Visa Application

          Alright, I was very excited about the conference because I got sponsored. What now? It's time for visa application. My teacher sent me a link about documents needed for the visa application to Canada. I look through it and I realise that I do not have some documents necessary for the application. It's all with my mother. And I live far away from my mother. I tried to tell my mother to scan my birth certificate for me. But the problem is, she don't know how to use it! So she mailed it to me instead. It takes 3 days for the mail to reach my hostel. Having teacher telling me to get my visa done ASAP makes me feel so worry because I have to wait for the mail and bring it to get translated because it's in Bahasa Malaysia.

         3 days later, I finally got my birth certificate in my hand and I send it to be translated as soon as I can. It takes 3 working days to get translated and it cost RM50. Ouch! Well, there goes my cake and bread for 2 weeks. I suppose to get a bank draft to pay for the processing fee. I didn't know what is it at all until I Google for it. Luckily it was not difficult to get and have no long procedures. I don't really like to fill in forms, but there's some forms that seriously require some time to fill in.
          I also have to take a 2 photos that fulfils the requirement and follows the guidelines. I show the requirement to the person working in the photo shop, making sure that he understands and follows all the guidelines. It takes some time but I really can't afford to have any problems in my visa application.
          After I got all the documents required, I submit it right away to my teacher. It will be couriered to Singapore together with my classmate's and teacher's visa application documents. Now I'm still waiting for my visa. Hoping that I will get it soon. Because I just really don't want to miss out this opportunity to go to this IB World School Conference happening in Vancouver. There's a lot of work for the visa application, but I think it's worth it because I don't get the chance to go to a conference like this all the time.

Why I want to go to IB World Student Conference?

          I want to go to the IB World Student Conference 2012 from July 23 - 27 at Vancouver, Canada because I believe my existing knowledge and ideas can contribute in the discussion during the conference. The theme, The New Green: Making Things Better, Not Just "Less Bad" interest me. It's not like the old ways of caring for the planet, it's about the new ways and ideas that can help to improve the world. Going to Canada for this conference will be a brand new experience to me. I believe this conference can open my eyes to the endless possibilities in the world that I have never seen. Exposing myself to different point of views of the others in this conference can help me to be a better thinker.

           Going to Canada is just like an idea exploration to me. At Canada, their economy is different from what I have seen in Malaysia, what is marketable there may not be marketable here in Malaysia as this very depends on the willingness to buy and the ability to buy. I see the opportunity for growth in green technology in the future. It's a rising trend in the world especially in the more developed country. Even though Malaysia is still developing, but more individuals and corporates have started to go green. G Tower is the Malaysia's first internationally recognized green development, developed by GTower Sdn. Bhd. (a subsidiary of Goldis Berhad). The future for green technology is there! Generating cost efficient green ideas here in Malaysia can really attract more people to invest in green technology to protect the environment. There's definitely a lot that I can learn from Canada's Green Plan. Being at conference in Canada enable me to have a clearer view on how different type of market reacts to environmental friendly technology. I believe being at Canada allows me to understand the potential markets better.

           I have always care about the environment and very fascinated by the green technology. Green technology is growing. More people has started to put effort in keeping the world clean, from individual to large multinational companies (MNC). Going green is one of the direction that I wish to go in the future. I don't just simply want to be an engineer, I want to be an engineer that produce ideas to help saving the environment. Sometimes the simplest idea to keep the earth green is just as great as those complex ones.

           The topic that will be discussed in Canada will definitely keep myself enthusiased most of the time. This conference will enable me to explore new ideas, different thought and different solution for the environmental issue and improvement. I believe that the conference can widen my perspective of view. Not just in the view of Malaysian, it will expose myself to the international view on environment. Attending the conference will also allow me to exchange ideas with the others on the view related to environment. Being at the conference allows me to express my ideas and views regarding the environment. Contributing my ideas, thought and knowledge of green technology. Building structures that maximize the natural daylight entering the building to save energy. Using the heat from the less energy efficient machine such as air conditioner to heat up the swimming pool. Just a share of simple thought like this can inspire people to generate ideas that can work in real life. People can inspire people to come out with brilliant ideas. I want to be there to inspire and to be inspired, becoming a more knowledgable person.

           I would like to meet up people with different lifestyle. I enjoy meeting people with different background, from that, I can open up myself to more different way of thought and different way of life. I enjoy making friends from foreign countries and I believe going to Canada this time will be the chance for me to get to know people from foreign country in real life. Learning to socialize with different people can help me in the future when I'm stepping into the working life. Being an engineer for me is not just about sitting in a space and think new ideas and finding out solution to problems, it's also communicating my ideas with the others that I have to work with to increase my efficiency. In this modern world, better communication and good skill in delivering thought can really helps in attracting people to invest in my idea. Also enable me to motivate and give confident to the others to join me and invest on development and improvement of an idea. Becoming an efficient communicator is one of the goal of my life. I have taken the first step to be a better communicator by joining Toastmaster and participating in MUN, attending this conference to discuss about the environment would be a next big step for me.