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My name is Henry and this is my personal statement. When I was young, I remember wanting to become some many things. I had a lot of trouble finding out what I really wanted to become and I liked a bit of everything, but over the years I’ve discovered a bit more of myself. I have strong interests in business and the law. I get intrigued by how people use money and how people make money. I also intend to start up a business of my own one day. One of the reasons that influence me to keep trying to purse my dream of owning a business of my own one day is because of my dad. He and his parents had almost nothing back in the old days and he had to struggle in order to keep me in the position I am in today. He’s always wanted me to become as successful as him, if not even more successful than him. It gives me a lot of motivation to become a successful business man just like him. I also have a very strong interest in law. I think this is because I like to win arguments a lot, but on a serious note I like how important of a role a lawyer can play in the lives of people. I’m very aware that law school is very hard and being a lawyer can be very stressful, but I feel very passionate about the art of asking questions and proving someone guilty or not. I get my inspiration from TV shows and movies most of them being related to crime.

Differentiate between the direct and indirect characterization Shakespeare uses in order to construct his characters. 

Shakespeare uses indirect characterization through the wounded captain. “… with his brandished steel, /which smoked with bloody execution,/ like Valour’s minion carved out his passage/ till he faced the slave,” (1.2.17-20) talks about how powerful Macbeth is in battle. This also communicates to the audience about how loyal Macbeth is towards the Duncan as he fights for him. “… brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name” (1.2.16) the author tries to establish how the society saw Macbeth.

On the other hand, the author uses direct characterization to build the characters. In Macbeth’s soliloquy (1.7.1-27), Macbeth expresses his thoughts on killing Duncan. Macbeth expresses his desires to kill the king, but his thoughts contradict itself as the author wanted to show that despite Macbeth is willing to kill to get what he wants, he also has some humanity left in him.

Going in for the Mukul Deva talk, I could sense that it was going to be very interesting. Mukul Deva is a author writing mainly thrillers and action themed books. The author of over 16 books dropped out of high school before serving in the Indian army for 16 and a half years. He believes that everyone is a story teller waiting to just tell a story. He also mentioned that there are no rules in writing and that the best way to learn is to just do it. Mukul Deva basically gave us a crash course on how to write an interesting story. Honestly, I felt that the content was a bit boring and cliché, yet some of what she said are important. For example, he pointed out that one of the things that make a story very interesting are how you portray your characters and either the readers have to hate them a lot or like them a lot. As I said earlier, the content of the presentation was a bit flat, I really like the way he managed to keep our attention. The reason I enjoyed the talk was because of the way he delivered his ideas. He used an abundance of examples and most importantly  he made us laugh. I think the way he asked us questions and kept us involved was very crucial. Mukul Deva in my opinion was the most interesting session of all.

A young prison officer, Christina Lau, was living her normal life. One day, Christina was involved in a life changing car accident.  She became unconscious and ended up in the hospital. Christina thought the injuries she sustained was minor and that everything will be normal again, but she was wrong. She became paralysed from the chest down and ended up in a wheelchair. This was the lowest point of her life and she became very sad. Despite the fact that she was disabled, she had the support of all her family members. This made her keep trying and keep trying to life life. Instead of being sad about it she took the opportunity to try new things and even tried to get a job. She just wanted to feel accepted and do things that normal people would. he also mentioned that the accident made her spend more time with her family as she felt that she was just focused on her work before the accident. I, myself being in a wheelchair recently helps me sympathise with her on a different level. I have total respect for her in terms of her strength and the fact that she keeps going despite everything trying to hold her back. After hearing Christina give speech, it helps me appreciate myself a bit more. It opened my eyes and made me aware of all the things I have. I think the most memorable thing she said was to keep living life to the fullest with no regret as being alive and living are to different things.

The moment the talk started, I knew Danny was going to deliver something special. I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be like any other and I was right. He had a really long presentation put together and expressed it in his own style. He talked about his life, all the challenges he faced and all the decisions he made. Danny started off talking about how he started off as in a boring job in marketing. Despite hating his job, he never just stopped and complained. He kept planning ahead and kept trying to get where he wants to. We’ve all had setbacks, but what Danny had to go through and still try to be where he is is astonishing. The most important thing I got out of the talk was that there are always somebody out there that is worse than you. We tend to overreact to small mishaps in life and knowing that gives me strength to keep going on.

When I arrived in the auditorium, I didn’t really expect the talk to be interesting. I was proven wrong as I found it really interesting and I actually learned a great deal on what makes an interview successful. Dawson discussed 5 things you need to keep in mind when interviewing someone. I used to think that the complexity of my question was the most important thing. I thought that asking questions with big words would make a good or bad journalist. It turned out that t was the complete opposite. Dawson mentioned that the depth of the response you get from your question should be what I keep in mind. He also mentioned how professional you have to be and also sympathetic at times. I also used to think that journalists were not very highly thought of. He talked about how he met many famous people and how proud he is of his career. It not only opened my mind but it also sparked my interest in journalism. In the free world today, I think journalism is essential and it’s a good way of sharing news and opinions around.

Dear future me,

Hey! It’s been a year since you wrote this letter. I don’t know how you are feeling now that the term is over, but I do know how you were feeling when the term started. Well, to begin, you were very nervous and a little bit scared at the start of term. Having just moved to a new country, living in a completely different environment you were having mixed feelings.

When you first stepped foot in UWCSEA East, you were even trying to wonder why you made the decisions you made in the first place. You wanted to go back so much but you didn’t. You started the first week of school in doubt. You were doubting if you would make friends, if you could handle the homework, or if you would be homesick.

Well I don’t know how the rest of the year went but the first week of school went pretty well. At the end of the year I think you would’ve learnt a lot. By learnt a lot I meant both academically as person. I think by the end of the year you’d be feeling very emotional because you’ve just completed another milestone in your life.                                    

The only advice I’d give to you or the future me is to never regret anything and don’t get anything in your way. Get your priorities straight and do your best to work towards them. At the end of the day just try to balance doing things that make you happy and things that should be done.                           

I think this is basically everything I need to say to future me. To conclude just go out there, be happy and make the best of everything you got. I don’t know how much one can change in a year but never and I mean never forget who you are.

                                                                                                                                                                   From, 

The past you

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