Thursday, April 19, 2012
Something extremely useful to me. It's a recount of Polytechnic life by a Facebook user:
Read this if you are/were once a freshie from NP, TP, SP, NYP, RP..
Because regardless of Polytechnics, if life in Poly were like “The Hunger Games” and the ultimate goal is to "survive", this would have been (actually is) my cheat sheet to surviving the adventure that would last for the next 3 years..
1) Friends. From Day 1, more often than not, the first few people you meet/get to know at camps, in classes.. are going to be the ones you hang out with the most in your first few weeks or even months of school. It’s just this secret “okay I don’t really know anyone else but you so let’s stick together like we’re best friends” phase. Social comfort. We’re afraid to be alone or be seen as an outcast/loser in a completely new environment. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, orientation week is probably the best time to be extra friendly and say hi to every face that looks damn lost to put you higher up on the social pedestal. Here’s the deal though.. what you need to know, need to understand.. is the critical importance of being able to distinguish and draw a very clear line between friendship and work. It won’t always be the wisest decision to group up with your friends to do projects, simply for friendship convenience, because that may be the very catalyst that destroys your friendship. Put it bluntly, some friends are fun to be with but aren’t very good people to work with, while the ace students may or may not ever be your best friend; but they both deliver the goods in their respective roles. It ‘s up to you to decide what’s more important to you. So pick your friends and project mates wisely. Really. Every senior in any Poly will tell you this #1 rule.
2) Get a CCA.. this, will almost define your social and poly life. Try something new, do something you love or might fall in love with. Sign up for every CCA in existence and go for that first session(s) as much as your schedule can fit them in.. and then quit, quit, quit. Okay maybe quit is such a bastard way of putting it.. find what you might like or feel comfortable/excited to be in and stay. Seriously, go absolutely crazy on the CCA sign up dates though. You’ll get to meet many new people, seniors especially (it makes you feel more at ease knowing a senior in school, especially if they’re from your course).. even if it’s just from that one session of your “finding out what you might be interested in”. But don’t be a hero and try to stay active in more than 2 CCAs because every additional CCA after two, will probably be equivalent to the number of semesters more you’ll end up staying in school. But if attaining the “Long Service Award” is your ultimate goal, by all means.. be legendary.
3) Know the campus and the every day people. Your campus.. is an adventure playground waiting to be explored. There are all the different ghost stories of classrooms/toilets/
And by every day people.. I mean the cleaners, the security guards, the lady who serves you your favorite lunch, your lecturers! Lecturers. Welcome to the world where educators have more control and say over your grades than how it hardly was in follow-the-book-grading secondary school. Bottom line, be nice and stay in the good books of your lecturers. It really does make a difference (but please don’t be a fucking kiss-ass). Be nice and make the every day unsung heroes of campus, who keeps our school safe, clean and serve us our favorite food, feel appreciated. It really does make a huge difference to their day.
4) Social game and drama. You’ll soon realize that, whether you like it or not, life in Poly.. is an on-going social game and drama. You’ll judge. You will be judged. You’ll bitch and be bitched about. You’ll fuck up and others will backstab you when you least expect it. But, there will be the good drama as well. You might meet people or create the most beautiful memories in the most unlikely time, place or person. So go with an open mind, but be constantly aware.. not just of others but what you say/try too hard to do or become yourself. I’ll say this again, politics and drama are inevitable. But just remember.. you either control it, know how to react/respond to it, or let it control and possibly even ruin you. Don’t.
5) Fashion. No more uniforms = joy of wearing what you want, right? Not entirely. Soon, your selection from your wardrobe will start depleting. You’ll go through the whole, “what should I wear/wore that last week” dilemma or feel pressured to constantly dress up because your clique/others seem to do that on a daily basis. Well, here’s what might be a comforting reality.. it’s always usually just a first year thing. You’ll know, especially in the first week of school, who the freshmen are, simply by the amount of makeup or effort they put into “dressing up for school”. But hey freshmen, keep up with tradition and make school your fashion runway.. the seniors either appreciate the various styles on show or will judge you (don’t worry, your turn will come when the next batch of freshmen comes in). How do you know who the seniors are? They are the ones who seriously do not give a fuck even if they wore pajamas to school.. because by the time you get into third year, final year projects and deadlines pretty much takes over your life. Hmm.. but if you’d really like a tip to surviving this whole wardrobe/style dilemma.. its simple, dress what you like or makes you comfortable. Just please, please, please try to avoid the flip flops? The best day(s) to dress up, or at least better than every other day.. are lecture days. Especially if there’s that cute guy/girl you want to catch the attention of. Flip flops won’t positively aid your attempt. At all.
