About Nick Vujicic: A Touching Story

"It matters how you're gonna finish. Are you gonna finish strong?"

Nick's biography

First-born child into his devout Serbian Christian family, Nick Vujicic was born in Melbourne, limbless, missing both arms at shoulder level, and having one small foot with two toes protruding from his left thigh. Initially, his parents were devastated. However, Nick turned out to be otherwise perfectly healthy.

Nick graduated from college at the age of 21 with a double major in Accounting and Financial Planning. He began his travels as a motivational speaker, focusing on the topics that today's teenagers face. He also speaks in the corporate sector, although his aim is to become an international inspirational speaker, in both Christian and non-Christian venues. He regularly travels internationally to speak to Christian congregations, schools, and corporate meetings. He has spoken on four continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America), in over twelve countries, and to over two million people face-to-face.

By the age of 25, Nick hopes to become financially independent. He wishes to promote his words through shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as by writing books. His first book, planned for completion by the end of 2009, is to be called No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!

A DVD, Life's Greater Purpose, is available on the Life Without Limbs website. Most of the DVD was filmed in 2005, featuring a brief documentary about his home life, and how he does regular things without limbs. The second part of the DVD was filmed at his local church in Brisbane, and was one of his first professional motivational speeches.

His secular DVD "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries" is available online through his corporate motivational speaking company "Attitude Is Altitude."

Nick's first worldwide television interview, featured on 20/20 (ABC) with Bob Cummings was aired on March 28, 2008.

(Source from wikipedia.com)

One of his speeches

"There is time in life when you fall down, you feel you don't have the strength to get back up. Do you think you have hope? I'm telling you that I am down here, facing down, and I have no arms and no legs. It should be impossible for me to get back up. But it's not. You see I'll try one hundred time to get up. If I fail 100 times, and I give up. Do you think that I am ever going to get up? No. But if I fail and I try to get up again, again and again.

I just want you to know that it's not the end. It matters how you're gonna finish. Are you gonna finish strong? You'll find that strength to get back up, like this."

LYE KEL VIN 
18007 
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

How is life?

To live a meaningful life is to fulfill every dream one person can desire. But to live a meaningful life one must go through trials and tribulations in order to achieve such a high and meaningful goal.  One can reveal these trials and tribulations just by living an everyday life wither it be encountering the same moment over again in your mind until one got it right, or if someone took a leap of faith to save another persons life, or if the ultimate trial was presented and a person had to stare death in the face just to achieve a meaningful life.

            In some case one wish's to relive a moment in time just to try and obtain a dream they might have missed before.  This example of away to achieve a meaningful life is portrayed well in the movie "Groundhog Day" (a modern day adaptation of Everyman).  In the movie the main character Phil relives the same day over and over again. In the beginning Phil finds this to be amusing and uses it to his advantage. But later on Phil realizes that this is not the life he wants.  So Phil goes on a stint to try and help people in hopes that it can alter his decisions in the past and help him live his life. But in the end Phil realizes that its not the people around him that he needs to save it's the people close to him.  With this realization Phil had finally reached his level of happiness and was able to achieve the meaningful life he always needed. But is relieve a moment in time to alter it to help one reach a meaningful enough or can an act of courage and kindness help reach this level.

            With the many things a man can do to reach a level of satisfaction or meaning in his life there is nothing like an act of courage that can help raises a man to such a pristine level.  But can such a man truly be real, that answer is yes these men are police officers and firefighters, but even the average person can be man of such great praise.  In the news article "The Man in the Water" (a true life tale of a man battling nature to save the lives of others) such a man does live.  In the article there is mention of other rescuers that helped out.  Such as the police rescue men that came in a helicopter or the man that was walking by and jumped in.  When asked why they did it the rescue personnel claimed that it was all in the line of duty. And the man that jumped in said that it "it's something I never thought I would do". But the was the thinking and mind set of another man that takes this story to a new height.  Though this man died it was his actions that lifted him to such a level to a meaningful life.  This man did what most probably wouldn't. As the rescue helicopter came back and forth the man would pass the life vest on to the next person with total disregard of his own life this man sacrificed himself to save the lives of others.  With his death he had passed the trials life sets before each one of us in obtaining a meaningful life. As true to this story does death have to face us before we realize wither or not we have lived a meaningful life.

            Most people take life for granted and are only worried about worldly possessions. But does it take death itself to have us stop and think and wonder if our life has been meaningful. There is such a story that shows us what a man might due in the face of death.  In the storyEveryman (which is a medieval morality play depicting how a man can find true bliss in a single emotion) Everyman finds himself facing death face to face.  He ask death to give one day to find someone to go with him.  Like everyman Everyman first goes to friendship.  But like real life friendship it only goes so far. The second is possession.  But he realizes that his possession will do nothing for him after death.  But finally he finds what will truly stay with him even after death. Everyman goes after his good deeds though his good deeds are small it is something that will stay by him through thick and thin.  Its is only after this realization that Everyman finally sees how meaningful his life is and not even death can take such a glorious thing away from him.

