Meet Jing Min…again!
As our Half Day workshop approaches (just under 2 weeks! Head over here to learn more), we will be introducing more and more of our awesome facilitators! Or, in this case, we are re-introducing one of them…Jing Min!
We had a post about her last year (if you have not read it, here’s the link to it) and now, let’s find out she has been up to for the past 12 months!
Introduce yourself!
Hello! I’m Jeamme/Jing Min/JM, one of the few resident Penangnites in USAPPS! I graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in May 2013, which probably makes me one of the “oldies”. I’ve been a facilitator since 2010 and decided to take the next step and help with the core committee planning – from 10, 000 +++ km away! In college I technically concentrated in Economics, but did the equivalent of a minor in French and Human Geography.
What has been the most memorable thing you’ve done/experienced over the past year and why?
Can I pick two? The first would be my College giving graduating seniors the opportunity to meet our Board of Trustees. I was assigned a mentor (and gained another along the way!) who helped me through my job search and final semester. It was a great experience because you have one-on-one interactions with people who are highly successful in their field, and who are invested in your professional development. I think it’s one of the perks of going to a small liberal arts college. The entire experience made me feel more connected to the development of the college, as well as motivated me to donate more after graduation! =P
The second is something more physically challenging – Parkour. I joined a Parkour gym in Brooklyn, and learnt to roll, leap, scale walls, and the like. It doesn’t sound impressive until you watch this video to really see what you can do with those skills! I felt invigorated because the sessions challenge my sense of comfort, my assessment of risks, and took down a lot of my fears about failure. What better way to fight fear than have you scale a 10 feet wall?
What is it about USAPPS that makes you come back?
Hands down: the camaraderie among facilitators and participants. Facilitators commit so much of their time to explain, elucidate and guide participants during and after the workshops; Participants come eager to learn. There’s something magical about watching new participants to the workshop finding their perfect essay outline, or a new facilitator returning to explain to others how they’ve achieved their dreams and how they want to give back. Being at USAPPS gives one a sense that the future for Malaysia is a little brighter than we think.
I also consider myself extremely lucky that I got to attend university in the U.S. And as such, I want to tell everybody about it, and help them learn about how they too can receive a comprehensive education.
Would you mind sharing some new college stories/experiences?
Sarah Lawrence hosted its very first TEDx conference this year! And as one of the finalists for the Hult Prize, my team and I presented what we considered was the future of urban agriculture – aquaponics. It was an amazing experience, but the best presentation was one
about humility in medicine and the importance of remembering that you cannot know everything. This year was also the time of my most intense classroom experience – a 6 (or was it 7?) hour long public policy seminar, which saw 20 minute presentations and interrogations of key policy issues (we covered pretty much everything from energy to agriculture to population). It was a simulation of a public policy hearing, without the allotted toilet breaks. Perhaps we were all a little bit masochistic, but it was a fantastic seminar and I felt really challenged, physically and mentally. Another fun experience was attending Pride 2013 – It was my first parade (usually the other parades are held during the school year, so I never attend those) and it was a blast! The parade was extra special given the striking down of the Defense of Marriage Act (Section 3), paving the way for greater marriage equality in the U.S. Everything was so colorful, the parade lasted for several hours, and you get to experience New York City in all its crazy glory.
What do you like to do for fun/outside USAPPS?
Eat. I stay true to my Penang roots and love roaming the streets of a city searching for the best, most interesting food. I live to eat.
Favorite country? Favorite Malaysian food? Favorite book?
Dish? Burma Road duck egg Char Koay Teow. Country? Toss-up between England and U.S. – New York. Book? Another toss-up between Jane Austen’s ‘Persuasion’ and Andrew Ross Sorkin’s ‘Too Big To Fail’.
Email me at jeamme418 at gmail dot com if you have any questions about life in the U.S. Or life in general. Or Penang food.