♥
Through the eyes of a Graduate and Proud Families,
Trinity College Dublin Summer Commencements
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Nur
Category: undergraduate experience
Commencement
23rd of June 2016 was the biggest highlight of my life.
It was the most amazing experience I have ever had the opportunity to receive and I can’t feel ever more blessed than I ever had. I brought my family along with me to Dublin so that they can witness me being conferred my degree. The degree for which I put a lot of hard work, tears and sweat into. The degree for which I fought hard for. I’ve never wanted to do this so badly before in my life.
It was a choice I made personally and one I will never ever regret making. I started later than my friends because I wanted to save up so much so I can do this degree with financial stability in mind. I worked hard for an additional year and restricted my spending so I could save so much that I needn’t worry about not having money to pay for tuition or for my own expenses. I saved up so much so my parents wouldn’t have to worry about selling the house or the car to pay for my education.
Thankfully, with the assistance I have received so far, and the subsidies from the government, I only needed to pay a fraction of my tuition fees and the rest were my allowance for the 9 months I would be away from work.
Because I didn’t have to worry about this, I could study without distraction. And I surpassed my own expectations having been conferred Honores Primae Classis (Honors of the First Class) at the commencement.
The ceremony was simple yet so beautiful. I could remember every single second of it. From the introduction of what and how the ceremony will be conducted, to conferring of my degree, signing of the Graduates list on the book of records and finally, the procession at the end where we walked out of the hall and into the Front Square, parading with pride and our certificates in hand. Proud parents and family members, students passing by and tourists and onlookers stopped in their tracks as we walked past them. We are proud Graduates of Trinity College and I was ecstatic to be present right there and then; to witness and to be part of the tradition.
I am so thankful to a lot of people who have guided me, motivated me, understood me and listened to my troubles as I went through those difficult 9 months.
My family, who always knows I’m trying my best and accepts my results whatever it is.
My classmates, who are always on hand to answer my never-ending doubts and calm my worries.
My good friend, who had so much faith in me and kept on insisting I could make it with First Class even though I highly doubted myself and was more than happy to even achieve a Second Class.
I will always remember how much they play a part in my life at this stage. And I will always remember their sacrifices and their words to get me where I am today. I really would not have made through without all of them by my side. ♥
All of you are so precious to me.
A Fresh Graduate,
Nur
Co. Wicklow, Ireland
I am back in Ireland after 7 months and I feel extremely blessed and thankful because this trip could materialise.
In 13 hours time, I will be attending a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to graduate as a Trinity student in Trinity College itself. I think it will be a wonderful ceremony and I can’t wait to don on the graduation gown and mortar board and be in the company of my family and some friends! It feels surreal but as I passed by the city on the airport bus towards my accommodation, I felt like I was coming home. It seems that I have regarded Dublin as my third home (second being Seoul).
As I bring my parents to the college and to walk around the city, I get reminded of last year when I was commuting from the city centre to our satellite campus in a teaching hospital. And also taking the bus to another hospital for our attachment. It felt like it was only yesterday that I was here. I could remember some little details here and there and I could hear the conversations I had with my friends at some of the cafes and as I passed by on common routes. Wow, I thought to myself. That really happened. And here I am again, on a second trip.
I brought my parents on a short trip to Wicklow Mountains because Wicklow is gorgeous. The tour guide made a comment that struck me –
“You will visit Ireland at least three times in your life. Trust me.”
I turned to my sister seated beside me. “Oohhooh, it’s my second time already,” I whispered to her and grinned.
Then I wondered when my third trip would be and if it was really true that a person would visit Ireland at least three times. The purpose of this second visit was to attend my graduation. What would the third purpose be if there is any?
Nonetheless, I am always captivated by the beauty of Ireland’s countryside. Wicklow itself is stunningly beautiful. While it was unfortunate that this tour didn’t bring us to some of the places that I went to last time, I think it was enough for my family to experience a tiny bit of what Ireland’s nature is like. Wicklow certainly has charmed my parents and my sister. I think Lough Tay did most of the job though. My parents are somewhat conservative so when we visited Glendalough and it’s monastic city, they were taken aback at how a “graveyard” was a tourist site and people were walking in it.