            But can a man reach such a level of bliss through death, courage, or good deeds alone. Or is there some way that we can live a meaningful life just by living or must we subject our selves to these trials that life sets before us.


LYE KEL VIN
18007
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Value of Time

    To realize the value of One Year,

ask the Student who has failed his exam.

    To realize the value of One Month,

ask the Mother who has given birth to 

          a premature baby.

    To realize the value of One Week, 

ask the Editor of a Weekly.

   To realize the value of One Day,

ask a Daily Wage-Earner.

   To realize the value of One Hour,

ask the Lovers who are waiting to meet.

    To realize the value of One Minute,

ask the Traveler who has missed the train.

    To realize the value of One Second,

ask the Person who has survived an accident.

    To realize the value of One Millisecond,

ask the athlete who has won the silver medal

             in an Olympic race.


GAN ZHE JUN
18576
Petroleum Engineering

Give Time to Our Family

Another interesting moral story from me to share with you all =D

_______________________________________________________________________

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, “I love you, but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.”

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. “What’s wrong, are you well?” she asked.

My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. “I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you,” I responded. “Just the two of us.” She thought about it for a moment, and then said, “I would like that very much.”

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel’s. “I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed, “she said, as she got into the car. “They can’t wait to hear about our meeting.”

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. “It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,” she said. “Then it’s time that you relax and let me return the favor,” I responded. During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation – nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other’s life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed.

“How was your dinner date?” asked my wife when I got home. “Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined,” I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: “I paid this bill in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates – one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.”

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: “I LOVE YOU” and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till “some other time.”

YEE JIAN CHANG

17944

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Determination and Persistence

This is a real life story of engineer John Roebling building the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, USA back in 1870. The bridge was completed in 1883, after 13 years.

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In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was also injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to talk or walk.

“We told them so.” “Crazy men and their crazy dreams.” “It’s foolish to chase wild visions.”

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built.

In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever. He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task.

As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.

YEE JIAN CHANG

17944

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Wondering what to write in this blog, what happened today had gave me an idea of what i am going to write. Today is my worst day of my life in UTP. I planned to do my call-lab exercises today so I woke up early in the morning. Unfortunately, I was informed that all the printers in block 1 had ran out of ink. I was not able to finish my work but had to wait until the technician change the ink cartilage. I uttered in my heart that it was a bad starting for today. 

Things seem to go worse than that. I received my first summon in UTP. I parked my motorcycle in front of my hostel block under a tree. I was not awared that the place was illegal for parking. I was going down the stair to get my motorbike to go out to take my lunch when suddenly a 'wild' security personnel appeared in my sight. He got near to my bike and took out a pad as if he is going to write something. At that particular instant, I knew that the 'something' was not going to be a good thing, 'summon' came across my mind. I quickly dashed to my bike and asked him to give me a chance. However, instead of showing his 'mercy', he raised up his voice up. I knew there was no point arguing with him, so I received the summon and treated it as my fate or 'bad luck'.

My 'bad luck' did not end here. While i was on my way coming back to UTP after my lunch, rain started to pour down. Enduring the pain of rain droplets hitting on me, I drove carefully all the way.

I tried to avoid flooded water on the road and focused on the road condition. Just by then, a lorry passed by and caused the flooded water to splash all over my body, not just once but twice. My body was soaked in wet and I was shievering in cold by the time I got back to UTP. 

This was probably my worst day in UTP. However, let us not look at it in a negative way. When all the bad things had gone, good things should follow behind, just like the rainbow after a rainstorm.

^.^

Wondering what to write in this blog, what happened today had gave me an idea of what i am going to write. Today is my worst day of my life in UTP. I planned to do my call-lab exercises today so I woke up early in the morning. Unfortunately, I was informed that all the printers in block 1 had ran out of ink. I was not able to finish my work but had to wait until the technician change the ink cartilage. I uttered in my heart that it was a bad starting for today. 

Things seem to go worse than that. I received my first summon in UTP. I parked my motorcycle in front of my hostel block under a tree. I was not awared that the place was illegal for parking. I was going down the stair to get my motorbike to go out to take my lunch when suddenly a 'wild' security personnel appeared in my sight. He got near to my bike and took out a pad as if he is going to write something. At that particular instant, I knew that the 'something' was not going to be a good thing, 'summon' came across my mind. I quickly dashed to my bike and asked him to give me a chance. However, instead of showing his 'mercy', he raised up his voice up. I knew there was no point arguing with him, so I received the summon and treated it as my fate or 'bad luck'.

My 'bad luck' did not end here. While i was on my way coming back to UTP after my lunch, rain started to pour down. Enduring the pain of rain droplets hitting on me, I drove carefully all the way.

I tried to avoid flooded water on the road and focused on the road condition. Just by then, a lorry passed by and caused the flooded water to splash all over my body, not just once but twice. My body was soaked in wet and I was shievering in cold by the time I got back to UTP. 

This was probably my worst day in UTP. However, let us not look at it in a negative way. When all the bad things had gone, good things should follow behind, just like the rainbow after a rainstorm.

^.^