One of the reasons I joined NUS High School was the Advanced Research Project (ARP), a central feature

of the curriculum and the culmination of years of study into good research methods and practices. I had anticipated my ARP ever since my first year. The opportunity to carry out independent research, guided by a qualified and experienced scientist, appealed strongly to me. Having a deep interest in physics, I had decided long before the project started that I would pursue a project in quantum mechanics - an esoteric and deeply fascinating field of study. As I did my literature review, however, I found that the references and information I needed for my project - one on quantum mechanics were far above my current academic level. It would take many months to achieve sufficient competency to progress further, my research being theoretical in nature. I considered scaling down my project, or switching to another, easier field but with encouragement from my project mentor, I decided at least to try. The next six months were both frantic and challenging. Every hour not in school or doing schoolwork was instead spent in my research institution, studying textbooks, and attempting complex questions and derivations. I had never before been so committed to any pursuit or activity. There were many times when I found myself bewildered eventually, I learned to take initiative to clarify my doubts with my mentor. At times, I also found myself considering taking an easier choice of research topic, but I persevered and did not falter. When I finally finished the literature review, the actual project programming a simulation also carried its fair share of setbacks. Simulations had to be recoded and redone many times without bearing fruit, and it was a real source of frustration to see my efforts result in nothing. Eventually, however, my perseverance paid off and the project produced favourable results. It was exhilarating to watch all the factors fall into place, and very rewarding to know that I had developed something useful and relevant to scientific progress. This experience of stretching myself beyond my limits has reinforced my dedication towards learning and research. I have become better at thinking out of the box, and keeping at a task even when there seems to be no progress made.