The dream — it was so vivid. I said it was a dream because it almost seemed
like it was. I was half-asleep at 2 AM on a Friday, scrolling my chats in a pitch-black
room while being entirely oblivious of what was ahead of me. Just seconds away
before entering the state of subconsciousness, I was promptly informed by a friend
(via text) regarding an email — an email that was long-awaited by almost 200 18-
year-old teenagers who reached the final stage of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)
Scholarship. Thinking it was a prank (I thought it would come out in a week and
probably because I was semi-awake), I casually opened the Gmail app with zero
expectation of the actual results. How foolish I was.
Among the many unread spams and promotion emails I received, there was
one incredibly enticing email that stood out from the rest. And to this day, I still
can’t stop thinking about the first word written in the email…
I hope that is enough to hook you up to read this to the end. You might be
here to prepare for your upcoming interview or to rummage ideas for your essay, or
maybe perhaps you just want to have a glimpse of my application process for the
aforementioned scholarship. I will be giving tips, followed by my own anecdotal
experience. I’m splitting this into two main sections:
- Essay
- Kijang Academy (Assessment, video submission, ice-breaking, case study,
and personal interview)
If you’re far enough into the future, COVID-19 might have been an ancient
history then (aamiin). But back in my year, we had to go through all of this process
virtually from the comfort of our own home. Nonetheless, it was still an eye-
opening experience for me. Hopefully, this piece of writing will inspire you in ways
that are beneficial <3.
Essay
Out of all the essays that I have ever written, I have never been as invested
as this one. It was a generous but reasonable 500-word essay with a flexible
guideline on what to write. There were two questions that I didn’t exactly
remember, but essentially they told us to convince them i)why we are worthy of the
scholarship, ii)our career aspirations.
First step: DON’T RUSH!
I typed them all in caps which means it is important. I have learned my
lesson after writing my UEM Scholarship essay beforehand (it was horrible). Take
your time to find inspiration. Reflect and contemplate on your past. The good times
and the ordeals you’ve gone through that have shaped you into becoming who you
are today. Jot down anything that brings significance to you while briefly
elaborating:
i) The description of the event
ii) What did you learn from that event
iii) Relation to your main goal (refer to the question)
[ Note: This would come in handy for interviews as well. ]
Then for the 2nd question, try to research your interests to get a better
depth of understanding. Explore them. You will be bound to learn something new in
this period, do not only think of writing an impeccable essay. Look forward to the
journey of writing the essay instead, so you will only write about yourself instead of
something that is “try-hard” to imitate the best. I promise you they have read
many essays that are pretentious and full of jargon, to the extent that they seemed
fake. They want something original, so explore your interest.
Second step: Draft
After you have listed your prospective ideas, get to the keyboard right away
and start writing. I honestly like to write them promptly without “buat rangka
karangan”. I think I can articulate my ideas better that way, but it’s just me. Suit
yourself whichever you feel comfortable with the most. One pro I would agree with
if you were to rangka your essay first is, that you get to estimate the word count
better so you don’t have to cut them after. Make sure you answer the question
accurately.
Do describe your experience in a lucid manner (Show, not tell). For example:
“I enjoy playing futsal to relieve stress”
“The laughter and joy of playing futsal allows me to feel like a human amidst the
upcoming exams”
The second sentence puts the reader in your shoes more concretely and
subsequently, immerses them deeper into the understanding of your perspectives.
Also, do give convincing reasons for each of your aspirations/ambitions. If you want
to become an economist because you want to help people; explain what makes you
think that way. There must be a reason why you choose economics as a channel
and why you want to help people. Again, show and not tell. Instead of giving direct
ideas, set your sentences to have a hint of mystery, yet easy to be figured out. It is
just psychology, the reader would be more invested in your stories if they do a bit
of work to digest your essay, in contrast to if you just spoon-feed them information.
Third step: Proofread
Alright, you’ve done the main part, now it is time to review it by yourself,
followed by your friends/seniors/family. You might have several excess words, so
let’s start with that. Shave off words or sentences that are insignificant. One way to
do this is by reading that part of your essay with and without the sentence. Then
compare which sounds better so you can identify the necessity of that sentence. As
for words, search for redundancy. I suggest you use Grammarly to check this, the
free version is adequate.
Also, remember to focus more on quality than quantity. Honestly, they don’t
care how many competitions you’ve won and all. If you’re not so active in extra co-
curricular activities, it’s totally fine. I only mentioned one major achievement in my
essay but I proved to them that I truly maximised the minimal opportunity I had.
Even little things like being a class monitor can be big if written so with meticulous
justifications. So, if you did boast yourself with a list of achievements, I would
advise you to limit them to only three at most. It is not about the positions and
achievements you have, but how you benefit from the opportunities you had.
The world doesn’t revolve around you, get your friends to give some
thoughts on your essay. What you want to convey might not be delivered in the
500-word. Ask around for people that you can rely on to summarise the main
points of your draft and be open to honest criticisms. Constructive criticisms will
improve your writing if you look at it positively. Tell them to put your essay under
intense scrutiny for any potential improvement, even if your essay is almost
faultless. Like Oli Sykes said, “True friends stab you in the front”. They criticise in
front of you instead of letting you stay in the dark, so you know your flaws that
need to be fixed.
My first draft was horrendous to the extent that my friend prepared a google
document to point out the inaccuracies in my essay every 2 to 3 sentences or so.
Of course, I was demoralised knowing how much I sucked at writing, but it helped
me to ameliorate my ideas. I had to scrap a big chunk of my essay, thus scripting
an almost entirely different one. Ultimately, I was very impressed and satisfied with
the final product. The small conclusion here is; do accept criticisms, it is totally fine
to not have a headstart. This whole process is an open chance for you to learn.
Conclusion
I think that would be all for the essay. Sorry if you’re here for an easy pursuit of
ideas. I will only show you the path, you must do the rest. The most important
element for this stage is for you to be sincere, and show them a portrait of your life
in form of anecdotes and arguments. Don’t hesitate to ask for sample essays and
thoughts from others. Know that for my batch, arguably only around 200 applicants
out of 3000 eligible applicants got into the next stage (like 7%??). Hence, why I am
firm with my belief that the essay is the most integral part of the application
process. Write passionately. Dedicate as much time as you can to research and
work on your essay. You have nothing to lose. Even if you did not reach the next
stage, it definitely would be a renaissance for you to discover more about yourself
and the world.
Read Syabil's second blog: Kijang Academy
With blog #2, you can further know on Syabil's Kijang Academy experience.
Read further at https://bit.ly/3GUOn7w
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