Mum & the pursue of education: from not affording a pencil case to accessing one of the top educations in the developed world

I’ve watched this video for countless times and still cry every time…. It makes me miss my mum from here, the UK….. and mainly it reminds me of how I have been taught by her when I was little….those lessons have largely contributed to the core structure that makes me able to stand on my own and go this far…..

In the video, when they showed the woman who could not afford just an ice-cream for her daughter and later helped her daughter learn and discover way to earn income out of that ice-cream selling, it reminded me of my story with mum when I was in elementary/primary school. That was the time she could not afford such things as pencil cases or new clothes for me. Mum exaggeratedly told me that we were poor and couldn’t afford those things. In other word, we would not afford those new things/clothes because they were considered as unnecessarily luxurious things. The priority was to save up for a better education to have a better future. Therefore, when the other kids had new clothes, new toys, new scholastic materials and cool stuffs, I often got some reused clothes from my older relatives or those from the mountain of dumped clothes at the rail way stations where rich people dumped their not so old, but out of fashion clothes to be used to clean the floor or the machine at the train station……I remembered my dad brought me to that place every month to dig up for clothes that fitted and didn’t look that old, and some actually looked new. (“ New” according to our definition was those clothes without the stains that couldn’t be washed). I often saw the other people who didn’t seem to be that far better off than us afforded new clothes. For some poor/decent families, their parents might have just told their kids to never compare themselves to people at the higher level or dream about all of the high goals or what Khmer proverb says “If you’re small and in a lower level, don’t try to hold the mountain”…..the English translation might not sounds so beautiful, but I think khmer people know what proverb I refer to….haha….. anyway, back to the point! My mum didn’t teach me to not dream of reaching high goals. She didn’t teach me to not compare to those people, but she has taught me to have all of those in my wish list, make the plan to achieve it, and work hard with high level of persistence, responsibility, ethics and commitment towards that goal. One day, we will make it there!

While the girl was selling pineapple ice-cream in the video, I had a different way of earning pencil case……

I am a young Cambodian girl! I can win scholarship and compete in the high education abroad, so can YOU!!!

Happy Birthday to me!!!! Another year older! hehehe…..
Here’s my interview with the UC’s Writing Alliance,as my Birthday Gift to you! Enjoy!! =)

The original source of article is: http://writingalliance.blogspot.com/2011/11/student-wins-scholarship-to-study.html

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Sunday, November 20, 2011
Student Wins Scholarship to Study Abroad in France
By San Boromeichan

Nara Sokhema, a Term VIII student majoring in economics at the University of Cambodia (UC), was recently selected as a recipient of the Erasmus Mundus Mobility with Asia (EMMA) program, which allows her to study in France for one semester. EMMA is an exchange program between universities in the European Union (EU) and Asia, and is sponsored by the EU Commission in partnership with Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP).
Khema will attend the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis in Nice, France, for six months starting in September 2011. She plans to take courses in economics, and all of her courses will be conducted in French.

She said she is very excited to have an opportunity to study in France because it has always been her dream to study in Europe, but she also expressed some concern. She said that some of her family members are very conservative and do not believe daughters should travel far away from home, even if they are pursuing higher education. Seeing this as an important opportunity to grow and develop, Khema reasoned with her family to convince them to let her go, and after much discussion, her family finally approved.

“I am so thrilled and look forward to learning about education, lifestyles, and development in France, as well as customizing the lessons learned and applying these new ideas to help develop Cambodia” said Khema. “I also feel a bit scared because I have to be a good representative of my country to compete with students in the developed world.”

Keys to Successful Learning

Happy birthday to me!!!!!! Here’s a gift from me to you!!!

Having walked a quite successful learning journey where I have mostly been on the top 5-10% of the class/school and winning a number of scholarships based on my superior academic performances, plus my extra volunteerism and leadership experiences, I observed and discovered some keys that might be also useful for other learners. Being a successful learner, especially when we are doing many extra social work or working, is not easy and involves lots of time management skills, as well as smart tactics in addition to working hard.