They were a little reluctant to walk through it but they did eventually while saying mumbling a lot of prayers to themselves. Actually, I wanted to bring them to see the lake but it was a short visit so we couldn’t enjoy the lake scenery as I had wanted to.
I really wished I could bring them to Connemara because really, Connemara is stunningly beautiful. The vast landscape of different colours and textures are breathtaking but the bus rides are long so I didn’t think they could handle it.
My body clock is nuts at the moment and I’m awake still at such a late hour.
I should rest up for the ceremony tomorrow!
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Nur
Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin and how it Changed Me
Trinity College (Irish: Coláiste na Tríonóide) is the sole constituent college of the University of Dublin, a research university in Ireland. The college was founded in 1592 as the “mother” of a new university, modelled after the collegiate universities of Oxford and of Cambridge, but, unlike these, only one college was ever established; as such, the designations “Trinity College” and “University of Dublin” are usually synonymous for practical purposes. It is one of the seven ancient universities of Britain and Ireland, as well as Ireland’s oldest university.
Before embarking on my degree, I had two choices – to do it as a full-time student in Trinity College or take a part-time course offered by another overseas university.
I chose to do it full-time with Trinity College Dublin because first and most importantly, the modules interest me – a lot (second would be the ability to fly to Dublin and experience it first-hand).
I compared the modules offered by both universities and I felt that Trinity would be able to provide me with knowledge that I am looking for. I was genuinely interested. Genuine interest is important because only when I put my heart and soul into my decision will my effort follow. I had a negative experience several years ago whereby I could not choose what I wanted to study and it affected my attitude towards studying, receiving the knowledge and subsequently my results. No matter how hard I tried to even just memorise, I couldn’t do it because my heart wasn’t in it. It wasn’t what I wanted. So, this time round, with the ability to make my own decisions, I’ve put in nothing but my best.
The academic rigour in Trinity is very different from what I was used to in Singapore. The way lessons were taught required students to think critically of what the lecturer has presented and to question and find answers. The students in my class were very outspoken while the few of us Singaporeans felt intimidated.
“How did they know to ask such a question?”
“They’re even rebutting what the lecturer said.”
“Oh wow, why didn’t we think of that?”
The lecturers would often try to engage us in the conversation so that we could get used to it but honestly, for me, I need time and preparation before hand for any discussion. When I was asked on the spot about my opinion, my mind would freeze.
“You.. want.. my opinion?” I thought to myself.
It’s difficult for me to state what I think because I was used to the spoon-fed method that was widely practiced in the schools I attended locally.
Spoon-fed. I hate that word. Spoon-feeding me doesn’t make think. It tells me how things should be done. My thoughts were confined to what was being taught only. There was no creative-thinking. That was how I survived 15 years of education. I’m being taught something, I memorise it, I practice the format for answering and I regurgitate the answer during my exam, making sure I don’t miss important keywords and phrasing that would help me gain points. That was how we studied. We had assessment books that revealed past year’s questions and answers (up to 10 years ago). There’s a term for such assessment books. We call them the 10-year series or 5-year series. They had one in every subject we took. We learn trends in questions. Our teachers discover trends in answer keys and formats that would help us get good grades. So if we learn them by heart, we could easily ace the paper.
But with Trinity, there is no such thing as an answer key, keywords or answer formats. Because they believe that each student has their own way of writing, of expressing their answers, so, as long as they can show their understanding of a topic, they’ll be graded based on how well they show it. This was such a huge change for us because the assessment topics were broad. It taught us to cover a range of topics when tackling an answer – how we link these topics together, how we infer and how we apply it to practice. It was really hard at first but I like it. I no longer need to memorise pages of answer formats. I can write how I want, however much I want to as long as I know I’m answering the question. I wish that Singapore would adopt such a method to encourage creative thinking. I’m not sure how students are being taught now but I hope there are some changes at least.
Because in the real working world, there is no such thing as an answer key.
Just my own opinion,
Nur
Travel & Come Back 
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