How do we inspire our students to reach their full potential? Give them opportunities in supportive environments to explore who they are? One extraordinary international student, Yee Wei Foong (MSE 1T5), seized numerous chances this year to develop his leadership capability.
Second Year is supposed to be the most gruelling. Given the heightened expectations, the demanding course load, and the intense curriculum, it is a challenge that few students reflect on with undiluted pleasure. But for Malaysian student Yee Wei Foong, his second year was as much about immersing himself in leadership opportunities as excelling academically.
His passion for learning and applying leadership practices stemmed from his experience in the First Year design course. Stumbling over team dynamics and unable to foster open lines of communication, Yee Wei found his Engineering Strategies and Practice was team falling apart. From this experience he was inspired to take APS443: Leadership and Leading in Groups and Organizations, taught by Prof. Doug Reeve, in Fall 2012. There he learned about managing team relationships and leveraging different personality styles. Prof. Reeve inspired him to participate in ILead’s co-curricular programs.
Yee Wei completed two certificate programs over the year that honed his skills and broadened his perspectives: the Team Skills program in the Fall and the Organizational Leadership program in the Winter. In order to gain more hands-on experience with his peers, Yee Wei joined ILead: MSE, his department’s student leadership group where he helped to organize various events, such as the Technology Feasibility Case Competition, MSE Research Showcase, and MSE Charity Week. This past academic year, Yee Wei continued to build his leadership and continued to contribute to ILead: MSE, and also joined the ILead Cross-Faculty Group and Annual Appreciation Night Planning Committee.
He doesn’t take these experiences for granted, however:
“Throughout our leadership journey, we might stumble, we might fall; but these unique and challenging experiences were the pivotal moments that I can reflect upon that enhanced my leadership character.”
Yee Wei’s extensive engagement with ILead opened his eyes to opportunities he never knew existed for engineering students. His story of personal growth inspires us to continue offering quality programming so that students like him can have the opportunity to develop as whole engineers.