Life in TP so far

School has reopened and 1 week has passed. It feels great being back to school, seeing both new and familiar faces, meeting new lecturers, learning new subjects and so on. It’s refreshing to see new faces really. Due to subjects such as CARC and our CDSs, we get to meet new people in lectures and tutorial classes.

Thankfully, all my lecturers are well, you could say, “interestingly unique” in their own ways, making lectures a whole lot more enjoyable to sit through. Their slapstick comedy and insights into the “real world” are some of the things you would encounter from the lecturers here. I personally feel that that is what some educators in Singapore really need to build up on. Being under a number of educators for some time now, I seen the worst sorts to the more inspiring ones.
Not to drag on about the educational system in Singapore, which I’ll leave SPH(probably?!) to fill you in =p Id like to talk more about how my experience in TP has been so far.

To sum it all up, it was a really fruitful first semester. It was a change most of my course mates and I have got accustomed to by now. The idea of lectures/tutorials/lab was a complete turnover from where we came from. It took us out from our rigid safe zone into something different. We learnt to be more independent in taking responsibilities in our hands. As they say, you bare the consequences of your own mistakes. Not attending lectures just because attendance wasn’t taken down and not paying attention during tutorials due to the free access of internet available in front of you was a challenge of self-control and time management. There is a time for everything and I realized I have to make time for what’s important right now, which is not facebook or msn or online games but rather my education and the future which lies ahead.

It was a scary decision when choosing which course I would like to go to because unlike those who went in JC, had time to play around with. Whereas those who definitely wanted to be in a polytechnic or were under the DPA scheme had to plan out way ahead. Of course, some comments that came by were, “You could always choose another course when you enter university” but factors had to be weighed. Entering a course similar to what you are studying now could give you a better standing compared to others and also in some cases an earlier graduation.
Someone once advised me when I was in that position not too long ago was to choose what I have passion for. I am not saying this statement is what you should definitely stick to when deciding but rather a guide. Some people may feel that the study environment in JC is not to their liking or they don’t know what they are good at. There are many reasons why one would choose a certain tertiary/course over the other but in the end, it’s really up to the individual preference and not of those around him.

Hmm, looks like I went a little off topic and I think I will stop here for now. Seems like what I wrote has no linkage to one another (or does it? xD )

Nevertheless, I wish all the best to the O level graduates of 09!