Personal Statement
I have had a strong interest in the humanities since I was young, especially in literature. I started reading books when I was very young, and became hooked on the interesting plot and styles of the novels I read. In secondary one my interest in the humanities started to grow, with me being introduced to the Integrated Humanities subject, which comprises History and Geography. In addition, I was quite taken in by the Language Arts subject in Secondary One (now named English Language and Literature), and had quite fun analysing plots, characters and themes.
IH Journey
In Secondary One I was just introduced to IH. It was something new to me, and it took me awhile to adjust to the subject. But from then on I began to have an interest for the humanities. To be honest, I prefer History to Geography. Geography did teach me useful skills and knowledge, such as map reading, population pyramids, and the basics of tectonics. However, History seemed a lot more interesting. I learnt about how Singapore progressed "From Settlement To Nation", and learnt about the tough and oppressive Japanese Occupation. Language Arts also touched on a bit of Chinese history through Mao's Last Dancer, and Soviet Union history through Animal Farm, which fascinated me greatly. I was able to see how harsh life was in China, and the deception the communist leaders in both countries used to fool their citizens. The study of Propaganda in Language Arts also had a big impact on me, and changed the way I viewed advertisements and other slogans. The skills for History (such as Inference and Comparison in the Source Based Questions) also helped me to cultivate a more analytical mind.
I was pleased to achieve an A1 grade for the Integrated Humanities subject during the End Of Year Exams.
In Secondary Two, History was taught in the first part of the Semester. I learnt about the economic challenges the government faced, and how the government managed to successfully and ingeniously overcome these challenges. But personally, I was more interested in the social challenges, especially the population management challenge the government faced. I enjoyed studying on the government's two policies, "Stop At Two" and "Three Or More If You Can Afford It". It made me realize that being in the government was no easy task--the government was ultimately unsuccessful with their "Three Or More If You Can Afford It" policy.
In the second half of the year I studied geography. I learnt about Land and Water Scarcity, and the methods deployed to address these issues. I also learnt about the causes and consequences of Land, Water and Air Pollution, along with Global Warming. I learnt about how these problems can be addressed internationally, nationally and individually. Through the geography curriculum, I realise that we as humans should all play our part in protecting our earth and its resources, and not give excuses or think that other people will do it.
The IH programme helped me to realise that I take a longer time to adjust to the curriculum including other subjects during the beginning of the year. So in the first semester of IH, it took me a while before I could understand the requirements for the History component. This also explains why I generally do better in the second half of the semester for most of my subjects.
I wish to pursue the Humanities so that my linguistic and analytical skills may be further improved. I believe that the Humanities Programme's way of teaching will help me work on these areas. Also, my current ambition is to become a lawyer, so I feel that the Humanities is most suitable for me. I also wish to boost my self-confidence while presenting a project, and I am sure the Humanities Programme can train me in this area.
Samuel Tay
IH Journey
In Secondary One I was just introduced to IH. It was something new to me, and it took me awhile to adjust to the subject. But from then on I began to have an interest for the humanities. To be honest, I prefer History to Geography. Geography did teach me useful skills and knowledge, such as map reading, population pyramids, and the basics of tectonics. However, History seemed a lot more interesting. I learnt about how Singapore progressed "From Settlement To Nation", and learnt about the tough and oppressive Japanese Occupation. Language Arts also touched on a bit of Chinese history through Mao's Last Dancer, and Soviet Union history through Animal Farm, which fascinated me greatly. I was able to see how harsh life was in China, and the deception the communist leaders in both countries used to fool their citizens. The study of Propaganda in Language Arts also had a big impact on me, and changed the way I viewed advertisements and other slogans. The skills for History (such as Inference and Comparison in the Source Based Questions) also helped me to cultivate a more analytical mind.
I was pleased to achieve an A1 grade for the Integrated Humanities subject during the End Of Year Exams.
In Secondary Two, History was taught in the first part of the Semester. I learnt about the economic challenges the government faced, and how the government managed to successfully and ingeniously overcome these challenges. But personally, I was more interested in the social challenges, especially the population management challenge the government faced. I enjoyed studying on the government's two policies, "Stop At Two" and "Three Or More If You Can Afford It". It made me realize that being in the government was no easy task--the government was ultimately unsuccessful with their "Three Or More If You Can Afford It" policy.
In the second half of the year I studied geography. I learnt about Land and Water Scarcity, and the methods deployed to address these issues. I also learnt about the causes and consequences of Land, Water and Air Pollution, along with Global Warming. I learnt about how these problems can be addressed internationally, nationally and individually. Through the geography curriculum, I realise that we as humans should all play our part in protecting our earth and its resources, and not give excuses or think that other people will do it.
The IH programme helped me to realise that I take a longer time to adjust to the curriculum including other subjects during the beginning of the year. So in the first semester of IH, it took me a while before I could understand the requirements for the History component. This also explains why I generally do better in the second half of the semester for most of my subjects.
I wish to pursue the Humanities so that my linguistic and analytical skills may be further improved. I believe that the Humanities Programme's way of teaching will help me work on these areas. Also, my current ambition is to become a lawyer, so I feel that the Humanities is most suitable for me. I also wish to boost my self-confidence while presenting a project, and I am sure the Humanities Programme can train me in this area.
Samuel Tay