Application letter

Johan Zhang
21 Prince George’s Park
#08-01 Residence 1, Blk 1, Singapore 118420
Mobile: 84209648
Email: johan.zhang91@gmail.com
February 17, 2011

Mr. Anand Wong
Manager
Human Resource
Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd
1 Maritime Square #13-01, Harbourfront Centre, Singapore 099253

Dear Mr Wong,

My name is Johan Zhang. I am a second year NUS undergraduate majoring in Applied Mathematics and planning to minor in Management. I spoke with you about the Summer Internship position in your company on the networking session at Suit Up:2011!, an event organized by NUS Career Centre. Thank you for your time on that day and I am interested in the Capital and Asset Management area, particularly in the investment and finance-related position.

As an Applied Mathematics major, my interest is in Financial Mathematics and I have taken Financial Mathematics modules to deepen my understanding and interest in this area. I am also keen on modules related to Operations Research and several business modules, ranging from marketing, accounting, and finance. I am confident that my mathematics ability is able to contribute to the best interest of Mapletree.

Aside from my academic activities, I have been actively involved in CCA activities like NUS Buddhist Society. I started as an active subcommittee to help out for events, as a facilitator and joined as a Group Leader in the Dharma Camp 2009. I have been elected as a Dharma Director where my current role is mainly to organize weekly activities. Besides that, I also took part in various annual activities such as Dharma Camp, Buddhism Awareness Week and Meditation Retreat. Therefore, I have gained a lot of exposure in leadership position, activities management, and dealing with different organizations which I believe will contribute to the effectiveness of your company.

Thank you for considering my application, I will be available for internship from 9 May – 29 July 2011. I look forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to contact me through my email address johan.zhang91@gmail.com or mobile phone 84209648.

Yours sincerely,

Johan Zhang

Here is the link for my resume and the description of the company.

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Interpersonal conflict can happen anytime. It may occur in our relationship with those whom we just knew or even with those whom we had been very close for a long time. Conflicts may arise due to several reasons. Indeed, there are infinite excuses that people use as their reasons for being involved in the conflict, starting from a very simple to utmost severe mistakes that other parties have done. In some cases, conflicts are unavoidable. However, there are also conflicts which can be prevented. We can prevent conflicts from occuring by analysing the main problem that cause the conflict and try to ask ourself whether it is worth to involve in the conflict.

It was around 6 - 7 years ago, when I was still in my first and second year of Junior High School. I had a classmate who is a boy. He is a diligent, quiet and always paying attention to what the teacher taught. When I was in my first year, I sat on the desk just beside his. I always jotted down important points in my book whenever the teacher mentioned something that is important because some of the points mentioned may turn up in our exams.

The most annoying part of him was that he kept on borrowing my notes and copied down every single things that I jotted down. He continuously keep an eye on me whenever I jotted down notes when he was not able to catch the points mentioned by the teacher. I felt really annoyed with his behavior. The worst part was that he was so reluctant to share information with me, especially when it was regarding the school stuffs.

I was enduring this uneasiness for two years. In my second year, I sat in front of him. However, that time was better since he couldn't interrupt me directly. Sometimes, I just ignored him and tried any ways to avoid communicating with him. He seemed to know my tendency to avoid him at that time. As time went by, he slowly reduced his intense borrowing and looked for another people. Since then, we rarely communicate and there seemed to be a barrier between me and him.

In my third year, I was sitting far apart from where he sat and I was indeed hoping for that. We didn't talk much to each other and I felt better for not being so close to him anymore as I felt he was annoying. I had talked to some of my friends about him and they also had the same problem with him. Only then, I realised that it was not surprising that he was not close to any of the students in my class.

After we finished our Junior High School and continued to the Senior High School, I was not in the same class with him anymore. This gave me such a great relief because I didn't expect the annoying parts to happen again. However, I still saw him around the school and we just uttered a "Hi!" to each other whenever we happened to pass by each other in school.

As for now, when I reminisced those time, I may laugh at myself why should I indulge in such an unimportant conflict. Perhaps, there was a feeling of dislike towards him in the first place or selfishness that led me to have a conflict with him. However, I felt that the strong dislike faded away as time passed by during my Senior High School time.

If you were in my position, what would you had done to resolve the conflict?