Thursdays were always my favorite days of the week since middles school. Every week, I looked forward to this day. Science, especially Biology, had always been my favorite subject. My interest in biology spans as far back as I can remember – since begging my parents to buy me a DIY science kit, to now, loving the subject and even finding a career that caught my interest. The thought of gradually being able to understand what is happening around me, how things live, and how different concepts come together as one – it had always been the motivation to do well in Science and continue learning about the topic further.

Thursdays also were the day where I could interact with little kids; crafting, and playing with the kids from a small local school. It always warms my heart after the whole day filled with studying, seeing them enjoying and running around. I had always wanted a younger sibling, so when my little cousin was born, I was overjoyed. I realized although dealing with them is a challenge, the reward, and the feeling you get from seeing them grateful and smiling is the biggest gift you could ever receive. Similar to science, although it’s quite a hard subject to face, the rewarding feeling you get when your hard work paid off is something that cannot be replaced.

Combining the 2 things I love doing the most, I have had my eye on a career that deals with Biology and children, maybe a pediatric dermatologist. The skin was something I had been concerned about for the past 3 or 4 years as I had some problems myself, and I would always be reminded of how scary and how much I hated the clinic.

Every week, I would have to visit the dermatologist. This was definitely not the happiest period during the last few years, but the doctor had made it bearable. It’ll be over soon, she would say, giving me comfort as she patted my leg. She knew how to cheer people up–how to make me feel safe. The last day of my checkup, there was only happiness and gratefulness, I didn’t know how to tell her how thankful I was. She had given me hope, relief, and that was something I wanted to pass on to someone else. The feeling of hatred of going to the clinic had been taken over with the feeling of gratitude and respect.

Resilience is something I feel is important for me to develop further as I tend to want to give up when something becomes too hard or take the easier route. To improve in science, I know it takes a lot of time and effort. My goal for the future is to not only to try and participate in a volunteering service related to either kids or biology to get to know these 2 things better but to also work on my concentration – more towards procrastination and not giving up when things start to become hard.

Something that shows my first few steps towards my goal is the awards that I have received in these past few years. This year, I was able to receive an award for obtaining the top distinction in Singapore for drumming, pass my drum exam, and also passed an outside Chinese test. I think these achievements show that I am working towards being able to continue on activity/put effort into it and be able to achieve goals that I set for myself.

This year was a great year – had a lot of challenges and adventures, but was really fulfilling and accomplishing.