Not reli in the mood to update blog lately...possibly because my life now revolves around three words. Waiting in fear.

I am trying to be as optimistic as I can. But I duno if I can make it...deadlines are looming up without notice. Today is 11th already, and I have around 20 more days to decide.

I want a reply! Even if I didnt make it, at least tell earlier so that I can plan my next move! And now I am waiting without a clue and it is really very frustrating.

=(

Labels: scholarships, uni apps

Without realizing it, I have been through almost 5 months of holidays. And I am starting to run out of things to do. Except waiting...

Read on Brightsparks Forums..somebody said SembCorp 3rd round interview is next week. Haizz, the person who gave the info must have been through to the 3rd round...and there is a guy like me who is waiting for the email, which, by now, almost certainly won't arrive.

Sigh.

No offer letter from NUS either. My first choice uni...Seriously hope can get a scholarship or sth. Acceptance period has started and so has accomodation application. No idea where I want to stay...Comfort and privacy vs. Price.

Sigh.

Havent gone for any driving lessons either. I hope I seriously get to take the exam this time round.

Sigh.

Finished Heroes Season 2 yesterday (yea, I noe I am slow). Can't wait for Season 3!

Sigh.

Having mood swings this few days...Also duno why...

Sigh.

This post is so pointless....

Labels: scholarships, uni apps, updates

Will be starting on my 3rd attempt to go home tomorrow. Haha. I am quite sure nothing will be able to stop me anymore...muahaha...lol. SembCorp has not sent me any emails yet, not evn a rejection letter. Does that means I still have chance? I do not know...

But anyway, spent my last day here (at least for now) in East Coast Park today. It was a random idea which pops up after we heard that our juniors were having hostel outing there today and so we decided to crash their party. But in the end we just cycled and didnt get to steal their food coz they barely had enough themselves. But yea, exercising once in a while is a good thing.

Finally got the CBox problem solved. Yay! Now everyone can post on it.

Some of my friends have started receiving offer letters from NTU for various courses. Hmm, maybe it takes longer for the letters to reach Brunei...considering the "efficient" postal services there. No news yet from NUS though, no news on ASEAN scholarship either.

Manchester United just lost to Chelsea just now. =( The score was 2-1, Chelsea won courtesy of a 85th minute penalty. =( And I was happily celebrating a draw before that. Haizz...guess you could never start celebrating before the end of a match...never play down a chance of a last minute fight back especially in crucial matches like this. Now both teams are even on points!!! *screams*

Doesnt matter...Man Utd will win both Premiership and Champions League anyway. Support all the way!!!!

Labels: around singapore, Man Utd, scholarships, uni apps

My interview timeslot today was supposed to be from 1.45pm to 2.00pm. In the end I had to wait until 2.15pm before I entered the meeting room because all the people before me spend quite some time inside.

Anyway...kind of din expect so many interviewers...there were 5 this time and the room was much bigger than last time...and the interviewers were kind of big shot people...Senior Vice President, Scholarship Head and I cant remember the rest... so there is a long meeting room table and 5 of them sat there facing me.

I think I did better than last time...maybe experience does help coz there were similar questions...like "why do you apply for chemical engineering?"..I try my best to tell them what I could but I think I still stumbled when they try to question me on the work of a chemical engineer...for some questions I do try giving entertaining answers but I guess that didnt kind of work out...One thing is that the interview is definitely shorter than the other shortlisted people...the 2 people in front of me went in for around 25minutes while mine lasted barely 15 minutes...can be good or bad, depends on how you want to interpret it.

Anyway there was this receptionist who was chatting with her fellow receptionist and since I was very free while waiting for my turn (I reach there at 1.20 pm btw)...I couldnt help but listen to what they were talking. Apparently she is a part time staff AND she is going for SembCorp Scholarship interview as well! Wow. She was telling her friend that she is going for the session tomorrow. She even holds the key to the meeting room serving as the interview room and is in charge of bringing us into the room. Haha...possible that she will get insider news? She will know who is the interviewer, and she probably know a lot about the company..that should be an advantage.

Sitting down and waiting for news now...if all didnt go well, I should be back home by Friday.

If all goes well...then I duno when I will go home.

Labels: scholarships

Round 2 interview is tomorrow. Sigh, and I dun reli know what to prepare and expect anymore. Except, maybe, learn from the mistakes I made the previous round. I think it was pretty obvious to them that I didnt prepare well on what to say for expected questions like "Tell us something about yourself." Well, I stumbled and talked quite a bit of rubbish for that. But nevermind, there should be a new panel of interviewers tomorrow (considering that the venue is changed), and so it is back to square one...Same questions can be repeated. I was lucky that I sort of imagined that they will ask me some questions on Brunei in Round 1 but I didnt expect that many...Either they are curious or they are kind enough to ask me stuff that they think I know.

I should be staying until Friday...if i fail the round 2 interview la...I guess progress to round 2 had really boosted up my confidence a bit, well at least now I am starting to imagine what will happen if I really got the scholarship...annual allowance of $10000 and it covers all tuition fees...kind of good for me though admittedly I will be equally happy with ASEAN...that one is $4300 annual allowance and covers tuition fees after taking up the MOE Tuition Grant. Point is both don' t take in many people...SembCorp took in 8 scholars in 2006 and ASEAN only takes in 20+ for NUS...so duno if i will get either but i guess I will just try...

Went shopping today and bought a cheap long sleeve shirt for tomorrow's interview, since I din expect to stay longer than last Friday hence I din bring extras. =S and basically like the last few days I spent most of my time online...until I duno what to do oledi. Oh yea...the slow learning me finally decided to start torrenting and torrent my first few songs yesterday...lol.

