Hello, everyone. I am a new student at CCT named Genevieve Pan. It is a pleasure to meet you all here. My undergraduate degree is in Linguistics, and studying CCT at the graduate level will be a challenge for me, but I have 3 key strengths that will help me unlock my potential, meet the challenges that lie ahead, and succeed at CCT. These three strengths are “Relator”, “Intellection”, and “Deliberative”, which have been developed over the past years of my studies and life. I have developed these skills in my studies and life. Now, I have made good use of these strengths in my studies and life and have used them to achieve success.
Firstly, “Relator”. I like to work hard with my friends to achieve my goals and stay close to them even after achieving them. I believe that people who can work together to succeed are worthwhile and can be explored for the next collaboration. The success that comes from working together gives me a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment. During my undergraduate studies, I collaborated with several peers on projects for two classes, ELT design and language difference analysis.
Before starting the ELT design project, I introduced my background and explained how it would be helpful for the project to give the group more confidence. During the project, I kept communicating and discussing the problems with the group members, and I used my personal experience to explain how to solve the issues and increase the group members’ trust in me. For example, when confronted with the problem of how to teach students to write good narrative papers, I recounted one of my own experiences in learning to write narrative papers – the need to describe the details rather than just talking about them when writing a narrative paper. The tutor recognized this example. The strength of “Relator” helped me to complete the project successfully. In the second semester, I collaborated with the same students to complete a language difference analysis project after completing this project. With the success of the first collaboration, the second collaboration went smoothly. Because my mother tongue is Chinese, and in the language difference analysis, I inspired the group and provided many examples of the differences between Chinese and English, such as expressions, intonation, etc. Under my inspiration, my teammates also started thinking about the differences between other languages and English in these aspects and finally completed the analysis project perfectly with an A. My relationship with my teammates deepened through this collaboration, and I still keep in touch with them today.
The CCT project is unique in that it is challenging to achieve through individual effort, so my strength as a “Relator” helps me build and maintain close relationships with people and make them last rather than lose contact after a project. I can impress the other person with my sincerity and persuade them with my experiences to develop trust and confidence in accomplishing their goals, laying the foundation for future success.
Then is the “Intellection”, which is a core strength of my success. I am a rational and introspective person. When faced with a problem, I will think for myself and discuss the situation rationally. Reason always outweighs emotion in my thinking and discussion, and I don’t let my personal feelings change the way I think about an issue. In my undergraduate studies, I completed a dissertation on the causes of women’s difficulties in novels. Before writing the dissertation, I made a comprehensive and rational analysis of the novels – most of the causes of women’s difficulties are caused by the patriarchal society, but women’s own factors should not be ignored as well. I would not blame men for all the reasons because I am a woman. I would also look for women’s own reasons. I would think and look at the problem critically and rationally and finally complete a full-grade essay. This process made my paper successful and made me realize the importance and power of rational thinking. “Intellection” has helped me in my CCT studies because rational thinking is very important in academic research, and self-reflection is also needed to discover my shortcomings and areas for improvement to help me make better progress and succeed. I now set aside a few minutes each day to summarize what I have done during the day and engage in self-reflection. This process allows me to identify my shortcomings and gives me the mental agility to make changes and plan for the next day. My life has become more organized because of the strengths of my intellect.
Lastly, “Deliberative” strength helps me to anticipate and make careful decisions before I make them so that I can minimize risk and have a few alternatives so that I don’t become helpless in the face of unforeseen circumstances. Unforeseen situations often occur in my life and my studies, so before I make a plan, I usually think about the unexpected situations I may encounter and make two more plans, and when plan A doesn’t work, I use plan B. I usually make a study plan for the following week on Sunday, and I will look at what tasks I have to do in the following week in advance and make a sequence for completing them according to the time needed for the tasks and the degree of urgency. I’ll look ahead at the tasks for the upcoming week and work out an order of completion based on the time required, urgency, etc. Of course, there may be unforeseen circumstances, such as a group member being unable to come to the discussion at the scheduled time, a new task being suddenly added, or a task not being completed on time. The alternative plan is essential to avoid letting the unexpected situation affect me too much. I use the strength of “Deliberative” when developing alternatives, thinking carefully, and anticipating possible obstacles. For example, which two tasks can be interchanged, which period of the day can be increased without affecting the completion of normal tasks and set aside at least one hour every day to deal with new tasks that suddenly appear. With these ideas and alternatives, I can reduce the risk of not being able to complete my tasks so that I can do things with ease and successfully complete all my plans. “Deliberative” is also very helpful in my CCT study. Because of the difference with my undergraduate major, I will encounter a lot of problems in the process of CCT study, and I need to maintain good judgment, make plans carefully, and leave more time for myself to deal with unexpected situations to ensure the normal progress of my study and life of regular progress.
My strengths, “Relator”, “Intellection”, and “Deliberative”, are my bridges to the world. I have been able to connect with the world and move things forward. These experiences are closely linked to my growth trajectory, and they have reinforced my belief in my worth and inspired me to continue to use these strengths in the future. I look forward to meeting, connecting, and working with all of you. I wish us all success and a happy life.