Fresh off her win in the national round of the ICDL Asia Digital Challenge 2021, Tan Seh Er, a Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (‘TAR UC’) alumna, continued her streak of excellence and won a Gold Award in the Business Track (Tertiary) category in the Grand Finals round of the said competition. The Grand Finals round which was held virtually on 7 September 2021 tested finalists on the topic of data analysis.
Exceeding her own expectations, Seh Er’s disappointment turned to joy when her name was not announced among the Silver Award winners, but as a Gold Award winner instead. “Based on my own evaluation of my performance during the Grand Finals, I only expected to perhaps win a Silver Award. So when all the Silver Award winners were announced, I was quite disappointed that my name was not mentioned. Being able to win gold was really a surprise for me and totally unexpected,” recalled Seh Er.
As a fresh graduate who recently started her career, Seh Er shared that her experience at TAR UC combined with the exposure and skills she has picked up from joining the competition will surely benefit her in her professional life.
“After entering the workforce, I found that the computing skills I learnt during my studies as well as those covered in the ICDL modules are very useful, especially in my line of work and this knowledge helps me complete my work faster. Aside from this, the computer skills certification programme provided by ICDL assists learners to build personal competency in using a computer and common computer applications.”
The Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) graduate also elaborated on the importance of computer literacy and computing skills in relation to her current role as an audit associate. “Being efficient in my daily tasks is important. Therefore, having the skills and knowledge to use various Microsoft Excel functions such as VLOOKUP, Advanced Filter, Pivot Table and so on is really an asset. In addition, I also had the opportunity to learn to utilise Microsoft Power BI – a data visualisation tool, which I believe will come in handy in my current job and in the future.”
In line with TAR UC’s philosophy of Beyond Education which empowers students to gain additional skills and experience from outside the classroom to realise their full potential, Seh Er not only managed to expand her skillset via the experience she gained throughout the competition but had also proven her resourcefulness to gather more information rather than solely relying on textbooks.
“Although the e-textbook provided by ICDL was sufficient to study in preparation for this competition, I still went online to search for more examples and gather more information on topics which were unfamiliar to me. Most of the time I was able to get precise information online and it helped me understand the topics better.”
Held over a period of six months, the fourth instalment of the ICDL Asia Digital Challenge involved 500 contestants from nine territories across the Asia Pacific region.
Seh Er is the second TARCian to advance to the Grand Finals round and the first to win a Gold Award at that stage. Previously, one TAR UC student won a bronze medal in the ICDL Asia Digital Challenge 2018 Grand Finals held in Bangkok, Thailand.
Online Education Fair 线上教育展
Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC)
拉曼大学学院（拉大学院）
https://edufair.fsi.com.my/taruc
