Student Spotlight - Emeline Yong, Year 10

The first of our student spotlight series features Emeline Yong, Year 10. Emeline is a 2018 Outstanding Cambridge Learner Award winner who would love to meet Shakespeare, enjoys dancing in her spare time and believes the best part about studying at BSKL is being granted the opportunity to acquire interpersonal skills.

1. Describe yourself in 3 words

Intuitive, forthright, flawed

2. What is the best part about studying at BSKL?

Besides the fact that BSKL offers a wide range of facilities and extracurricular activities, a definite perk of the school is that the teachers here place a lot of emphasis on students’ soft skills. Despite the incredible versatility of these skill sets, it is not uncommon for institutions to overlook them as they are generally difficult to quantify and teach. As such, I think that the best part about studying at BSKL is being granted the opportunity to acquire these interpersonal skills.

3. What are your biggest achievements (academic or otherwise) so far?

My biggest achievement so far is probably receiving the Top in the World award for my Cambridge MFL IGCSE results last year.

4. What have you learnt in the last month?

It’s the simple concept that making progress in a field is a naturally slow process that will generally involve a lot of trial and error, which inevitably leads to the creation of many mistakes. I’ve learnt that failure is perfectly normal and in fact, spurs further growth as long as the individual perseveres and continues working towards their goal.

5. Describe BSKL in 3 words

Diverse, modern, engaging

6. What are your favourite hobbies/activities?

I love going to ballet and modern dance classes in my free time. Dancing is extremely stress-relieving and can be a great outlet for creativity and self-expression.

7. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

I’ve always found the ability to play an instrument well rather cool, so I’d probably opt to learn how to play the piano. It would also feel very gratifying to be able to play my favourite songs using an instrument.

8. What do you aspire to be when you grow up?

At this stage, I'm not too sure what I want to do career-wise but like many others, I do aspire to be happy and to lead a fulfilling life!

9. If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

I would like to meet Shakespeare as I would like to personally confirm if he is indeed the sole author of all his works as I have seen many conspiracy theories revolving around this subject.

10. What’s the coolest (or most important) trend you see today in education?

In recent years, there has been an increase in the usage of technology to support students’ learning. For example, teachers now regularly use websites such as DrFrostMath to set homework tasks for students as the marking process is automatic and feedback can be sent back to students instantaneously. In addition, most teachers have also started to post their powerpoint presentations and other resources on Google Classroom so that students who have missed lessons have easy/convenient access to the class notes.

11. What advice would you give to other students struggling at school?

Considering the fact that most students will have to juggle an average of 9 subjects in high school, I would definitely encourage them to stay organised and to manage their time wisely in order to avoid procrastination. Good time management skills will also reduce stress (induced by cramming last minute homework) and will give students more free time to relax.

12. What do you love most about living in Kuala Lumpur?

I love how KL has a culturally diverse population - this means that we get to experience lots of different cultures and celebrate lots of holidays! I also really enjoy Malaysian cuisine as it is generally flavourful and appetizing.