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Planning the Next Step – Sharing Session at Maktab Sains

Jan 17, 2020

Sharing the stage today with the brilliant Angie Gieang for this exhilarating careers talk at Maktab Sains. Both Angie and I are passionate about promoting self-development and helping young people towards a bright, purpose-driven future.

Coming back to Maktab Sains is always special and because both of us are ex-students of the college, it helped create a special connection with the 400+ pre-university students present.

The main topics of discussion included the sometimes-negative pressure on students to score high grades and gain scholarships early on. Through our own personal experiences, we shared how there are many paths to success and ultimately good grades do not count for everything. We further emphasized the need to develop communication skills, critical thinking and leadership skills early on.

We also promoted our strong belief in the value of work attachments, mentoring and volunteering as the best means for developing these skills.

For students interested in finding more youth opportunities in Brunei and beyond, I was able to share You Can Lead BN – a free online platform I founded in 2019 that lists various scholarships, conferences, fellowships and workshops that are open for Bruneians to apply to.

As well as answering students’ questions, we also posed our own before discussing them. This included asking; What will bring meaning and fulfillment to their lives as they enter adulthood? What do they envision a day in their ideal future to look like? and how might they design their lives to live with intention towards their personal goals while contributing to society.

This special dialogue session was organised through the Young Professionals Network (YPN), a volunteer initiative to help empower the nation’s youth to reach their potential and the goals of Vision 2035. Find out more about YPN’s great work and mentoring opportunities via their Instagram page here.