6) Now, classes. Academics. You’ll probably have this reactive urge to skip this whole point.. believe me, I disliked this part very much myself. If you want to do well or at least decent in school though.. you need to understand that as cool as life in poly might or can be, your grades matter and should be of priority. You’re definitely going to have days where you get bombarded with projects and tests all at once.. the “secret” to surviving this, is to try not to procrastinate too much. Emphasis on try. Not. To. Procrastinate. Too. Much. Because you will. 100%. It’s like the way of life for every single Poly student.. then, your stress level will hit a new high, and you’ll start cursing and swearing, bitching about your lecturers/project mates, rushing to print stuff just before the last minute of your deadline. Fml, fml, fml will be the word of the deadline/exams week. But seriously, everything will not be so bad if you plan out your work schedule in advance and work within your own imposed deadlines. Then again, Facebook/tumblr/blogshops will still and always be the ultimate seducer and procrastination the undisputed bitch. F.our.lives.
7) Every bloody semester counts. Unlike in Secondary school where you can practically mess around for 4/5 years and still ace your O Levels, the only one that really matters.. its different in a Polytechnic because every semester for the next three years count towards your final graduating GPA. So essentially, if you screw up even just one of your six semesters.. you’re only going to make your own life and entry to Universities harder. Taking the Polytechnic route makes it almost impossible to get into University is the biggest stereotypical misconception though. It’s bullshit (read till the end and you’ll understand what I mean). Trust me, you can very easily earn your spot in a University after your Polytechnic education.. just remember and constantly remind yourself from your VERY FIRST assignment/test/project, that EVERYTHING is accumulative and will be reflected in your results at the end of three years.
8) That said, you don’t have to turn on or be in the super-competitive nerd mode all the time. In fact, you can still do well even if you skip classes. Just make sure you cut the right classes. As tempting as it might sometimes be to skip lectures and go hang out with your mates some place else instead.. you need to first know what’s going to be up in that particular lecture. There are the important lecture topics that will definitely be tested on during the exams (you must not miss those lectures) and then there are the ones that are quite a waste of time (but that’s just my opinion). If you’re planning to skip what you think might be the “unimportant” lectures, keep track of your “skip class” quota. Because once your attendance falls below the expected percentage, you might have to retake the module the following semester instead. You really don’t want that happening. Oh, tip.. don’t ever skip the last few lectures before the semester ends! A lot of people will usually skip classes then to mug for papers but that’s when your lecturers will be giving the most exam hints.. so, if you want to skip, skip smart.
9) Don’t waste your money on textbooks.. they cost a bomb and you hardly ever use them (but this might be subjective to your course of study). If you can, ask around and try to borrow textbooks and (especially) notes from your seniors. Those are the real treasures. Modules and syllabus usually stay the same for three years at least, so your seniors have already been there done that, and you’ll know what to expect. Come exam revision time, practice on past year’s/semester’s exam papers; there’s a certain repetitive pattern to every cycle’s exam paper.. if you manage to figure that out, you’ll almost definitely know what will be tested on and it’ll save you so much time and effort to focus on what will come out instead of studying topics that won’t even appear in the papers at all. The other easier way is to just pay attention in lectures and do your tutorials.. if you actually manage to grasp the topic the first time, you’ll find revision a lot easier, even if you do it 10 weeks later.
10) But don’t make your school life all about grades. You know, as you enter this new journey that is to be the next 3 years of your life, people will probably advice you to just “be yourself and not somebody else”. To the freshmen in particular, I won’t exactly say don’t try to be somebody else.. no, if you really want to, try to be somebody else. Being in this whole new environment allows you the perfect opportunity to do that.. and in the process, perhaps you’ll learn and find out who you really are or not. That would be the time to stand up strong and proud being who you are. It’s only through trying that you’ll ever know.. so go step out of your comfort zone, go crazy, go socialize, go party, go experiment, go fucking live life itself! Because after that, you start work proper and forever, you’re off to serve the nation or a University out of Singapore, etc, and that’s a whole different ball game altogether. For now, go make your 3 years in Poly something to remember.
Share this with your friends/freshies if you’d like to or feel free to add your own survival secrets!
