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Exploring Your Interest and Building up Your Soft Skills

Exploring Your Interest and Building up Your Soft Skills

Chu Sin Yee Jasmine’s Story
Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine
BNurs

Jasmine Chu, a fourth year nursing student, recalled being a camp tutor as the highlight of her summer and winter semester breaks last year. When Jasmine received an email from CEDARS looking for tutors to support local children with English learning for the English TO-GO Language Enrichment Camp for Children, it immediately captured Jasmine’s interest as she said, “It (The programme) seemed so different, yet in many ways, aligned with what I was majoring in.” Precisely that is why, with no hesitation, Jasmine gave this opportunity her best shot. For her, she regarded this as “expanding her comfort zone” instead of the common phrase we go by — “stepping outside your comfort zone”.

Photo of Jasmine
“Everyone had different approaches in addressing the same problems,” and this allowed the team to come up with comprehensive and effective solutions. 

As a camp tutor, she had to work alongside nine other student helpers in designing and executing lesson plans, as well as drafting proposals. Although other students like Jasmine who agreed to spend their holidays being English tutors belonged to different faculties, Jasmine said that was what exactly made the whole experience so worthwhile as, “everyone had different approaches (in addressing) the same problems,” and this allowed the team to come up with comprehensive and effective solutions. 

Photo of Jasmine
“University is a place for you to explore your ability—always diversify and try something different from what you are majoring in.”

As a nursing student, Jasmine had no prior knowledge in writing lesson plans, coming up with class content, let alone teaching kids.  However, with supportive staff and teammates, she said that she got to take away the importance of “teamwork.” She asserted that, although being a camp tutor isn’t the same as being a nurse, the soft skills she picked up were something she could definitely foresee herself applying in her future career, including “being detail-oriented, patient and flexible.”

Written by:
Bibi Alysha
Year 2, Faculty of Social Sciences
January 2022

Exploring Your Interest and Building up Your Soft Skills