Category: 2017-2018

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Diving towards Statistical Analysis

What comes to your mind when you hear the word STATISTICS?

I believe you must’ve thought that it will be connected to data analysis, graph, bar graph,  histogram, scatter-plot, stem-plot and other data related. Well, you are correct it does relate to that.

Over the last seven weeks, we started to dive into the statistics math problems. According to the definition Statistics “is a branch of mathematics dealing with data collection, organization, analysis, interpretation and presentation.” Therefore, based on this definition you can most likely to recognize that in our class we will be doing lots of data collection, analysis and the interpretation of the data. 

In the class, we used many resources including, Barron’s AP Statistics textbook, The practice of Statistics textbook and Khan Academy, our most used technology website resource for better maximize our learning and learning of each other.

 

At the beginning of the lesson we went over one chapter which was to learn how to read stem-plot. Do you know what is a stem-plot? Stem-plot is a type of data visualization that depict shapes, center and spread.

Shape, center and spread are the three types of distribution that given from stem-plot, dot plot and histogram or sometimes people may use box plot to represent as well.

Based from what I learned, mean and median are the measure of center symmetric distribution: mean is an accurate measure of center. 

Let me show you some of the symbols we used in analyzing the statistical data: 

We then continue our lesson to learn about the density curve which it is a mathematical model that is always on or above horizontal axis and  has an area exactly one underneath it. Through this lesson we went over Empirical rule which is the 68-95-99.7 rules to calculate z-score and how many deviation or data is away from the mean. 

If you happen to use T-83 calculator you can generate probability or the raw data Or you can also generate a z-score from your calculator by typing: 

normalcdf(lowerbound, upperbound, mean, deviation) --> Raw data
invNorm(area,mean, deviation) --> raw data
invNorm(%) --> z-score

We then dive into correlation chapter. Correlation is what make scatter-plot to see the point correlate.   In order to describe a scatter plot it requires form, direction and strength. 

 

Form - linear or nonlinear
Direction - positive or negative
Strength - weak, moderate or strong

r = correlation coefficient intuition, it is the value that determine how correlated the data is together.  -1 < = r <= 1

When there is a -r it is a negative association and when there is a +r it is a positive association. 

What do you think the association of this scatter-plot?

Well the above scatter-plot show a positive association even the correlation isn’t close to each other. Remember that the mean of least square regression line is always zero. 

Most of all, I am very enjoy learning statistics even though I’m not good at it. It teaches me to think and analyze better and harder than I ever did. These are just small things that combine to explain to all of you of what I learned in math class however we learn even more than that. I will try my best even though I have no plan to take the exam next year and will keep pushing myself to try harder and harder to maximize my learning. 

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“The Network”

Over the last seven weeks before the end of school year started to emerge, I was pleased to be apart of the member of the acting exploration. “The Network” was the play that produced by Christian Kiley and was used to be our theme for performing. 

My role in the exploration was a producer, somebody whose is in charge of marketing and finance team. It was a challenge role, I believed it was difficult the first time I started it  but after I found my way out and work with my teammates, I can see improvements have been done. 

About three weeks later during exploration, I got an exciting news that I could become one of the important character in the play. I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn and have that acting experience. I was enrolled as A, a character that combined both outside world and internet world together on the network. I figured out that A is a character that under manipulate by one other character in the play. If I were to compare between this play and the real world, I would say many of the people living on Earth whose used internet now are experienced in it. 

Internet have taken everyone attention and drawn everyone in a social media world. But it have help both in positive and negative aspect. An example from my writing prompt activity was: A time that technology has impacted my life was when my dad got into an accident. Way back then, I posted an old picture of me with my dad with apologizing words. I wrote a sorry caption plus and emotional emojis. On that same week I received many sweet and motivates comments and messages from different people. And because of those texts, it have helped me to feel so much better with lots of love from friends and family members from far side. In that situation, The Network have helped me and my family to feel so much better after.

Besides working on producer job, Everyone got to participate in many acting activities. One of my favorite acting activity is bus stop station. This is when each person got a line of who their character or person is and then they will be going to the bus stop and act out who their character is without telling the audience but after everyone done we would guess each character. This experience some how teaches me ways to be able to become a better actor.  

