Wednesday, August 5, 2009
♥ A Celebration of Young Women - Zonta Gala Dinner
Today I returned to the Zonta Club of the Perth Northern Suburbs, as last years club winner of the Young Women in Public Affairs Award for 2008, and this years International District 23 winner =)
You know, when I found out I had won International Districts, my heart slightly fell, as I felt that I didn't deserve it... that I wasn't good enough for it. I was scared of returning back to the club - I wasn't sure what I was going to say. It kinda felt like "Hey! Thanks for picking me as your winner and giving me great prizes and $1k... and yeah you know all that stuff i said about wanting to become a doctor, i still want to. I just sorta failed last year. So I guess you guys picked a failure for your winner...But hey! It's all good."
I could have wrote a speech, on simply what they asked - my experiences over the past year. I could have chosen not to go deeper. I could have even covered up by saying that I want to do post grad med. andd.. i want my degree in psyc first. But the truth is I missed the mark. I wasn't good enough.
I actually wrote this speech in the car... on the way home from uni... the day I had to present it. So excuse the bad english, grammer etc... But I feel it captures feelings that I don't often share, yet have felt in the past year.
Happy Reading
s2 ditz
Good Evening Ladies & Gentleman
A year ago I stood here and gave a talk on my role model, Doctor Fiona Woods. This amazing mother of six impacted the lives of many. She changed lives. She made a difference. She made her footprint on this world count. It is no wonder why she was named the most trusted person. She’s simple amazing.
As I stand here today, I think of the women who have stood before me, here, at this very podium. And probably shared stories of success, inspiration and accomplishment. Rarely do we hear the stories of failure, setbacks and complications.
When people think of Dr Fiona Woods, they see strong, trusted, highly recognised and inspirational woman. We rarely hear of the days where she might have woke up to a crying child at 1am in the morning, and wondered how she was going to wake up again at 5 to get to work in time. We rarely hear of those days where a careless mistake may have set her back weeks in medical research.
I think we all reach points of our lives, where things do not go the way we had originally planned. To be honest, I am at that point. But let me share with you my story. My story of perseverance, in hope that I can encourage every single one of you. And maybe even challenge you.
I have a heart for helping people. It is my passion. My dream is to become a doctor. To be able to travel to third world countries and make my footprint in this world. To then come back and stabilize my career as a paediatrician, while starting my own family.
September, last year I received my results for the UMAT, the undergraduate medicine admission test, and found out that I had fell short of the top fifteen percentile I needed to secure an interview. This meant that I was unable to get into undergraduate medicine for 2009.
When I received my TEE results, I had to make a choice. I couldn’t do medicine because of my UMAT score. But I had the marks to pursue a degree in Engineering or Law. This was a big hurdle for me. My dreams had not completely shattered, but it was certainly not going the way I had hoped or even planned. I had to ask myself if I could spend the rest of my life doing something that I may have had the brainability to, but didn’t have the heart for.
The answer to that was no. I couldn’t let go of my dreams. I had to change my perception, and I had to start seeing this situation not as a dead end but as an obstacle - a setback. And just simply that. My dreams on hold. But not shattered.
Six Months ago I began my first year of university, doing a Bachelor of Science at UWA. My first challenge was finding my first class, which was probably purposely placed on the other side of campus, just to confuse us first year students. My next challenge was too understand my lecturer despite his very strong accent... and the challenge after that? Probably staying awake in those lectures.
Okay, I’m only joking. I have some fantastic lecturers, some better than others, but I have realized how important my high school teachers were on my schooling life. Teachers, who would encourage you, support you and help you. This of course is slightly harder for lecturers in university, especially when you have eight hundred psychology students in one class.
The past six months have had its challenges. I’ve had to make some very important decisions. Like deciding to get up in the cold morning with no daylight savings to wait at the bus stop at 6:45am to get to uni in time for my 8am class. Or... sleeping in and listening to my lecture online in the comfort of my nice warm bed. Technology is amazing really. And you really learn to appreciate it once you hit Uni.
On a more serious note. Exactly one week ago, I retook the UMAT, in hope to secure an interview for one of the fifteen places UWA offers non high school leavers for its undergraduate medicine course.
For those who are not familiar with the UMAT, it is not a science or medical based test that you can study for. It contains Logical reasoning, Problem Solving, Non-Verbal reasoning... things that you can’t study for. I can happily say that this year I went into that exam room more prepared than I did last year, and I came out of that exam room a lot more confident than last year. I won’t know the results til another month or so down the track... nor will I find out if I got one of those fifteen spots til end of this year... but I do know that despite what happens, I will get there one day. However long it may take.
Every day is a new day. Everyday has its own challenges. Some are new challenges... Last Friday, I saw my first cadaver. At 2 o’clock this afternoon, I dissected a pig’s heart in my human biology lab. Some are not so new challenges.... like staying awake in class or deciphering the scribble your lecturer leaves on the board...
Today I challenge you to follow your dreams. To persevere. To not give up.
It sounds cliché... I know. But if Dr Fiona Woods decided to give up that day she had a setback in her medical research... what would have happened to the hundreds of people wounded in the Bali Bombings in 2002.
Everyone will have their setbacks in life. But I urge you not to let turn your setback into a dead end.