Thanks Radio 99.5 FM for having invited and allowed me with the platform to share and interact with another awesome guest speaker and great audiences. I hope our discussion might help you learn more effectively and successfully!

In case the Sound Cloud Plugin doesn’t work properly on your browser, please click on this link to view the record on my Sound Cloud Account!

Note: I don’t own this record. It’s the property of Radio 99.5FM.  I just repost this for the purpose of sharing knowledge. I was the guest speaker, so I should be having the right to share this since I have already put the reference about the owner!

IFL’s extra-curricular activity : Extensive Reading Program

It has been long time since the section of the ERP members and Assistants (on 02-04-09) that we finally get together.  ok, first of all, find out what ERP is first:

ERP: Extensive Reading Program.

Actually, this program has been planned for years, but finally takes action this academic year 2009-2010, so this mean, I’m in the 1^st generation of this ERP pilot program. Before the selection result, I didn’t know anything at all and not even the fact that they choose 100 members and some more assistants, so I applied to be the members. When the result is announced, I was quite amazed what does it mean that that I’m the 12^th ranked assistant amongst other 90 assistants. The ERP coordinator then explained that the assistants are the outstanding youth amongst all that are chosen to help the program to success!! I was extremely happy to hear that!!! wow….it’s was so unexpectedly happen….cos I was so scare that I would not even be chosen amongst hundreds of students who apply to be the simple members.

Extensive Reading Program

The very first workshop that we have in the ERP club to improve the reading skills has finished and I have a number of documents, but I can’t find the way to upload it here. If you want to get it, please contact me and borrow my hard copy of the document to copy.

A Wonderful place to be……

Wanna find a marvelous destination after High School Graduation???

IFL is one best choice!!!

I used to be told that the best school to choose in Cambodia is IFL and it is super duper cool, in term of environment, academic discipline and extra activities …but I did not believe….and I said…Nah…it still the same to others school….Let’s just say it’s a bit better, but not that super duper out of the planet 😛

Now…I’m made to be totally agreed with those who told me this. I’m now so soooooo so in love with IFL. I spend 6 days a week there and join in whatever programs exist there!!! IFL is now my beloved school, even better than ACE.
Just a suggestion or recommendation to anyone especially the High School Students to be graduating soon, I strongly strongly recommend IFL to you. For those who want to achieve solid academic knowledge and life time experience by spending agreeable amount of money(550USD a year). If you can’t afford or don’t wanna struggle to pay 1000$ a month or hundred thousand a year to study overseas, IFL is your best solution. If you try very hard and be part of any IFL activity, you’ll soon find yourself a very useful youth now and a great leader tmr.

Here are some evidences:

SYC Singapore 2008 : the miraculous experience!!

Apart from my very very first and the seed of success “the SEALNet PC07”, SYC is another rocking moment, unforgettable time and inspiring experience!!!

Location: Singapore

Date: 07-13 December 2008

Who: 8 Cambodia youths (16-18 years), around 100 youth from 10 ASEAN countries + Kazakhstan, India, China

How: Application through the Youth Office (Around May)

Day 1: Sun-07-12-08 :Arrival at Singapore

Cambodia youth Group and our Singaporean friends

Essay: Major problems faced by Cambodian learners of English

ha…..this is one of very first competition that I’ve ever joint. It’s the essay competition of an English improvement program on the radio PM 97.5. The “5 steps 2 English” had launched an essay competition for students to share their ideas under topic “Problems faced by Cambodian learners of English and suggestion to solve the problems.”

A few days ago was the announcement of the result. At that time, they announced the result back from the number 16 to number 1, and I was praying “not me now, not me now…..it should be later”….Then, when it came to number 4, they called my name already……oh la la….it’s would have been better if they just wait a little bit longer to call my name. lolz….. because the 1^st to 3^rd price is more exciting than the 4^th upward!! 😛

Anyway, here, as a learner who also faces a lot of trouble, I’d like to share my essay with you guys.  Oh! And please apologize for the mistakes in writing of  a 15-year-old kid like me!

Hope you enjoy reading it!!!