GSSE Year 1 Self-Assessment Essay

28.05.2020

I would like to structure this 2019 -2020 academic year self-assessment essay with some following points

including achievements, failures, and my strengthes and weaknesses.

Achievements

In terms of workstudy, I started with a Student Newsletter project with little success in the

implementation. Then I assisted an NGO research project of Ajarn Diprenda which I searched for data

from organizations in Nepal. I learnt how much effort needed to collect a huge database and how to

document them in details and order. In second semester, I joined Knowledge Management project with

one senior to discover learning and teaching practices of SGS. We aim to suggest directions to create a

Community of Practice for SGS where professors could exchange knowledge for the best learning

experience for students. It is a 2-person team but we work on well with each other thanks to the research

subject related to education values and dedicated support from Ajarn Stephane. We got to talk to students

and analyze their expressions over 3 months. I learned how to classify and codify data as a basic

foundation for further academic research projects.

met friends from other faculty and our seniors

I came support my friend for their clothing exchange project

Here are some fun experiences I was involved in. The first one was GSSE Camp for freshman students

hosted by our seniors who brought us to Pattaya campus. It was a good time to connect with friends

through energetic games and see a well-organized event by our seniors. I fell in love with SGS student

policy that allows students all chances to be creative and develop ourselves, specifically from our Student

Council and Workstudy. The Sport Day was memorable for our physical engagement and everyone’s joy

in diverse sports. We just played for fun, not for showing talent. By the time of the pandemic, I was

happy to help the Marketing team in one event for public communication and student interview. I enjoyed

sharing my learning experience with high school students and observing parents and students sharing

their perspectives on each other’s expectations. It is the funniest recruitment event I have ever observed

from an Educational Institution.

one of our memorable moments as a cohort!

In terms of resource leverage, I have maximized available human capital resources of SGS and TU in

general. I sought help from our Admin team for medical insurance concern, language learning,

registration procedures, even something personal like finance. Never could I be such close to a faculty

like this. Gap among students and faculties in educational systems in Vietnam is huge, unlike here. I

reached out to some interesting opportunities shared by our Ajarns in GSSE family group, requested

friends to teach me Thai, got feedback for essays from Ajarns, and asked seniors for learning tips and

understanding of SGS background.

My dear Ajarn Austina.

Failures

I joined a writing contest to learn Op-Ed style writing and understand the topic of Ethical Regulation for

social media in October 2019. I did not get recognized but my learning spirit was welcomed. I got useful

feedback from Ajarn Austina and Ajarn Tao. I got to see a gap in my skillset of writing and way forward

for improvement. The second failure was in a student competition organized by on Triangular

Cooperation organized by UNSSC (United Nations of South-South Cooperation) in Feb 2020.

There are 3 key lessons to share. Firstly, the experience was a self-reflection on social awareness and understanding of national policies associated with my initial concern for the issues of transportation in Vietnam 3 years ago. Secondly, I bettered researching and analyzing skills on a particular issue and how to communicate our findings to others effectively. My presentation skill was tested in a formal setting. I discovered potentials of myself and teammates in performances and saw a collaboration pattern among us over intensive 2 weeks. Especially, it is about care and warm support from Ajarns who give responsive

consultation on our work and logistic allowance for our travel.

Ajarn Chris <3 This is the most beautiful failure in my life with a lesson of self-achievement and love from passionate educators.

My strengths

I am a self-directed and motivated person. What stresses me the most is myself, not others thus this

characteristic positively pushes me to work hard most of the time. I find it a waste of time not to live

meaningfully in every moment. I like my flexibility and leadership so far. I used to be inconfident in my

ability to speak up and lead anyone in my previous school because of my earlier low self-esteem and

over-attention to others’ judgments. Now I can take things conciously and know my values.

At the beginning of the school year, there was some stress among my teamwork due to my transition time from a hectic pace to a chill pace. I worked it out by having heart-to-heart talk with my teammates and got used to the working speed in Thailand. I hardly hesitate to take risks and try new things like doing the literature review though it is not my strength. I love to immerse myself in communities where give me a sense of home, humanity, connection and inner peace so I am always lookings forward to our CBLI. Doing

community project is among the most significant experiential learning practices that help me grow. That

is what I am proud of SGS too. I hope to get my hand dirty next academic year with the CBLI projects.

hectic Halloween night of a Camp our senior organized for us. I love everything of this camp...!

To have an overall view of progress, I set monthly objectives throughout the year. For example, this May

is to finalize my workstudy and quality evaluation for GSSE program. In between, I blog on key

takeaways and memories with SGS weekly. My blog is also a proud made-by-me product to be lost and

critical in the beauty of SGS and other life journeys. I tend to finish the assignments as soon as it is given

as procrastination is not allowed unless I am too occupied. I have paid almost full attention to lectures, not

being distracted by social media in class. I could spend proper time for re-reading before class and review

the lectures constantly. Learning approach however varies depends on the essence of each course. Some

course requires more collaboration with friends like TU106, TU100, and GS215. Some courses tab into

individual contemplation like GS211, GS210, and GS201.

My dear Ajarn Pannin

My weaknesses- Point for improvement

One of my biggest weaknesses is being emotionally manipulated at times. I need to try not to let my

feelings intervene in the teamwork with my friends and the interaction with the professors. This report

thus is made with the least emotions as possible compared to my other blogs for SGS learning experience.

Also, I learn better when I ask questions in class so that my brain record discussions between myself,

Ajarns and friends longer than just passively listening. This makes the review process easier later on so I

will ask more questions in the upcoming year.

notebook and sanitary pad - our social innovation time

Another point for improvement is to spend more time learning from classmates who are special in different ways. I have not made the most use of the strengths of my friends as well as to understand them on a personal level. From my observation, Cohort 6 friends are talented in musical instruments, sport, science, critical thinking, amusement and more which is promising to discover. Some friends do leave some impact on how I perceive things and I trust they are my incredible teachers. Lastly, I aim to handle multi-tasks more efficiently so that I could ensure the most worthwhile results of academic, social and personal life.

To wrap up, it is to share my appreciation for a sense of humanity at SGS. Professors actively share opportunities for students to learn and grow, give feedback on students’ performances, never refuse to answer our inquiries and assist us with all their hearts. Regarding friendship, I did not attend the Summer Course but found out the best friend in my academic and emotional life later from Cohort 6. Our School of Global Studies always opens doors for students to try things to learn, volunteer and grow. My life principle is to maintain the least expectation to have more fulfillment. I will practice this mindset together with empathy, curiosity and gratitude to enjoy the most out of this journey ahead with SGS.

p.s: gosh, this is over midnight on 18 July 2022, I just wanted to post my essay, I didn't add any more ideas or fixed my broken English. I only tried to upload photos... so many more good moments but I have backache at the moment. Tomorrow I need to go to intern and run to Bangkok with Cohort 9... still busy and in love with GSSE as the first day.