Hello! I guess I'm gonna have to resort to blogging once a week. Haha. It's been a busy and fun week. Lots of emotional ups and downs experienced, but I'm grateful after all. I will publish 2 blogposts today, because I can. Bear with me okay.
I was informed by Petronas that I was shortlisted for the Petronas YoungStars Day programme rougly a week ago. I was so happy! And worried at the same time (Yes I am worried all the time please don't judge.) because from that moment onward I knew that I was gonna be super busy for 2 weeks! And my Progress Test 1 was on that same week as well. More on that later. Yeah I am often worried about these programmes because I know I am not a good speaker and a good thinker. I know my limits. I also worried that it would turn out bad like Maybank. But hey, I've got nothing to lose here, so I'd just have to give my all.
Anyways, I called up my taxi uncle to come pick me up from college at 6:30am as the event was to start at 7:30am. I woke up at 5:30am in a daze and changed into my formal attire. I had nothing else to do so I just went to college earlier. It was quite scary because it was too early and nobody was as insane as me to go there. Much to my annoyance, they were spraying mosquito repellent all over the exterior of our apartment. I thought I could escape by just fastening my pace but I was wrong. I reached the foyer of college and sat at the bench. Fml. They arrived at college promptly after spraying the apartment. And yeah, you guessed it, I was stuck; slowly surrounded by the menacing and toxic smell of mosquito repellent. I was totally helpless I tell you.
Yeah I couldn't see a thing and nope, I did not edit a single bit of this photo. And no, I am not dead yet thanks for the concern though.
The spray thingy dispersed after a while and I could see students sitting at the bench STUDYING. Omg. Freaking 6:30am and they arrived in school lol. Okay, so I walked out and sat my taxi. I refrained from sleeping but I failed hahaha. I reached the venue, UTMSpace, in 30 minutes time. When I walked in, I was greeted with all the serious faces of candidates. I felt a bit uneasy because the candidates at Maybank were so nice and friendly. Maybe it was the morning blues, I thought to myself. I stood there and started playing 2048. It's a really nice game that eases my nervousness temporarily.
The people in charge asked us to queue up soon to register. I was appointed to the Red Team Group 2! We sat the lift to another level (forgot lol) and were asked to sit according to our teams. We were given goodie bags too. Okay, not really, inside was just a piece of survey form and an introductory book for Petronas. No free pens or merchandise hahahahah.
And here is where I met my first Petronas friend, Ray June. She's from Klang and she loves reading too! She prefers writing than speaking as well. What a coincidence! We sat there for quite a long time and watched Petronas advertisements until all the candidates arrived. We were provided with breakfast as well. It was so-so. Later on, they briefed us on the programme and how it was supposed to be conducted.
Then, they lead the red team to the lift and asked us to line up according to our groups. I was in the same group as Azeeq, Alia, Ray June and Priyangkha! Their friendly personalities eased up the awkward atmosphere in no time. We were brought to another room and were assigned to examine a case study of which all of us in a group will have different strategies to overcome the problem. Two members would have the same strategies. We were given half an hour to figure out and write out our opinions and thoughts. We were supposed to present our ideas during the interview.
After that, we were brought to different interview rooms. I was glad that we were in group 2, because it meant that we would finish earlier. Azeeq was the first to go in because he had paper A. I received B, therefore I was second. When I first entered, I thought they'd ask me to introduce myself first before I get into the topic, but I was wrong. They immediately asked me to present so I was caught off guard for a moment. The room's structure was pretty nice because it echoed and enhanced my voice, thus made me more confident. After speaking out my thoughts, they asked me a few questions about it, like what challenges I have to face, what will I do to overcome it and whatnot. Future candidates, please prepare yourself mentally!
