided myself because I can count on myself to study and I don’t really make studying a burden, and the fact that my studying methods are working, really gives me satisfaction, especially whenever I’m walking past the Dean’s List and seeing my name there. The skills that I think I used and developed over the course of years to achieve this includes listening without interrupting, taking accurate and detailed messages, giving clear and concise paper or electronic documents, and demonstrating effective study techniques for solving problems. I’m really sure that these skills will helped me a lot once I started working, because this means that I could listen well to orders and I could take precise notes for my employer.