I really wish I could teleport sometimes...that will allow me to save a lot of money on air tickets...come to singapore whenever I want for whatever reasons, or go Redang..xD...or go somewhere which I wanna visit...visit my friends whenever I want...If scientists ever invent this technology, I guess all airlines will go bankrupt. Or maybe they survive on some rich people who dont mind spending money on a 1st class or business class ticket to go to places they want to go. But most likely the former will happen...Come to think of it, this will make people lazy to walk also...then they will become obese due to lack of exercise...

Think too much...haha.

I shall find one day and go out to satisfy my craving for Starbucks Coffee. =) And also tuna puffs from Delifrance.

Heading towards the unknown tomorrow. Will I be lucky again?

Labels: scholarships, updates

Just as I was preparing myself to go home yesterday...I went out shopping, and buy the things that I needed to buy and after I came home, I checked mail, and suddenly all my plans had to be changed.

Well! I didnt expect it, but it happened! Especially when I thought my round 1 was bad enough. They asked me to go for Round 2 and this time I am pretty sure it will turn out to be a disaster.

So..in the end I decided not to go home today after all, since round 2 is on either monday or tuesday..in the process also called my driving instructor (she must be so shocked to receive calls from singapore) and told her I would not be able to make it on tuesday for the exam. In the end, I just need to pay RM10 for registration fees, since she registered for me already, and driving exam, unfortunately, after dragging for so long, will have to be postponed further.

And it is back to square one. All those research will have to continue!
And our reunion will have to be postponed as well...

Labels: around singapore, scholarships

Well, at least I did all I could...even though I was extremely nervous and tense throughout the interview yesterday. So waiting for their next email which should be coming on friday or saturday...

Funny thing is, they sent me an email at 1.50pm yesterday, the same email they sent to all other applicants they rejected, stating that I was unsuccessful. And lucky I didnt get to read the email before I left the house at 2pm. I only found out abt it after I came back, and I was like -_-!!! I suppose it is a mistake by them anyway...otherwise why would they still interview me? Haha..

Out for shopping today. =)

Update: For the post "Tagged"...I forgot to say sth...I tag MUN HON!!! Must do!!!

Labels: scholarships

Frantically trying to do some research at Coffee Zone now, on SembCorp. Before that I was looking for tips from existing or ex-SembCorp scholars and found some, one from TJC website, and here is the excerpt.

“Be prepared - Research about the organization before going into the interview room. Find out the various business units that the organization is operating and if possible what they are doing exactly. Inappropriate questions like 'How much will I be getting every month as my allowance?', 'How long do I have to work here?', 'What is my starting salary?' must not be asked as they would only reflect your ignorance and how materialistic you are. Instead, ask sensible questions like, 'Which is the business unit that is sponsoring the scholars this year?', 'Is lateral shift (from technical side to management side) applicable to scholars?', 'In what direction is the company going in the future?' etc. These would make you sound keen in obtaining the scholarship. Interviewers are generally looking for scholars who can contribute to the company and make their investment in the scholar worthwhile. Hence, it would be useful to ponder how you can contribute to the company when you are serving the bond.

Know the direction that the company is going in the future - usually ask the scholarship officer/coordinator. I was lucky because I knew that SembCorp was looking into the polymerization industry in the next few years and hence they needed chemical engineers and that was what I had applied for. I put this key point in the essay that I was asked to write during the tea session and it granted me the third and final interview. "
Makes me so freaking worried as I am quite sure that I am going to ask stupid questions and answer in such a naïve and unknowledgeable manner. Worse still, got stumped by their questions. Hence I am trying to force myself to take in some information about the company. Even so I don’t know whether I will make it to the next round. According to the guy who wrote the reflection above, there will be 2 rounds of interviews, followed by a tea session where you will be asked to sit down and write an essay on why you want to be a SembCorp scholar and ending wif a final round.

Expenses on air tickets are so going to rise high these two months. =S Unless I want to say in Singapore and work? By that time student pass would have expired as well. And after round 1 of interview I still have to come back for my driving test and if ever I make it to the next round of interview then I have to FLY again…unless I can ask them about phone interviews..quite unlikely I guess.

Anyway…

“Dear Applicants,

Thank you for your interest in the Keppel Group Scholarships.

We have carefully reviewed your application together with those of other applicants and regret to inform you that you have not been successful.

We take this opportunity to wish you success in your future endeavours.”

Keppel is gone…and so another of my worries.

Labels: scholarships, uni apps

Got a shock when I saw the email just now.

"Dear all,

Congrats! You are being selected to come for the Sembcorp Scholarship - Round 1 interview.

I had tried contacting you at your mobile but I cannot get you.

The round 1 interview will be from 14th – 16th April 2008 (Monday – Wednesday), each interview is about 15 minutes.

Kindly reply me via email or call me at my direct number to confirm your time slot.

Please see below the timing slots available."

Followed by a series of timings.

OMG...Not like I din expected it, but I just din expect it to come so fast. And that means I have to go down all the way to Singapore for the interview? What about my driving license? I am determined to take it in April. And I still haven completed Australian Universities applications!

And I dread going for the interview. Must I do some research beforehand? I dun think I know much about Sembcorp, omg...in fact, I haven even secured a place in NUS/NTU!

Maybe I should ask about interview via the phone.

And I am going back Malacca later...

Fly here and there....

o___O

Labels: scholarships