Join us this Saturday for a campus tour. Don't miss this opportunity to give your children some exposure to university life...
Click the Vimeo above to get view the campus. See the real thing this Saturday
Nostalgia
Forty seven years ago, in 1975 when I was only 11 years old, I had my first exposure to university education.
My family and I went on a trip to Penang and my uncle, who was an undergraduate at USM, took us on a campus tour. I still have a few photographs of the campus tour.
For this simple reason, I am trying to expose students in my weekly Creative Writing classes on what to expect in the next 10 years of their education life before the next phase as adults.
In my Zoom class, I could only show them a photograph of a lecture theatre, but this Saturday, they will get to experience what it is like to listen to a briefing by a Sunway University staff in a lecture theatre.
Their assignment after the tour is, of course, to write about their visit to Sunway University during its Open Day this weekend.
Some of these articles will appear on MiniZine which my son created last year when he was 13 years old. Anyone keen to buy over the website or join the weekly creative writing class can email me (email: stephen.ng.ej@gmail.com). For the website, you will have to negotiate with my son.
Campus Tour
Thanks to Professor Elizabeth Lee, the campus tour was whipped up over the weekend. Although I had asked for a student ambassador, their Director of Marketing, Wong Lei Lei will personally bring us on the tour.
I have decided to extend this invitation to more young people, especially those who are in Form 4 or 5 this year but don't ask me what is the youngest age that they can join the tour. The youngest from my Creative Writing Class who will be joining is only 9 years old.
Besides the impressive Tun Hussein Onn Library (THOL), we will also be able to visit the Jeffrey Cheah Auditorium which is simply gorgeous! Before it was given a name, I used to call it the UFO because it really looks like a flying saucer that has landed on Sunway. It was here that Nick Vujicic gave his inspiring lecture, "From No Lives to No Limits."
In case you are wondering what UFO stands for, in my own definition, it is simply, University with a Futuristic Orientation. Laugh out loud!
But, just to intrigue the young minds, show your younger children this video (ask them to click the Stormtrooper image below).
Not sure if there will be photo opportunities with Stormtrooper or Dark Vader, but somewhere in the middle of the video, you will see Stormtrooper appearing on the escalator, and if they are patient to watch till the end, they will see Dark Vader.
The message to impart to your children: University education is fun when you have the opportunity to learn new things.
This is a Casual Event
Please bear in mind that this started as a casual event for my weekly class of creative writing students.
Officially, there is no organiser. Yes, I repeat: I am not the organiser.
You just come with your children and make this a family outing. You can have your lunch at their campus cafeteria; they have anything from my canteen type of food which is more affordable to Starbuck. Nearby, within 100 to 150 m, there is also a hawker centre operated by the Subang Jaya City Council. Restaurants are also mushrooming outside the campus.
My role: I am only facilitating and making the opportunity available to more young people whom I believe should at least make enquiries about their career even at a young age. This is based on my own experience with a nephew who started to plot his career pathway at a young age.
He knew what to target for (entry requirements for a medical programme), in order to get his scholarship to study in United Kingdom. Today, he and his wife are medical doctors residing in Queensland.
Therefore, p-l-e-a-s-e do not expect too much from me or ask questions that you can find answers to yourself on the Internet, as I am doing this only voluntarily. I have my bread and butter, family and my doctoral programme to take care of.
Please join this Whatsapp chat group so that I can update you with any information.
My vested interest: Since times are bad, I have to try to look for more projects to keep our team going. Take time to check out our company website. Swing some jobs to us whenever there is an opportunity.