So by the end of the exploration, we finally got to show our first full-length play to Liger, many other international schools and expats in Phnom Penh. The play was performed at Department of performing arts. This experience lead me to better understand the important of acting and being a producer, I learned to be flexible and become a better actress. 

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Year Six_Changing Cambodia

I began my new year with a book and a pencil stood at my desk at home in the province. I was unsure; but I remembered – I was ruminating about my next school year plans. I was certainly worried; however, I have to be headstrong, in order to take the agency over my knowledge. By stepping out toward another year with missions, I already knew that there was already another pile of challenges was waiting for me. I was stunned by what I have accomplished way back a few years ago and still – I want to keep doing it! “Be the change you want to see in the world,” Mohandas Gandhi stated, this quotes got introduced to me during the very first day of my literacy class by my facilitator Cara Shelton. New year, old-me – I planned on to continue to contribute something new, something that aren’t many Cambodian have ever experienced: it is the spirit of Frisbee. In order to get this mission going it will work by raising awareness through the Cambodian youth.

If you never taste the soup, you will never know how it actually taste like. In life, although there are part of something people are able to explain but they will never know the actual taste if they never taste it; that’s like saying a Khmer idiom which declared through generations- even though you heard everyone talking about it thousands and thousands of times but it won’t make you feel any less real when you’re able to see and and be able to experience it one time.

 

Frisbee is a new sport to Cambodia. Although it has been introduced a long while ago, not many Cambodian have or actually played this sport at all. And that’s because Cambodian are still lack of human resources to spread the words and the awareness throughout its society.

Change doesn’t became possible if nobody started it…

Frisbee now, became one part of my life in such that it’s now called my favorite sport. It was hard at the start of my first training but as I continued to practice, I am now able to play, but not just a “play-play” but also I am able to teach others. Frisbee is like a flat ball sport – however one facet that I like about playing this sport; Is playing in a mixed genders team. This sport allows anyone, at any ages, to involve and to play together; It doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman, “sexes is not required”.

Not many sport that people knew about are able to play with different groups of mixed genders but in this sport, it enabled for anyone to be apart of it. It’s slightly two years that I’ve been trained and went out to international tournaments such as: Philippine(AOUGCC), Vietnam(Mekong Cups), and Malaysia(Grizzly Bear). And those experiences means a lot to me. I learned new strategies when I got to a new places;  And because of that I want to take this as an opportunity to be able to spread and promote the spirit of this sport.

Living as human on this planet allowed us to take things for granted and as part of sharing life on Earth; I decided to be a part of my Bee-Force Cambodian Woman Ultimate team; Part of it was doing lots of physical training, practicing on my running skills and more; however, it is also about how we can spread this sport out to the people over there, whose doesn’t know; So I have now volunteered to help distribute this sport into the places at a rural side of Cambodia which is a few weeks in a while at Camkids which located in Kampong Speu province, approximately two hours drive. This sport mostly known by many citizens living in the city such as Phnom Penh but not many of those whom lived at the rural part have ever heard about it.

Being able to share this experienced to the kids is one thing but something that I want to see change being made is gender equity. Cambodian, still have that stigmas and myth that girls shouldn’t play sport with guys; But, that’s not true. This idea have to be change; girls are allow to do what they wish to do.

Part of my life is traveling; going to places and learning about something new. Back in the year I went to Battambang for my dinosaur project; On the last day we got to visit a government school and our team got to introduce different projects to the kids. I asked the director of the school to teach the kids on how to play frisbee. She was surprised and excited for her students because she said those kids like to play sport but the thing is, they don’t have that much of opportunity to learn it. So one of my friends and I taught them the throwing strategies and explaining how the game work. After a 30 minutes of throwing and 10 mins of explaining the game, 20 students who joined us have now understand and knew how to throw and are able to access this sport. That was one of my biggest achievements in the year, I could see those students’ smiles on their cheeks and I was very impressed that I was able to help them learn new sport.