And who knows... in a few years time, maybe I’ll be able to return to this very podium, and share with you my story of success. Inspiration. And accomplishment.
Thankyou
You know, when I found out I had won International Districts, my heart slightly fell, as I felt that I didn't deserve it... that I wasn't good enough for it. I was scared of returning back to the club - I wasn't sure what I was going to say. It kinda felt like "Hey! Thanks for picking me as your winner and giving me great prizes and $1k... and yeah you know all that stuff i said about wanting to become a doctor, i still want to. I just sorta failed last year. So I guess you guys picked a failure for your winner...But hey! It's all good."
I could have wrote a speech, on simply what they asked - my experiences over the past year. I could have chosen not to go deeper. I could have even covered up by saying that I want to do post grad med. andd.. i want my degree in psyc first. But the truth is I missed the mark. I wasn't good enough.
I actually wrote this speech in the car... on the way home from uni... the day I had to present it. So excuse the bad english, grammer etc... But I feel it captures feelings that I don't often share, yet have felt in the past year.
Happy Reading
s2 ditz
Good Evening Ladies & Gentleman
A year ago I stood here and gave a talk on my role model, Doctor Fiona Woods. This amazing mother of six impacted the lives of many. She changed lives. She made a difference. She made her footprint on this world count. It is no wonder why she was named the most trusted person. She’s simple amazing.
As I stand here today, I think of the women who have stood before me, here, at this very podium. And probably shared stories of success, inspiration and accomplishment. Rarely do we hear the stories of failure, setbacks and complications.
When people think of Dr Fiona Woods, they see strong, trusted, highly recognised and inspirational woman. We rarely hear of the days where she might have woke up to a crying child at 1am in the morning, and wondered how she was going to wake up again at 5 to get to work in time. We rarely hear of those days where a careless mistake may have set her back weeks in medical research.
I think we all reach points of our lives, where things do not go the way we had originally planned. To be honest, I am at that point. But let me share with you my story. My story of perseverance, in hope that I can encourage every single one of you. And maybe even challenge you.
I have a heart for helping people. It is my passion. My dream is to become a doctor. To be able to travel to third world countries and make my footprint in this world. To then come back and stabilize my career as a paediatrician, while starting my own family.
September, last year I received my results for the UMAT, the undergraduate medicine admission test, and found out that I had fell short of the top fifteen percentile I needed to secure an interview. This meant that I was unable to get into undergraduate medicine for 2009.
When I received my TEE results, I had to make a choice. I couldn’t do medicine because of my UMAT score. But I had the marks to pursue a degree in Engineering or Law. This was a big hurdle for me. My dreams had not completely shattered, but it was certainly not going the way I had hoped or even planned. I had to ask myself if I could spend the rest of my life doing something that I may have had the brainability to, but didn’t have the heart for.
The answer to that was no. I couldn’t let go of my dreams. I had to change my perception, and I had to start seeing this situation not as a dead end but as an obstacle - a setback. And just simply that. My dreams on hold. But not shattered.
Six Months ago I began my first year of university, doing a Bachelor of Science at UWA. My first challenge was finding my first class, which was probably purposely placed on the other side of campus, just to confuse us first year students. My next challenge was too understand my lecturer despite his very strong accent... and the challenge after that? Probably staying awake in those lectures.
Okay, I’m only joking. I have some fantastic lecturers, some better than others, but I have realized how important my high school teachers were on my schooling life. Teachers, who would encourage you, support you and help you. This of course is slightly harder for lecturers in university, especially when you have eight hundred psychology students in one class.
The past six months have had its challenges. I’ve had to make some very important decisions. Like deciding to get up in the cold morning with no daylight savings to wait at the bus stop at 6:45am to get to uni in time for my 8am class. Or... sleeping in and listening to my lecture online in the comfort of my nice warm bed. Technology is amazing really. And you really learn to appreciate it once you hit Uni.
On a more serious note. Exactly one week ago, I retook the UMAT, in hope to secure an interview for one of the fifteen places UWA offers non high school leavers for its undergraduate medicine course.
For those who are not familiar with the UMAT, it is not a science or medical based test that you can study for. It contains Logical reasoning, Problem Solving, Non-Verbal reasoning... things that you can’t study for. I can happily say that this year I went into that exam room more prepared than I did last year, and I came out of that exam room a lot more confident than last year. I won’t know the results til another month or so down the track... nor will I find out if I got one of those fifteen spots til end of this year... but I do know that despite what happens, I will get there one day. However long it may take.
Every day is a new day. Everyday has its own challenges. Some are new challenges... Last Friday, I saw my first cadaver. At 2 o’clock this afternoon, I dissected a pig’s heart in my human biology lab. Some are not so new challenges.... like staying awake in class or deciphering the scribble your lecturer leaves on the board...
Today I challenge you to follow your dreams. To persevere. To not give up.
It sounds cliché... I know. But if Dr Fiona Woods decided to give up that day she had a setback in her medical research... what would have happened to the hundreds of people wounded in the Bali Bombings in 2002.
Everyone will have their setbacks in life. But I urge you not to let turn your setback into a dead end.
And who knows... in a few years time, maybe I’ll be able to return to this very podium, and share with you my story of success. Inspiration. And accomplishment.
Thankyou
Labels: expectations, high school, medicine, umat, uni, zonta
11:25 PM
