Posts

Posted on

Travelling to Battambong Province to investigate on dinosaur footprints

On August 24, 2017, I traveled to Battambang Province with my Dinosaur Exploration to conduct an investigation about dinosaur footprints at a site. Our team spent a day walking around the area to do field method for possible footprints such as taking notes, measuring the length and the size of the footprints, identifying rock type and recording geographic coordinates and elevation. We then used clay and plaster of paris to make casts of the footprints for more investigation in class. Besides doing the casts, we interviewed some people around the area whether they believe in dinosaurs. It turned out that they don’t believe in dinosaurs at all, they just saw them on TV. ​I was such shock to see rocks that have weird looking holes, almost like something more than nature made them. Honestly, I wasn’t convinced that the rocks my learning coordinator showed from his photos in our class were possible dinosaur footprint, until the visiting to the site. Still, my assumption cannot be the conclusion of the investigation, we needed a deeper investigation to answer are these genuine dinosaur footprints? The experience that I drew back from the trip was immense even though it was only from a day. I never have done a field method nor casting a footprint before. Our team even develop our own casting method when the technique from the internet didn’t work. It was a hard-working, casting under a hot sun, walking through bushes and even harder when we don’t have a paleontologist to guide the investigation. Hard work was not a problem because of the excitement just anchor in our mind, just to think about the revealing of this mystery.

Posted on

Attending in Startup Weekend 2017

 

On a weekend, September 29, 2017, I attended a Startup Weekend powered by Google, an event where a group of attendance can start and complete a startup (a new business idea) that related to Education from Friday evening to Sunday night.

On the event, my friends and I were the youngest attendances and other attendances were college students and company employees that aged up to 30s years old. I joined this event for my second time and I gave a pitch about creating a forum that connects people especially students with teachers and experts. Students can post questions that related to Khmer, Math and other subjects while the teachers and experts can answer those questions. Unfortunately, my idea did not get enough votes to be the top 10. Therefore, I joined a 10 top idea about bringing people to experience real-life experience. The next two days, Saturday and Sunday, our team put all of the effort to develop the idea, answering business canvas questions, building a prototype website and preparing for the final pitch to the judge.

For me, starting a new business idea is not an easy thing. It took us about a day to finalize our idea. We named our company TripRean. Trip + Rean (Rean is Khmer word that means learn). We give services to schools and individuals for organizing educational trips to many different places in Cambodia. Schools and individuals can book the ticket and all the transportations, food, stay and tour we would be organized. This is similar to a trip agency, but our trip focusing on education. We want, especially, high school students to be involved in real life experience. For example, a trip to see birds in Preah Vihear and learn about them. Rarely, students never experience this, that is why we are here to help them. After the pitch, our idea won third place for the best idea and we got many awards and even two investors willing to invest in our company. This was such a great experience for a high school student like me to be involved in business and change the country.

This is the link to our prototype website I made during the event. 

http://www.triprean.co/ 

Posted on

My TED Talk

It was crazy to be a TED speaker. Come up with a great idea to speak about that could persuade the TED organizers isn’t easy things. I have dug for a great idea for days to convince the organizer and finally, I was one of the 15 speakers. This news is very exciting, but I have to work really hard to prepare for the final talk. My idea was “Cambodia students should learn to code” that’s all. The topic is not that exciting.

Well, I asked my coding mentor for some feedback about my topic and he explained many ideas that relate to “The zero magical cost society”. I implemented his ideas to my talk because it relevance to coding. I mentioned some companies like Facebook, Google and more and how they have changed the world to persuade the audience to code. Check out my talk of they persuaded you.

Posted on

Winning a 1st Outstanding Contribution Certificate

First of all, I want to say that this certificate is the first certificate awarded by Liger Learning Center and signed by the co-founders and country director. I get this award is because I help to improve Liger order form system by writing some code in Google Spreadsheet. I saw many issues when Liger introduced the ordering system. I took my initiative to ask head chief for more problems about Google Spreadsheet and I used my independent discovery and my weekends to code the features. It saved so much time for Liger staffs to manage the Spreadsheets.

I was awarded in a big assembly with all Liger Foundation Leadership, guests, staffs, senior and junior students. It was a surprise and wonderful time when the Trevor, founder of Liger Learning Center announced the award for me.

The Certificate

20161012_203753

Posted on

Google App Script – Independent Discovery

I always want to improve my coding skill and I have had many Independent Discovery about coding. For this Independent Discovery, I’m coding Google Apps. I can add my code to any Google Apps such as Spreadsheet, Docs, Form, etc. So, why Google Apps? Most of Liger students and staffs use Google like Google Drive, Spreadsheets, Docs. I was sure that they had a bad day interact with them. I was thinking if I could write a feature that solves some problems they have, it would be better. I have interviewed a facilitator and a catering manager about their problems with Google Spreadsheet or Google Docs.

Caroline, a facilitator had a problem with copying a Master Docs and Sharing and I fixed that with some lines of code.

