Mohamad Rezana
On November 12, 2009 I had an opportunity to visit English Language Institute of University of Delaware at Newark, Delaware. It was a delightful moment as it was my first visit to the campus after 26 years since I was a student at ELI. Dr. Scott Stevens and Mr. Lowell Riethmuller who were my English teachers back in 1983 were kind enough to host my visit and shared the insights on today’s ELI and UDEL. I am currently employed at a FORTUNE 500 global energy company performing middle management function in project management.
My brief session at ELI in summer of 1983 had prepared me well for a challenging undergraduate program at UD College of Engineering. It was a long shot considering my low skill level in English language prior to joining the ELI program. Subsequently, my four year Mechanical Engineering program at UDEL had shaped me to be in undertaking an engineering profession. Perhaps one key differentiator of being a graduate of an US college is that it has provided me the required level of confidence, which is crucial in today’s competitive and global business environment.
If I were to give advices to current ELI students, they would be along the following themes:
- Read everything that you can get your hands on. Observe how English is used in various contexts. Your target would be to have the ability to think in English.
- Grab every opportunity to present or speak in front of an audience. Spend some time after each presentation to get feedbacks from the audience on your presentation. This will help you gaining the confidence in public speaking, which is a necessity in your future employment. Besides, the best time to learn from mistakes is when you are a student.
- Maintain contact with your colleagues even after you’ve gone separate ways. You will be surprised how small this world is.
Mohamad Rezana Bin Abdul Malek
Putrajaya, Malaysia.
rezana@petronas.com.my
