- Impact of the activities on the development of the students’ Graduate Attributes;
In this event, I get to work with another 5 undergraduate students from the school of computing, UTM in the sponsorship department. We were responsible to contact different companies/organisations to get sponsorship from them. We need to use email or phone calls to contact them. Then, we will need to communicate with them and whether they are interested in sponsoring our event.
This is my first time working on a committee from the sponsorship department. To me, although it is very challenging, it was a very fulfilling experience. I would like to share how it helped me improve my graduate attribute. First, it improved my communication skills. Before I joined this event (entered UTM), I was never a team player and I was also bad at Malay & English communication. However, I had the chance to train my Malay & English communication while I was working with others from the sponsorship department. This is because we all used Malay & English as our medium of communication. Then, I also developed my skills and confidence to speak to strangers. This is because I need to contact various companies and communicate with them to get sponsorship.
Next, I also get to train my team working skills. As I mentioned just now, I was never a team player before I joined this event. Throughout the whole event, I got to work with many different people. I learnt that different people have their style of working/handling stuff, we need to cooperate to achieve our common goal. Lastly, I improved my adaptability skills. This was my first time working in such a high-paced environment. So, I have to quickly adapt myself to the working environment and help my friends in the committee team.
- Self strength/advantage towards the activities;
In this event, I think my greatest strength or advantage is that I am daring and also committed. I am not afraid to communicate in Malay & English with others, even though my English or Malay is bad. Then, I am also daring to call the companies and communicate with them for sponsorships. This is because I know this is the only way I can improve myself and also my communication skills.
I think the second advantage I have is I am very committed to my work. During that time, each person from the sponsorship department needs to contact at least 40 companies (there are 200 companies in total). It is a very stressful job, but I still managed to finish it in time.
- Challenges and how to overcome them.
The biggest challenge I faced was also the communication skills which I tried very hard to improve. Sometimes, I was unable to communicate properly with others due to my poor Malay. And it caused confusion and misunderstanding with others. But I managed to overcome it by improving my Malay day by day and also by spending more time explaining to them.