Mission still continues…

Later on in the year, my team traveled down to Camkids, a school which provides students whose are living in the rural part of Cambodia to access to the education. I was pleased to see their happiness during our training. They were surprised to see something that was flat but can throw very far. A memory that I will never be neglecting; That was when one of the girls came to me in the middle of the training session with a shied and wondered looking reaction on her face; she said, “ខ្ញុំអត់ចេះគប់ទេបង!” which means, sister, I don’t know how to throw it! I looked at her right at the moment and smile at her. “That is the same feeling that I got the first time I start playing it.” I told her. After our short conversation, I started to give her instructions and grabs one of her hands to feel the frisbee and finally, she made it! She knew how to throw, catch the disc and she is now able to play after a three hours training. Before we left, we kept four frisbees for the school and we told them, “Please take care of it but played with it! Everyone are allow to play and don’t be afraid to play it.”

Everything starts from small steps.

This experienced have shared to 60 rural community students and 20 in a government schools in Battambang but this will continue to spread when those 80 speaks to one another then it’ll add up 160 then all of them speak to one another, it’ll make up 320 and this numbers will continue to rise up more and more and that’s mean those single one of the first 80 are apart of as change agents that helped everyone in this country to have skill on this new sport. For instant, this isn’t just a throwing or how to play lesson but it has taught them the spirit of the game and one important life lesson. Girls and boys are allow to play together – everyone are equally have the same rights

If he can play, that’s mean she can play!

Keep doing, keep playing, keep motivating, keep the energy, keep the strong force/moment and keep continue on walking towards it. I believed gender equity is the main and an essential key that I like about this sport. If we don’t start changing it, then who will change it?

My whole school year isn’t just about learning and training frisbee, it is just  ⅛ or maybe only 10 percents of my school life proportion. I have many others things happened in the school year but by I thought if I can start to change it then the next person will help me to spread the spirit of this game. This sport have influenced me and taught others to be strong and keep moving forward no matter what happened.

Part of being a Cambodian citizen and as change agents, I want to keep spreading and contributing more and more new experience, because this will help me and help my country to better know and catch up with the rest of the world. Frisbee changes me to understand the definition of gender, that’s mean when others start learning it hopefully they will learn this significant aspect as well. Remember, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” Mohandas Gandhi mentioned.

And lastly, if I never take a step forward, I will never understand that front floor. If I never talk, nobody is going to hear! So missions will begin when my hands and mouth are ready to execute it.

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Careers Exploration Day

On the 2nd of May, I was very excited to join the ISPP Careers Exploration day. It was about one and a half hour long event which each of us get to rotate into different careers classrooms and listen to speeches. There are total of 12 speakers and I only got a chance to select four of them to listen so out of the 12, I chose Ms. Tean Ly, ​Head of Global Subsidiaries and Financial Institutions Group at ANZ – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Mr. Charles-Henri Chevet, General Manager Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, Mr. Bill Smith – lawyer Deputy Co-Prosecutor at the Extraordinary Chambers in the
Courts of Cambodia and lastly Nanda Gasparini – Cultural Anthropologist Independent Consultant. There were my two favorite speakers which were Ms. Tean Ly and Nanda Gasparini.

At that day the first person I met was Ms. Tean Ly, the ​Head of Global Subsidiaries and Financial Institutions Group at ANZ – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. Her life was such a pleasant that she got so many support from her surrounding, thus that she also having so many opportunities in her life which not many of us have. So her life journey continue and she decided to move into Cambodia which was her parents original homeland. She told us that she learned a couple lessons along her life adventure from doing job in bank and her earlier job in other sector. An example of a lesson she learned was learning how to use excel. During her last minute of talk, she gave us one piece of advice which said, find someone who have the skill that we want to learn from and ask them lots of questions, build a strong bond and good relationship with anyone we meet and try to make it last long.

Another one was  Nanda Gasparini – Cultural Anthropologist
Independent Consultant; she also have an interesting life story. During her speech she told everyone that, we must be and need to be that person who always said yes to the opportunity that has given. We never know what will happen in the future but while we are having chances to pursue for our future careers, take it as an experience better than left those opportunity out from our hands.