After Priyangkha had finished her interview, all of us went in for a group discussion. Honestly, I was quite scared about group discussions because of the previous one with Maybank. I thought it would be harsh and competitive too. I'm glad I was wrong. Everyone was polite and everyone had the chance to speak out. I felt much better and more comfortable (but I still think I did badly) as compared to the Maybank one. Anyways, I felt a huge burden carried off my shoulders.
We then went downstairs to check if our documents were incomplete and had our lunch. We had a superbly long break because we had to wait for the other groups to finish their tasks. It was good in a way that we could bond and interact more with each other. We got closer and started teasing each other. Hahaha.
We got back upstairs to wait for their call for our next task. We waited and waited and waited LOL. Seriously, it was terribly long and I almost fell asleep. At about 3pm they asked us to go to another level to complete our assessments. First we had to complete a Mathematics paper in an hour. Truth be told, I haven't touched a single mathematics or additional mathematics question since I ended my SPM paper lol. So yeah of course I had some problems answering the questions. Couldn't answer maybe 4 or 5 questions. Okay lah for all those pro mathematics people don't look down on me LOL! Next was critical reasoning test. Some were easy some were...meh. It was doable though. Some questions just don't make sense. For me lah.
And with that we ended our programme! It was a fun journey though! Made lots of new friends from all over Malaysia and saw different kinds of people. It was great. I must say it was much more fun than Maybank's. Both gave me priceless experiences and I am eternally grateful for that. Even though I might not get the opportunity to obtain this scholarship, I must say that the lessons and values I learnt are definitely unforgettable.
Also, my most valuable gift. Or shall I say gifts? :)
From left to right: Me, Ray June from Klang, Priyangkha from Negeri Sembilan and Alia from Kedah!
Hopefully I have the chance to meet all of you again! I know all of you arue working hard for scholarships too. And I earnestly wish you guys all the best and I trust that you will get the scholarship you deserve! I have faith in y'all. :)
As for me, I will just have to wait. Still waiting for Sinchew's though. I know my standards and my own potential therefore I will not whine if I didn't receive what I didn't deserve. I know there are many more outstanding students out there but I also do know that I've tried my very best.
To all future Petronas candidates, all the best! I assure you that you will have the time of your life.
I was informed by Petronas that I was shortlisted for the Petronas YoungStars Day programme rougly a week ago. I was so happy! And worried at the same time (Yes I am worried all the time please don't judge.) because from that moment onward I knew that I was gonna be super busy for 2 weeks! And my Progress Test 1 was on that same week as well. More on that later. Yeah I am often worried about these programmes because I know I am not a good speaker and a good thinker. I know my limits. I also worried that it would turn out bad like Maybank. But hey, I've got nothing to lose here, so I'd just have to give my all.
Anyways, I called up my taxi uncle to come pick me up from college at 6:30am as the event was to start at 7:30am. I woke up at 5:30am in a daze and changed into my formal attire. I had nothing else to do so I just went to college earlier. It was quite scary because it was too early and nobody was as insane as me to go there. Much to my annoyance, they were spraying mosquito repellent all over the exterior of our apartment. I thought I could escape by just fastening my pace but I was wrong. I reached the foyer of college and sat at the bench. Fml. They arrived at college promptly after spraying the apartment. And yeah, you guessed it, I was stuck; slowly surrounded by the menacing and toxic smell of mosquito repellent. I was totally helpless I tell you.
Yeah I couldn't see a thing and nope, I did not edit a single bit of this photo. And no, I am not dead yet thanks for the concern though.
The spray thingy dispersed after a while and I could see students sitting at the bench STUDYING. Omg. Freaking 6:30am and they arrived in school lol. Okay, so I walked out and sat my taxi. I refrained from sleeping but I failed hahaha. I reached the venue, UTMSpace, in 30 minutes time. When I walked in, I was greeted with all the serious faces of candidates. I felt a bit uneasy because the candidates at Maybank were so nice and friendly. Maybe it was the morning blues, I thought to myself. I stood there and started playing 2048. It's a really nice game that eases my nervousness temporarily.
