Build Your Worth

28 April 2017
SMK Felda Purun, Pahang

I was honoured to be given the opportunity to share my experience with the students of SMK Felda Purun.

The main purpose of the sharing session is to empower the audience with confidence, especially in English speaking. This is an issue I find in almost all the schools/colleges/universities I've been to and it is something that I have dedicated my time and energy to in helping, specifically through the Speak Up! Project.

I told them about the voice in their heads that often times interfere with their decision making, trying to stop them from doing amazing things. The voice casts doubts into their hearts about their own potential. But, the voice can be controlled. You can be the master of the voice and not the other way around.

That's quite an abstract thing for me to get across. So I used my traveling experiences, and the challenges that went with it, as a vehicle to get the message understood.

I shared with them my travel experiences in university and after university, with the intention of empowering them that they should go out and explore. More than that, I want them to see that they actually can go out and explore, despite their feelings of insecurity.

I shared with them two ways to achieve that:

1. Study well and get good results.

Then, try to obtain a scholarship to study overseas. That's how I got the opportunity to study in Canada under JPA scholarship. I understand that JPA cut back a lot on scholarship these days, so that's why I urged them to go out and seek scholarship opportunities beyond the typical scholarships that they know e.g. JPA, MARA, Petronas, etc. There are many more out there that we don't know about.

2. Invest in yourself and show people your worth.

In my opinion, this is more important than the previous point. You don't have to wait for good results, because your character, your potential, and your contributions will outshine your exam results. There are people who are willing to sponsor you to travel if you show your worth. But first, you have to build it: find your skill, find your passion, and find people you can help using your skill and passion. You have to separate yourself with your exam results and focus more on building your worth in the community. Create a program, a project, an initiative, a charity, a movement, etc. That's how I got the opportunity to travel to UK last month for a 2-week leadership program under the Prince's Trust International.

Never heard of that name before? I didn't. But that goes to show you that there are other scholarship opportunities out there that you don't know about.

You just have to go out and find them.

But first, build your worth. Show the world what you're made of.