This experience have helped me personally, to learned and understand that no matter what happen in life, find people who are skillful in the sector we want to be and built relationship, be that “YES” person and always try my best, so that one day that handwork will pay off a worth full consequence. Which make sense that, my future is depend on me to find my own best-fit. 

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Creative Writing about Khmer New Year

It was in the middle of the night, my grandmother hosted a dance party at her house located in the middle of nowhere and was surrounded by a massive maze where nobody could never be able to escape. People come in and out from nowhere dressed up fancy. There was a big crowd of people dancing right in the center of the house while some are flirting together. I was too shy to get out from my sit but right at the moment, I saw a guy who wears a long nice suit and dressed up differently out of all looks at me and approaches me. I was frightened and I turned my face downward facing the floor with my eyes open staring at his footsteps one by one. Right at the moment, when that guy arrived me, I put my both of my palm on my face but thing ends up differently; he was actually trying to get me to be a dance partner with him. It was scary the first time to see him but I decided to dance with him. While dancing, he started asking me different questions about my life and so on he asked me this question, “Have you ever want to get out from this maze?” I knocked my head slowly as a sign of telling him yes. He said he wanted to get out of the maze since he was 10 but he couldn’t find a way to do it yet. He looked at me with his sharp eyes in such begging way for me to get out of this maze with him. I don’t know what comes to my mind and what has happened but I told him I will try to find a way to get out with him. It was the same night, right after the talk, he holds my left hand tightly pulling me forward and he started to run to the door. After five days both of us had found our way out of the maze. The world was completely beautiful better than the inside that we always been seeing. I really enjoyed my life outside world; a year later, the guy who came with me has vanished. I always try to search for him but 2 years later my grandmother went into my dream, and told that he was just a shadow of someone who lives in the outside world and was ordered to get into the maze to help me get out and see this beautiful nature. 

This story was inspired by a cool looking guy who I saw at the pagoda when I went to watch people dancing. His style of dressing up just completely blown my eyes and his dancing skill was really cool to see, and he was also the only one guy that stands out the most in the crowd so I was just sitting and staring at him the whole time he was dancing. So I think this can be taken and turn into a short and simple story.

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Human Immunodeficiency Virus Workshop

Human Immunodeficiency Virus is what people called HIV. This virus has been known and heard all over the world and has spread from one to one within an ideal period of time. Not many Cambodian have learned or know anything about HIV/Aids, therefore our team decided to implement a four hours long workshop in order to spread the words toward Cambodian teenagers because about only 40% of them learned about HIV/Aids. 

Mission Statement: “Cambodian youth combating HIV/AIDS discrimination through normalizing conversations, dispelling common myths, and raising awareness about HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention, and treatment.”

 

 

“People don’t die because of HIV, they die because of the diseases that enter the body because of AIDS,”

 

The workshop was broke down into 4 different sessions: 1. General information about HIV/AIDS including some activities. 2. Prevention – Transmission/Prevention 3. Treatments 4. Stigmas/Discrimination.

I was one of the session leaders and was a part of Transmission and Prevention session. It was a very sensitive topics to talk about and every teams whom came in always afraid to share their ideas, so I was apart of encouraging them and making them feel warm and welcome. As one the representative of the HIV/AIDS workshop organizers, I am so grateful for every participation time and the words that share from their heart and I was pleased that everyone were open and honest about this sensitive topic and were willing to share. 

*Just because these populations are “high-risk” for contracting HIV, this does not reflect on their behavior or who they are as people.*

Lastly, I am hoping that by having this workshop we will be apart of making change toward the percentage of Cambodian youth education about HIV/Aids.

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Grizzly Open Ultimate Frisbee Championship 2018

On 17th and 18th of March, Bee-force have traveled all the way to Malaysia for their first international tournament (Grizzly). Eight of the senior girls were there played hardly for the tournament. Everyone did such an amazing job, and I can see how much improvement they have after played in this tournament. We have six games in total, with six different teams and out of the six games, we WON one of the games. We beat them by 7 to 4.  

