Undergraduate / NUS application Essay- Friends with the WRONG CROWD? [2]

I've written another essay for my NUS application, which I am more comfortable with because I think it answers the question a tad bit better.

Please tell me what you think!

[b]You may discuss a special talent, a personal experience or an activity that you have been involved in that is relevant to the course you are applying for admission/b]

"Report to the discipline room now," I ordered as I glared at the latecomer who in return, gave me an offensive look and strut off arrogantly. I sighed. By then, I, a prefect, was used to dealing with troubled teens that were reluctant to follow school rules. Being a top student with a squeaky clean image, I never understood why these kids were spiraling downhill, choosing to regularly skip school and getting involved with drugs and alcohol, all while neglecting their education but I could not care less about them.

Things changed when I joined the girl's basketball team. I was a rather unconventional addition to the group as it was mostly made of kids who undervalued their studies and devoted most of their time to the sport. At first, I felt out of place and intimidated. Yet, over the months of training together as a team, we got to know one another better. I befriended them and realized that despite their regular mishaps with the rules, they had great personalities. I came to find out how facing family issues, relationship drama or problems in studies had made growing up more difficult, causing most of them to lose their way. The team was a mirror image of the other troubled teens. After having a better understanding of their circumstances, I stopped judging and started to care. Since then, my job as a prefect got easier as I learnt that by being a friend instead of a form of authority, I received more respect and co-operation. Best of all, I actually forged incredible friendships with kids that I once shamelessly labeled as 'out-of-control'.

I decided that I want to work with children or teens in the future, to guide and help them reach their fullest potential be it in their studies, personalities or talents as their mentor, confidante, support system and friend. Thus, I think that a major in psychology, specifically developmental psychology will help me achieve my goal. "I believe the children are our future, teach them and let them lead the way."-Whitney Houston.

Undergraduate / NUS ADMISSION ESSAY---> Torn between arts and science. [4]

Hey guys, I need some feedback. Tell me what u think about the content and all that. HELP ME OUT IF U SPOT GRAMMAR MISTAKES AND WHAT NOT :)))) THX

This section is an opportunity for you to elaborate on the information you have provided earlier. You may discuss a special talent, a personal experience or an activity that you have been involved in that is relevant to the course you are applying for admission.

As your essay is limited to only 2000 characters (including punctuations and space), do present your ideas in a focused and thoughtful manner.

Scrolling down the long list of programs offered by NUS, I found myself overwhelmed and lost. Dad was encouraging me to pursue engineering whilst Uncle was rooting for me to be a doctor. "Typical expectations from an Asian family," I thought. However, I was not interested in those options at all.

I was a pure science student while doing CAL as well as during my secondary school years. Though I excelled in Science, I always had an artistic side. As much as I enjoyed conducting experiments and learning scientific theories, I liked Arts & Crafts, theatre, singing, dancing and so on. I was drawn to a wide range of hobbies and interests and enjoyed learning a bit of everything. So, over the years of schooling, I took part a variety of ECAs. I was involved in badminton, basketball, squash, debating, robotics, drama, Interact Club, Gamelan (Indonesian traditional music) and Glee Club, just to name a few. I guess you could say that I was a versatile person or a Jack-of-all-trades for I acquired plenty of soft skills, leadership skills and personal experiences over the years.

Instead of looking at science related programs, I found myself constantly researching majors offered by FASS and Psychology was the particular subject that caught my attention as it is said to be a mesh between science and arts. It involves using scientific methods, which I am familiar with to study the complex science of human behavior, which I find rather interesting and unconventional.

After much thought and research, I found that psychology covers a wide scope of future prospects and most importantly it was what I was most interested in it.

I want to look into the complexity and art of being human, what and how things affect us and possibly use this set of knowledge to help others.

I strongly believe that passion is what drives us to do our best. Therefore, I decided to follow my heart and chose something that interested me instead of following the norm for most science students.