I am Justin Chan, a student of Grade 9 at United World College of South East Asia, East Campus. I’m ethnically Chinese, was born in Shanghai, hold a Malaysian passport, live in Singapore and consider myself a global citizen.
This year, I’ve learnt a lot about myself as a learner and as a person. I’ve learnt about how I deal with stress and competition, especially through the Systems and Control course, in which I had to deal with a lot of coursework. This has taught me much about being more organised, but also being able to handle pressure better and being less emotional about dealing with stress. Another important skill I’ve learnt as part of dealing with stress is particularly dealing with exam stress. As this was the first school year in which I took a proper exam, I had to both reconsider my methods for studying for exams as well as for how seriously I would take these exams. This opportunity has given me a valuable experience for next year when I take my IGCSE Finals.
My greatest aspiration is to become a mathematician. Mathematics is a subject that I have a deep passion for, and I wish to be able to study it professionally and recreationally. Ever since I was young, I have tried to do much mathematics, and now, in Grade 9, I am starting to see my efforts come to fruition as I learn more and more. My plan is to take the advice of a mathematics professor I met during the course of my studies and remain curious to learn more, which will eventually lead to my success in this field.