I was walking down the street one day and I bumped into…

Atika: Hey!!! Deenise!!! I didn’t knew you were studying at NUS too.

Deenise : Oh…Hi.    ( Aren’t you the girl who ruined my life when I was 14 ?)

Atika: So, what modules are you taking this semester?

Deenise: Well, I am currently taking 6 modules this semester. ES2007S, 2 language modules and 3 life science core modules. 

Atika: Wow, you must be crazy! 6 modules ? 2 language modules? You are one mad woman.

Deenise: You should try it. It’s once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing…you know? It is always nice to try something new…

Atika: But anyway, what is ES2007S ? What is the title ?

Deenise : Oh, the title of the module is “Professional Communication”. It is catered for science students who probably spend most of their time communicating with cells and genes but not humans. In our biology class, we always learn about how neurones and gene factors communicate within the system and the ways of how primates communicate with their own species. I never knew why we …

Atika: What is this “professional communications” module all about?

Deenise: Communication! Of course! I learnt about the secret to communication. This module also teaches you the secret to happiness. Learning how to communicate effectively is a way to avoid conflicts and arguments between people. In fact, your life will turn “brighter”.

Generally, this module teaches students how to communicate effectively with the people around you. But interestingly, I also learnt how to communicate with “myself” better. A self-discovery journey? Through this module, I knew what are my strengths and weaknesses…my potential…my goals in life. Maybe they should add a new component to this module:”Communication with thyself”. Furthermore, I begin to appreciate the art of communication.  

Atika: What? Oral presentations? Aren’t you afraid? Was it a tough module? Competitive? Heavy workload?

Deenise:  Hmm…after studying at NUS for almost 3 years now…you know…all these doesn’t really matter to me anymore. What is more important is the valuable skills and knowledge you gain from a module. There is definitely going to be a lot of work and effort involved. It’s inevitable. For instance, we need to spend a lot of our time writing proposals and preparing oral presentations. But if we don’t put in the effort to practise these skills, how are we going to learn such skills effectively? Atika:  So, how’s the lecturer? Funny? Boring?

Deenise: Oh, our lecturer’s name is Mr.Brad Blackstone. But I think he should change his name to Mr.”Thank-you”  because he always signs off with the words “thank you” in all of his comments for our assignments. If he changes his name to Mr.Thank you, then he wouldn’t have to say “thank you” twice in his comments. ( Haha!) Even if your assignments are all “trash”, he will still thank you for it.

Atika: What a weird lecturer! But he seems to respect his students alot…

Deenise: Class is never boring when you have an American who brings a world map to class every day. It was pretty tiring because we have to travel with him in time and space. He was American for one minute. The next minute, he became Japanese. And then, he switches again.   Singaporean.Malaysian.French.Then, Portuguese. Then, back to American again. And before you knew it, you will be wondering: Where are we?……. with all the ” Aiyoh’s” and ” S’il Vous Plait’s”. Sometimes, I walked out of class forgetting that I am still in Singapore.

My classmates are a “bunch of bananas”! Initially, all of us were quite shy, hiding under our tough shells. But 2 weeks later, we are all starting to emerge from our shells. By the end of 12 weeks, we were all freed from our shells. You know why?

Atika: Because you guys get to know each other better and become more open towards each other?

Deenise: No. It is because during our last ES2007S lesson, one of our classmate, See Chai bought us a chocolate cake which lured everyone out of their shells!

Atika: Haha! You are rumbling nonsense again. But anyway, this module sounds quite fun. Maybe I should take this module next semester.

Deenise: Oh! You might want to check out my blog too. Blogging is my favourite activity for this module. Anyway, I wrote about you in one of my blog post! You should read it because …

(Good luck to those students who are taking this module in the next coming semester with Atika…beware)