“26 Dec 2006, Returning to Singapore to begin my 2nd year of junior college: Looking out of the window, I was enjoying the bus journey until we crossed the bridge and I saw the huge sign that flashed WELCOME TO SINGAPORE.” — First sentence
Synopsis from the back cover:
Have you ever wondered what lies behind a successful facade? For Jasmine, it was a confused and hurting heart that led to clinical depression.
Behind that Shiny Resume offers you precious glimpses into her honest struggles. Watch her wrestle to reconcile her fiery passion to be outstanding in life with her desire for peer acceptance. Enjoy her musings, her little appreciations of life. Hope with her as she fights for change in her everyday thoughts. And take heart as the girl who once mocked her shiny resume finally learns to love and enjoy her God-given beauty and talent.
Behind that Shiny Resume: Jottings of a Troubled College Student by Jasmine Yow and published by ARMOUR Publishing was lent to me by my sister, Catherine. She told me that the book is written by her university mate. I took one look and knew I should read it. I finished it in about two hours.
The book begins with Jasmine’s impressive resume. Perfect academic scores (SPM: 10 A1 and 2 A2; SAT II: perfect scores in Mathematics 2, Physics and Chemistry), outstanding achievements in her debate society—best speaker not only in English debate but also in Chinese —and a host of other equally mind-boggling endeavours. Jasmine represented Malaysia at the International Mathematical Olympiad in Athens, Greece, at the age of 15! She is also a musical genius, playing the piano and violin, and dancing ballet. She’s achieved Grade 8 distinction in all three, awarded by ABRSM.
I’m only giving a glimpse of her 3-page document. It makes me dizzy, and I wish I had 10 per cent of her overall achievements. Yet behind such impressive success was a girl who was uncertain of who she was and lived according to others’ expectations. From being a star student, she started to let herself slip, and when she had lost her reasons to excel, she began to resent what she was doing. Nobody truly understood the severity of her confusion and fatigue, not even her parents. She struggled with her thoughts, with an eating disorder, and was later diagnosed with an illness called cyclothymia or mild bipolar disorder.
Behind That Shiny Resume takes us into Jasmine’s journey with depression and, in the midst of it all, shows us there is hope. What I like most about the book is Jasmine’s courage in writing it. Her candid style of writing for a gloomy subject such as depression is inspiring and motivating. In the Preface, she asks herself whether she made a wise decision in writing this memoir. I say yes. Thank you, Jasmine, for being so honest and transparent in baring your heart out. I share your hope for what the book aims to achieve and who it is meant to reach. Her message to the educators, teachers and parents is spot on:
[…] No, I don’t mean they should stop pushing students towards excellence—children need to be pushed. But more than anything, they need to be shaped right: to embrace learning, not to fear failure, and to develop strength of character.
Parents, teachers, students (we all are!), please read this book.
