My name is LiciaChua and I am 18 years old this year. When people ask me to describe myself, myimmediate reply is “I am an ambivert”. I tend to be shy when I am aroundstrangers and it takes time for me to open up to them. In addition, I do notstart a conversation with others unless they approach me first. Ironically, onthe other sides of things, I am someone who enjoys social gatherings andparties.
My close friends describe me as someone who is bubbly and friendly. Occasionally,they will complain about my incessant talking. For these reasons, I will notsay that I am on the extreme ends of being an extrovert or introvert, but rather,a good mix of both.
Over the past few years, I have been assigned with manyleadership roles and duties. I saw these as opportunities for me to develop andhone my leadership skills. As such, have learnt to become a more responsibleindividual who can handle tasks under pressure. I can lead projects and getthings done in time. Putting thataside, I have been dancing since I was 5. I have experienced many ups and downsas I approach my 13th year in 2018. My dance experience has fuelledmy desire in wanting to be a ballet teacher in my own ballet academy.
A fewyears back, I was given a chance to intern at my ballet school for a shortperiod of time. I went into this internship expecting myself to understand myteacher’s mentality and mindset, but I came out of it feeling confused andupset. I will never be able to fully accept the logic behind the things myteacher advocated for. Some of which included showing favouritism and otherswere constantly surrounded with the idea of being skinny despite having ahealthy figure.
I despised myself for continuing ballet at a school that didnot make me happy. I changed ballet schools for at least three times, and I cancertainly say that none of them were a pleasant experience. I want to make adifference. I want to be a part of a community that puts emphasis on studentsfirst, followed by profit made for the school.
I want to find a good balancebetween the both and hence, this is the main reason why I am currently pursuinga Diploma in Business Studies. With the right skills learnt from our CPP class andwith accurate feedback from the personality test and RAISEC, I know I want to bean entrepreneur and a teacher in the performing arts sector. A balletteacher is part of the Dance Industry. Roles and responsibilities of a balletteacher includes teaching the class a new combination across the floor,correcting the student’s technique and demonstrating the steps in class. Otherresponsibilities include coming up with a choreography for performances andcommunicating with parents.
The first step to becoming a dance teacher is takingthe Intermediate examination. Following that iscompleting a teacher education programme that needs to be recognised by theRoyal Academy of Dance (RAD). RAD offers a 2-year course for aspiring teachersto obtain a Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies (CBTS). The CBTS courseprovides the knowledge, understanding and skills required by ballet teachers atthe start of their career. In the first year, students will learn thefollowing: 1.
How We Learn:The Stages of Development (15 credits)2. Safe Practiceand Professional Values (15 credits)3. Ballet andTeaching: Knowledge and Understanding (30 credits)In thesecond year, students will learn the following: 1. Practical Teaching (45credits) 2. CareerDevelopment and Management (15 credits)There will be assessments during both years.
The assessments will be done through writtencase studies, training plans with critical discussions, ballet demonstrationswith analysis discussions, practical teaching and portfolios. Successfulcompletion of the programme leads to the award of Certificate in Ballet TeachingStudies and eligibility for registration as a teacher with the Royal Academy ofDance. At the same time, during this 2-year part time programme, it isrecommended to teach ballet at any studio to gain more experience. Some schoolsthat offer CBTS will require the student to go through personal mentoring and customised trainingprogramme to assist the student to attain this international recognisedcertification. Furthermore, during the second year of the program, the student isrequired to have a Practical Attachment to a dance school, together with amentorship, for 30 weeks. Some skills a dance teacher needs are patience, confidence, leadership,communication techniques, passion for teaching and love for children.
To applyfor a job at a ballet school is different from any other job. To apply for ateaching position, one can do so by dropping the school an email and stating one’sinterest to become a part of their teaching staff. Emails can be found on thevarious ballet school websites. The teacher will then be called in for a trialclass and will be judged based on their performance during that class. Currently, some Business Studies modulesthat are helpful to me are Customer Service Excellence, Business Communication,Information Design in Business, Accounting and Principals of Marketing. In yearthree, it will be beneficial for me to take up certain modules that is relatedto Entrepreneurship. This will give me an insight to what entrepreneurship isabout. Business Communication is also another module that will be beneficialfor me because it teaches me how to write emails and letters.
Customer service is essential for anybusiness. We need to know how to communicate with our potential customers, sponsors,partners or clients. In addition, I also learnt the importance of a minute in ameeting and the necessary steps needed for a meeting to be successful. Information Design in Business and Principals ofMarketing can be applied together to come up with a marketing strategy (eg.social media, posters etc.). This is one of the various ways I can use toappeal to new students and parents to sign up at my school.
Accounting will beneeded if I wanted to handle the books of my business myself. It will be goodto have the knowledge of accounting as not only will I be able to track myfunds more closely, but I will also be able to save money on hiring anaccountant to do the accounts for my business. An area of specialisation thatwill bring me closer to my goals will be Entrepreneurship.
I will be able tolearn how to set up my business and what are the requirements for doing so. Severalinternships I am looking forward to taking part in or wish to take up will bean internship at a ballet school for 6 months and an internship at a start-upcompany, preferably in media sector eg. TheSmartLocal etc. Till date, I am an active member of theKorean Cultural Club (KCC) in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. I started appreciating the Koreanculture since I was 10 and I have always wanted to join a Korean-related CCA. LastJune, I became part of the sub-committee (dance) for KCC.
However, after 6months, I decided to quit. Being in the sub-committee gave me many chances toplan events and activities for the CCA. I took this 6 months as an opportunityfor me to hone my leadership skills, time management and interpersonal skills.
Apartfrom KCC, I am enrolled in ballet classes outside of school too. Personally, Ihave not much interest in joining other CCAs or enrichment activities as I wantto take things slowly and to have more time to relax. In my opinion, softskills required for my dream job do not need to be cultivated solely from CCAsor enrichment activities. Soft skills such as empathy and self-confidence canbe developed from our day to day activities. Communication and stressmanagement can be developed in school, mainly from our given tasks andassignments.
2 programmes I could pursue in the futurewould be a business degree at NTU’s Nanyang Business School or a dance degreeat Laselle College of Arts. At NTU’s Nanyang School of Business, I would mostlikely pursue a bachelor degree in business. In Year 2, we will be given a totalof 6 specialisations to choose from. The 6 specialisations are ActuarialScience, Banking and Finance, Business Analytics, Human Resource Consulting,Marketing and Risk Management and Insurance Programme (RIM).
They also offer abachelor degree in business with a minor of strategic communication. In orderto qualify to study at NTU’s Nanyang School of Business, one’s representativepolytechnic GPA must be at least 3.75 and 3.96 for the 10th and 90thpercentiles respectively. The school will take the O-Level results of the Polytechnicapplicants into account. The application period usually takes place from 1stto 21st February 2018. The reason why I chose NTU is because myfriends who are studying at NTU seems to be really enjoying the culture andschool. Another route I can take is to pursue a dance degree at Laselle Collegeof Arts.
The entry requirements are quite different to NTU’s. The applicationprocess has 3 categories, mainly, a written portfolio, an audition and aninterview. Applicants are required to submit a write up about themselves beforethe audition. During the audition, dancers will be assessed through a balletand contemporary class. The assessment of the audition will be based on thedancer’s ability to pick up and replicate steps, show natural dance ability, agood understanding of the chosen technique, a strong performance quality and apassion for movement. Lastly, in the interview, applicants will be asked whythey wish to pursue a dance degree. Successful applicants will be informedthrough email by the school. I do not know what to expect for in thefuture.
Hopefully, I will be able to achieve my goal.
