Maryanne Gul recalls how she began Archery in 2001 with a course requiring her to start learning Archery on a wooden bow; she quickly developed a solid skill; and was then given the chance to try out the compound bow. She instantly loved this discipline and developed the passion for her sport. She continued to develop her skills and by 2004 she was invited to join the national team, after being "spotted" during a "leisure" outdoor shoot.

Since joining the National Team, Maryanne has obtained bronze medals in both 2005 and 2007 at the Southeast Asian games, as well as a silver medal in Asian Grand Prix in 2005.

"Pursuing sport at an international level and pursuing a full time career is a handful on top of personal responsibilities. Many sacrifices have to be made to be able to devote the right time to training. Furthermore, companies in Singapore do not often understand an elite athlete's requirements and their capabilities. This was one of the reasons for resigning from my prior company to train for the South East Asian Games as I felt that my management would not be able to accommodate the required flexibility on the job, as well as the time off I had to take to attend the competition.

I discovered the ACP through my Association in early January. Dr Wong Loong Tat, President of the Archery Association of Singapore received an email from Chris Chan, Secretary General of the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), which mentioned that they had read about my story in the local newspaper. He hoped that the ACP through Adecco would assist in my job placement. As I was looking at a new career development, I was open to this opportunity and thus chose to sign up with the ACP to find out more on what it is and what it could offer.

Shortly after I registered, Estelle Wong (Adecco ACP Manager) contacted me to set up a face-to-face meeting to share more about ACP. As I had been in the workforce for the last 7 years with a fair bit of experience, I did not have to go through the entire programme, but did participate in certain programme elements. During the programme, I had an interesting time discovering that I am a people person and have strong capabilities in business development.

Interestingly, Adecco had an opening which complements my capabilities and personality. I have been working with Adecco Singapore for three months and I truly enjoy the work at Adecco while pursuing Archery at a national level.

There are still conflicts at times, however the programme helped me discover my interests and position me in a job that provides an understanding."