First Involvement

  I actually applied for the [board secretary position].  Okay, at that point in time, I thought, Oh being a secretary to the board is not an issue because I have always served with the PA Board (as the sub-secretary of the secretary). So I thought, Oh, that's something I could do. But when I came, they said, Why don't you consider being the Director of Student Life?  I said: Oh, Student Life? That's really interesting.  So then they told me, at that point of time we were not quite sure what it is. Then we take a look at, oh what do the directors of other university's Student Life do? So we have a vague idea, but then they asked me, Well what would you do for the students?, then I thought, Yeah, I want them to be able to be given the opportunity to develop themselves, to take on leadership, to expand their interest, and I would do whatever I can to help them along. I would have to develop this and grow with the job when I get into contact with the students. Actually, the day that I started was the day that I was put on the job immediately. It was 1st June and we had an info session with the (potential) students there and then and it was in the Revenue House and I had to tell the (potential) students what Student Life was about and to get them all excited about joining SMU. I thought, How could I do that? I haven't even started But I did some (home) work before I joined the University so I was able to share with them what I hope to do as Director of Student Life. I really loved the first batch of students. They had such faith in us. We had no facilities, no budget and we didn't even have a Student Association or a Constitution. But we were able to excite the students to come in.