The people in charge asked us to queue up soon to register. I was appointed to the Red Team Group 2! We sat the lift to another level (forgot lol) and were asked to sit according to our teams. We were given goodie bags too. Okay, not really, inside was just a piece of survey form and an introductory book for Petronas. No free pens or merchandise hahahahah.
And here is where I met my first Petronas friend, Ray June. She's from Klang and she loves reading too! She prefers writing than speaking as well. What a coincidence! We sat there for quite a long time and watched Petronas advertisements until all the candidates arrived. We were provided with breakfast as well. It was so-so. Later on, they briefed us on the programme and how it was supposed to be conducted.
Then, they lead the red team to the lift and asked us to line up according to our groups. I was in the same group as Azeeq, Alia, Ray June and Priyangkha! Their friendly personalities eased up the awkward atmosphere in no time. We were brought to another room and were assigned to examine a case study of which all of us in a group will have different strategies to overcome the problem. Two members would have the same strategies. We were given half an hour to figure out and write out our opinions and thoughts. We were supposed to present our ideas during the interview.
After that, we were brought to different interview rooms. I was glad that we were in group 2, because it meant that we would finish earlier. Azeeq was the first to go in because he had paper A. I received B, therefore I was second. When I first entered, I thought they'd ask me to introduce myself first before I get into the topic, but I was wrong. They immediately asked me to present so I was caught off guard for a moment. The room's structure was pretty nice because it echoed and enhanced my voice, thus made me more confident. After speaking out my thoughts, they asked me a few questions about it, like what challenges I have to face, what will I do to overcome it and whatnot. Future candidates, please prepare yourself mentally!
After Priyangkha had finished her interview, all of us went in for a group discussion. Honestly, I was quite scared about group discussions because of the previous one with Maybank. I thought it would be harsh and competitive too. I'm glad I was wrong. Everyone was polite and everyone had the chance to speak out. I felt much better and more comfortable (but I still think I did badly) as compared to the Maybank one. Anyways, I felt a huge burden carried off my shoulders.
We then went downstairs to check if our documents were incomplete and had our lunch. We had a superbly long break because we had to wait for the other groups to finish their tasks. It was good in a way that we could bond and interact more with each other. We got closer and started teasing each other. Hahaha.
We got back upstairs to wait for their call for our next task. We waited and waited and waited LOL. Seriously, it was terribly long and I almost fell asleep. At about 3pm they asked us to go to another level to complete our assessments. First we had to complete a Mathematics paper in an hour. Truth be told, I haven't touched a single mathematics or additional mathematics question since I ended my SPM paper lol. So yeah of course I had some problems answering the questions. Couldn't answer maybe 4 or 5 questions. Okay lah for all those pro mathematics people don't look down on me LOL! Next was critical reasoning test. Some were easy some were...meh. It was doable though. Some questions just don't make sense. For me lah.
And with that we ended our programme! It was a fun journey though! Made lots of new friends from all over Malaysia and saw different kinds of people. It was great. I must say it was much more fun than Maybank's. Both gave me priceless experiences and I am eternally grateful for that. Even though I might not get the opportunity to obtain this scholarship, I must say that the lessons and values I learnt are definitely unforgettable.
Also, my most valuable gift. Or shall I say gifts? :)
From left to right: Me, Ray June from Klang, Priyangkha from Negeri Sembilan and Alia from Kedah!
Hopefully I have the chance to meet all of you again! I know all of you arue working hard for scholarships too. And I earnestly wish you guys all the best and I trust that you will get the scholarship you deserve! I have faith in y'all. :)
As for me, I will just have to wait. Still waiting for Sinchew's though. I know my standards and my own potential therefore I will not whine if I didn't receive what I didn't deserve. I know there are many more outstanding students out there but I also do know that I've tried my very best.
To all future Petronas candidates, all the best! I assure you that you will have the time of your life.
"Always stay positive."
x
Celine
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