Experience Essay on STEM Membership

Since secondary school, I have always been keen on learning science and exploring new knowledge in science. Owing to this reason, I have been an active committee member in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) club for five years in my secondary school, with roles of managing every single section during weekly meetings of our club and helping in organising every activity, especially during annual Science and Mathematics Week. For example, soap-making competitions, innovation competitions, robotics competitions, etc. Besides, I am also a former president of the Bridge-building competition in our school. It is a competition that requires a group of three. Participants are required to build a 50 cm bridge using raw materials such as straws, wooden sticks, strings, etc. Then, we will credit the marks for a group according to the stability, neat and creativity of their bridges. Furthermore, I have some experience being a facilitator of an event, which is the three-day Johor State Level of Science Outreach program organised by the STEM club for PAK21 Schools in my secondary school. The main intention of this event is to have some socializing and knowledge exchange between participants from other schools through Gallery Walk, which gathers the information of each topic from Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Apart from my enthusiasm for science, I enjoy drawing during my free time to relieve my stress. Fortunately, I have achieved second place in the Visual Arts Carnival organised by JKD Visual Arts Education at Pasir Gudang District level. In the same and consecutive years, I have won second place in the thematic poster drawing competition jointly with Independent Day. Unexpectedly, my competing drawing regarding Independent Day Malaysia in 2018 was sent to Jakarta as the cultural exchange between both countries. Aside from that, I have taken on the responsibility of being a vice coordinator. I have cooperated well with our monitor to lead our class in various annual events held. For example, on canteen day, we both managed our food stall and the game station flawlessly. Luckily, we are the most profitable stalls, and we have donated our profits to the old folks’ homes. At the same time, I am the former secretary of the Chess Club. In 2019, we organised a Chess Tournament that was eligible for all students in age groups of below-15 and below-18, and it was a huge success with the participation of about 170 students. At the end of the tournament, the final winners of each age group have grabbed their opportunities to attend the 15th Chess Tournament Johor Bahru for Teenagers 2019 held by Johor Bahru Chess Association. Moreover, as an active committee member of St.John Ambulance Malaysia, I have joined the volunteering first aid duties during the events, such as Sports Day, Interschool Marching Competition, Pre-Sports Events, etc.

Last year, I volunteered in the river-cleaning environmental project organised by the Lions Club of Johor Jaya and Leo Club JJ Omega in Malaysia. The project is about making effective microorganisms (EM) mud balls and tossing them into the river to reduce the water pollution problem in Malaysia. Those balls are made of a mixture of brown sugars, clay, rice bran and fruit peel enzymes, which are then rolled into ball-shaped and put into the egg trays. After fermenting for one week, the balls are ready to throw into Sungai Skudai. According to the research published, these EM mud balls can stabilise the water pH value, diminish the algae growth to avoid eutrophication, break down the organic molecules, wastes, and thus clean the waterway, purifying the water. I am grateful that I can be involved in every part of the project from the beginning till the end. It is a very honorable experience to make my commitment to protect and save the environment. Although lots of activities are forbidden due to the pandemics, I still manage to join the virtual events held by the Leo Club District 308 B1, such as 'Be a Loving Lion, Be a Healthy Lion 10K Steps Virtual Challenge' and 'Yes2 Healthy Life Breakfast Challenge'. I am also a former vice-president of the online Peace Poster Competition in conjunction with the International Day of Peace. Thankfully, I have also received the certificate of membership from Lions Club International as confirmation of my commitment to serve the community as a Leo club member.

I strongly agree that the only source of knowledge is experience. It is because, with these fascinating experiences, I am trained to be a more well-prepared and well-rounded person with various skills. For instance, leadership skills, organisational skills, better attention to detail, etc. As the event's facilitators and organisers, we have to guide our participants to ensure that the event runs smoothly. We also have learned to cooperate and improvise with those inevitable problems that arose during the events. Hence, those events also train our critical thinking and adaptability. Other than that, we need to meet every student that we are unfamiliar with and communicate with them anytime. Thus, it makes me more extroverted and builds up my self-confidence to speak in front of them. Additionally, it improves my communication skills by explaining all the rules and topics clearly for better understanding. Other characteristics such as good stress tolerance, empathy, patience, determination, etc. are developed through these memorable experiences as well.