Taken with his permission from his marvelous
book I Am Gifted, So Are You!
JUST
ANOTHER UNDERACHIEVER
In every class, in every school, there is almost always a
handful of very bright students, the 'A' scorers, a breed apart from the rest.
During all of my primary school years, I was one of the
'rest', for whom the grades of the top students seemed quite unattainable.
That was the way my parents and my teachers saw me, and it
was also the way I saw myself. In short, I was a 'below average student', who
might have been able to do a bit better if only I 'weren't so lazy, so indifferent
and such a TV addict.'
Certainly, no one ever imagined that I would amount to anything.
Sounds familiar? Sounds like you? Well, I surprised everyone, even myself, so
do read on and you could even surprise yourself!
But back then in 1987, no one was surprised when the Primary
School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results were announced and I didn't even do
well enough to make it to the secondary schools my parents listed as their preferred
choices. I was dispatched to Ping Yi Secondary school, a relatively new school
no one we knew had heard of.
While I was not expected to suddenly shine at this new school,
no one expected that I would backslide so far that my exasperated Secondary
One Mathematics teacher would call my mother to ask why I could not even remember
what I had been taught in Primary Four!. At that time, I was ranked among the
last ten students in my entire cohort of over one hundred and sixty students.
My parents responded like typical concerned parents and engaged
yet another private tutor! It did not help one bit. I responded with lackluster
grades in all my subjects.
THE
SUPER-TEEN® TURNING POINT
It was at the lowest ebb of my school career that my father
learned of a special five-day residential program for teenagers designed to
teach them how to study and take charge of their lives. Deciding that they had
nothing to lose, except their money, my parents enrolled me for the Super-Teen®
Camp.
So, on a Sunday morning in March 1987, I was dropped off
at the Ladyhill Hotel and put under the charge of Master Trainer Ernest Wong.
I was a mere thirteen-year-old among forty other students aged between twelve
and twenty.
On that day, I was far from thrilled about going to the camp
but at the end of the five days, I was a completely changed teenager. The camp
transformed my whole attitude and outlook, and I have never looked back since.
What brought about this complete transformation in personality
was what Ernest Wong shared with us. Using American-developed learning technologies
such as Accelerated Learning, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Whole-Brain
Learning and adapting them for students, Ernest completely transformed our beliefs
about what was possible. He showed us that everyone, even the most mediocre
students among us, had the potential to be geniuses and leaders. The only things
holding us back were our negative mental states and disempowering beliefs.
Intrigued and challenged, I left the camp with newly acquired
Super Learning Tools, ready to claim my birthright. For the first time in my
life, I set my sights on getting straight 'A's.
Back home and in school, I swung into action. Up went the
self-drawn motivational posters on my walls.
Within three months, I had pulled my grades up from an average
of fifty-two percent to seventy percent. This enabled me to rise from the one
hundred and fifty-eighth position to being among the top eighteen, all in one
memorable year, 1987
From there I went on to top my school in the GCE '0' Level
Examinations with six distinctions and was admitted to the junior college of
my choice, Victoria Junior College. In the 'A' Level Examinations, I scored
three 'A's and after National Service, I entered the National University of
Singapore to study for a Bachelor of Business Administration degree (BBA).
Starting from the first year of university, my grades earned
me a place on the Dean's list (honor roll) and also a place in the NUS Talent
Development Program (TDP). The latter is a program offered to the the top one
percent of students at the University.
I achieved all this not as a 'mugger' but as a student who
still found time to run a profitable event-management business (Creatsoul Entertainment,
which was featured in the Teenage Magazine of June 1997) with several fellow
undergraduates. In addition, I spent much of my after-school time as Executive
Trainer in the Super-Teen~ Program, helping thousands of students to unleash
their true genius.
Yes, you can do it too, not necessarily by taking the same
path, for you have your special talents just waiting to be tapped. It's true.
No matter how badly you are doing now, no matter how many times you have failed,
your potential for improvement is phenomenal.
I strongly believe that if a person like me, once labeled
a 'bum' by some of my teachers, can turn around to achieve consistently good
results, then you can too. Remember, I have been down there, at the bottom,
so I understand your feelings and your needs. I want to share all I have learned
because the journey of self-discovery is the most exciting one anyone can embark
on.
Explore NLP training secrets of how minds think
ACTION....WITH
'A' GOALS AHEAD
IF
I CAN...SO CAN YOU!