Matt, Catering manager had a really big problem with Ordering Form Spreadsheets. Liger just has an ordering form system for each apartment to order items to cook. There are eight apartments and every apartment has a Spreadsheet to order the items. In some case, the items weren’t on the list so Matt has to go to every spreadsheet of all apartments and add a new item. Another case is the item price is not constant, some months might the price is increase and Matt has to change the price to every spreadsheet. Yes, each apartment spreadsheet has 12 sheets. 8 * 12 = 96 sheets. It means if he wants to add a new item or change price, he must add or change to 96 sheets.

THAT’S A LOT!

I wrote the feature for him and it much faster than copy and paste. Video below is the features demonstration on ordering form:

Posted on

Startup Weekend

Woh, it was tired join a 54 hours event, Friday noon till Sunday night. 12 of Liger students joined this event at Phnom Penh and we have worked really hard. Startup Weekend is a global event where we can pitch an idea, form the team and start the business, it happens every weekend around the world. I didn’t pitch an idea but I decided to join with one pitcher and have a team of six members. The problem that we see is that students don’t have a goal, it has a goal but don’t know where to start. Our solution is to create a website where students can do a personal test (if they don’t know they have an academic or don’t have a goal) and students can find opportunities by their academic. My role of the team is a developer, but I also share many ideas because I am a high school student so I know how the students feel.

We spent two days on the brainstorming solution and how to make money from the solution. 80 percents of the time we felt very stressed, our mentor asked many difficult questions. The questions help our team a lot. I worked really hard on the website for the whole Sunday.
Check our company website. http://www.academicgoal.co/

Finally, we pitched to judges and we won the top three team. The judges said we won because the problems that we come up is a serious problem in Cambodia and we came up with a good solution.

Uri Levine, co-founder of Waze said, fall in love with the problem, not the solution.

I learned so much about business from this event even if we very tired.

 

Posted on

Change Agent Exploration

The concept of Change Agent Exploration is to inspire young entrepreneur and Cambodia students by documentary from the change makers interview. We interviewed many change makers via Skype and e-mail. Some are millionaires and some are not. Some are success and some are not yet. We have two phases in this Exploration. First phase, each student in the Exploration have to choose three Entrepreneurs (not inventors) that are identified as change agent and try to contact them for interview via Skype. I chose Uri Levine co-founder of Waze, Massoud Hassani – founder of Mine Kafon and Biz Solution because I noticed them as the change agents through many ways. I wrote email to them for interview request and eventually Uri Levine responded back. I don’t know how to describe when I got receive email from him. I asked him to interview via Skype but due to different time zones and he travels a lot, we couldn’t Skype. Uri Levine was kind enough for me to interview via email. I sent him the questions and he replied back with helpful answers.

Questions and Answers

http://changeagents.ligercambodiablog.org/uri-levine/

Check Audio Script

 

For second phase was about Social Enterprise. I chose Kailash Satyarthi, novel peace prize winner 2015, Raj Panjabi Founder and CEO of Last Mile Health but they didn’t responded back.

I have learned many things from this Exploration, different ways to write email to different people, tried to find some similarities about them and us. Also I learned some strategies to talk with busy people.

Posted on

Drone Lesson

Liger bought two DJI drones, one is for the training and another is for the filming that has a camera attached. Drone were introduce when a filming team from United State that came to take a film about Liger. The drone really inspire me as well as everyone at Liger. Everybody want one. Eventually, a team of three students start an Exploration about drone and ask Liger to buy one. They involved in Drone for weeks and become an expert pilot. The pilots filmed about our school, NGOs like CamKids and our trip in Koh Seh Island and they become a filming company.

Liger also want other Liger student to become pilots. So, Liger bought a new drone without Camera in a cheap price because it is better to accidentally crush the trees instead of the crushing the trees with the Camera drone while we do the training.

We have an After School Extension that host by Liger expert pilot and get help by Jan. I was lucky to sign up for ASE first and it is a best chance to fly a drone.

Flying drone is not easy, it is harder than what people think. We have to be patient, go slow and importantly to know its direction. Otherwise, the drone could crash with something. My friend crashed the drone once because he doesn’t know its direction of the drone. The first time I learn how to fly, I almost crash the drone.

This video is when I fly the drone on the second time, where I have more control with the drone.

Posted on

Marine Life Radio Broadcasting

In our Khmer class this year was interesting. Our Khmer teacher was a radio speaker that have many experience about it and he wanted Liger students to write and record a script. The theme of the broadcast is about Marine Life in Cambodia. We partner with a NGO call FFI to give information about marine life. The broadcast could be a story telling, conservation and more. We divided into group of three students and our group chose Dugong as our animal that we want to talk in the broadcasting. Our broadcast is like a story telling and conservation, where we act the Dugongs in the story.

Below is our broadcasting:

Posted on

Lego Master After School Extension

I love Lego and I volunteered to host an After School Extension (ASE) called Lego Master for Junior Students. Six of Junior students join my ASE. I was really surprised that they like Lego and having fun. It remind me of when I was young playing Lego.

Pictures from Lego Master ASE that I host with Rithy and Lux.