This is my third time to play the international ultimate tournament and each and every time I take on the new experience I learned different things in which have help to get prepare and become a better ultimate player. I love all of the games I played at Grizzly because I have tried my best to help my team, even though we lost but we play really hard in which I felt good about the accomplishment I made for myself and my team overall. 

The experience that we get from this trip is what leads us to keep on practicing and further learning to improve our skills and techniques for playing. Also I have assisted three times which I felt pretty happy about my personal achievement.

 

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Discussing the issue of HIV/AIDs with KHANA

On the 12th of March, my team and I visited a place called KHANA. We met two guys one named Rathana and one name Sokchomroeun. They talked to us about what they do to be apart of helping people living with HIV(PLHIV) in Cambodia. Our goal of meeting with them is to know about their organization as well as talking to them about our idea of creating a workshop as a way to raise awareness for Cambodian youth. 

This organization was established in 2000. The full name of KHANA is Khmer HIV At National Alliance. Their organization is start to help those people and empower those who have HIV to take care of themselves, taking treatment and helping them in their community. 

There are different groups of people that they targerted to work with such as: 

  1. Female entertaining workers ( Smart girls club)
  2. MSM (M Styles club)
  3. Transgenders (Srey sros club)
  4. IV vaccine drug  user (Cm-put – Mit orbrom Mit)

We talked with them about one hour and a half. By the end of the talked they gave us such good feedback and ideas in which we could add on to our workshop planning. Without this organization, PLHIV would be less hope for living but now everyone is happy to be living and smile once again.

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A Discussion with a Cambodian-American Woman

«សំបុរស្បែក ការរើសអើងជាតិសាសន៍ និងបញ្ហាភេទ៖ អនាគត» A phrase that Peuo Tatyana Tuy mentioned during her talked. 

During March 10th, I was pleased to go to a have a discussion talked with a Cambodian-American lady about the effect of using lotion and the chemical relates of lotion.  She explained how before she hate the way she look but once she realized that all of those lotions are bad for a person skin she started to give value back for herself and started writing poem about her life. 

She was born in Battambang during 1979 but she was 
sent with her family to Texas. She grew up on the US 
side of view and she love the way she gets treated from 
her family, friends and her surrounding. But one day she 
visited Cambodia, to visit her relative in Battambang. 
They started saying she look black and not looking 
white like her mother or her sister. She then started to
use lotion for a while. When she got back America, she
look on to the internet and search the brand name of 
the lotion. She figured out that it contained so much 
chemical that could destroy her skin cells, therefore she
decided to stop using it and she believe that she love the 
way she look.
."Facebook:Peuo Tatyana Tuy"

We continue on asking each other, why does people uses lotion? Many of us answered that because of people judgement and that people are scare of them being judge from the outside that they don’t look white and that should be able to look white and beautiful. This discussion keeping on talking of how bad the whitening lotion can lead us to death. In this case, those lotions are the lotions that being made by individual without brand and recognition from the government.

This experience help me, personally to understand care about myself beauty and that I should be happy with what I have and I should love the way I look. What people say is just words and if I don’t take it too personal nothing is going change, therefore don’t take others words to serious. Love the way you are because you are beautiful. 

 

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Women International Day – Science Fair Talk

During 8th of March which was Women International Day, I was invited to one of the representative for Liger to talk about my project of Marine Conservation at Cambodia Children Fund. Sovannary and I were the two presenters and we spent about 3 hours on preparing for this fair. My expectation was that the audience will be in the same as me or may be a little older than me but what was turn out was that many of them are so little and it was very hard to talk to them about the big issue of illegal fishing and the idea of doing the algal farming as an alternative livelihood for fisherman in Cambodia.

Even though, the presentation wasn’t work the way we expected it to be but it had turned out pretty well. Both of us did really well while at the same time I felt so happy to be a female representative to talk about my project in which I could spread the awareness to Cambodia new generation to not throwing more plastics into the ocean.  

This experience lead me to become a better presenter within more presentation skills plus the way I am able to communicate with my audience no matter what their range of age is. Also, I am proud to born as a girl because I can see that girl power is important and they need our help in order to make this world a better place for everyone.