Ps: The people you see in this picture.. it’s probably safe to say that the bunch of us lived our Poly lives in that manner as mentioned in the above 10 points. And if you’re curious to know where that led us to and how it all ended up after our Poly lives.. 3 are currently in NTU, 2 in NUS, 1 in NIE, another 2 got accepted to colleges in the UK and one even got accepted to Harvard. You could be next.. it’s your own story waiting to be written :)
pps: For those of you who are wondering.. yes, I wrote this in the mood of the whole Poly academic year starting all over Singapore again and how the ones who've been there and done that started out from that stage, lost confused and afraid, and yet we "survived".. so this is like a reminiscence and passing-on kinda piece.
Read this if you are/were once a freshie from NP, TP, SP, NYP, RP..
Because regardless of Polytechnics, if life in Poly were like “The Hunger Games” and the ultimate goal is to "survive", this would have been (actually is) my cheat sheet to surviving the adventure that would last for the next 3 years..
1) Friends. From Day 1, more often than not, the first few people you meet/get to know at camps, in classes.. are going to be the ones you hang out with the most in your first few weeks or even months of school. It’s just this secret “okay I don’t really know anyone else but you so let’s stick together like we’re best friends” phase. Social comfort. We’re afraid to be alone or be seen as an outcast/loser in a completely new environment. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, orientation week is probably the best time to be extra friendly and say hi to every face that looks damn lost to put you higher up on the social pedestal. Here’s the deal though.. what you need to know, need to understand.. is the critical importance of being able to distinguish and draw a very clear line between friendship and work. It won’t always be the wisest decision to group up with your friends to do projects, simply for friendship convenience, because that may be the very catalyst that destroys your friendship. Put it bluntly, some friends are fun to be with but aren’t very good people to work with, while the ace students may or may not ever be your best friend; but they both deliver the goods in their respective roles. It ‘s up to you to decide what’s more important to you. So pick your friends and project mates wisely. Really. Every senior in any Poly will tell you this #1 rule.
2) Get a CCA.. this, will almost define your social and poly life. Try something new, do something you love or might fall in love with. Sign up for every CCA in existence and go for that first session(s) as much as your schedule can fit them in.. and then quit, quit, quit. Okay maybe quit is such a bastard way of putting it.. find what you might like or feel comfortable/excited to be in and stay. Seriously, go absolutely crazy on the CCA sign up dates though. You’ll get to meet many new people, seniors especially (it makes you feel more at ease knowing a senior in school, especially if they’re from your course).. even if it’s just from that one session of your “finding out what you might be interested in”. But don’t be a hero and try to stay active in more than 2 CCAs because every additional CCA after two, will probably be equivalent to the number of semesters more you’ll end up staying in school. But if attaining the “Long Service Award” is your ultimate goal, by all means.. be legendary.
3) Know the campus and the every day people. Your campus.. is an adventure playground waiting to be explored. There are all the different ghost stories of classrooms/toilets/
And by every day people.. I mean the cleaners, the security guards, the lady who serves you your favorite lunch, your lecturers! Lecturers. Welcome to the world where educators have more control and say over your grades than how it hardly was in follow-the-book-grading secondary school. Bottom line, be nice and stay in the good books of your lecturers. It really does make a difference (but please don’t be a fucking kiss-ass). Be nice and make the every day unsung heroes of campus, who keeps our school safe, clean and serve us our favorite food, feel appreciated. It really does make a huge difference to their day.
4) Social game and drama. You’ll soon realize that, whether you like it or not, life in Poly.. is an on-going social game and drama. You’ll judge. You will be judged. You’ll bitch and be bitched about. You’ll fuck up and others will backstab you when you least expect it. But, there will be the good drama as well. You might meet people or create the most beautiful memories in the most unlikely time, place or person. So go with an open mind, but be constantly aware.. not just of others but what you say/try too hard to do or become yourself. I’ll say this again, politics and drama are inevitable. But just remember.. you either control it, know how to react/respond to it, or let it control and possibly even ruin you. Don’t.
5) Fashion. No more uniforms = joy of wearing what you want, right? Not entirely. Soon, your selection from your wardrobe will start depleting. You’ll go through the whole, “what should I wear/wore that last week” dilemma or feel pressured to constantly dress up because your clique/others seem to do that on a daily basis. Well, here’s what might be a comforting reality.. it’s always usually just a first year thing. You’ll know, especially in the first week of school, who the freshmen are, simply by the amount of makeup or effort they put into “dressing up for school”. But hey freshmen, keep up with tradition and make school your fashion runway.. the seniors either appreciate the various styles on show or will judge you (don’t worry, your turn will come when the next batch of freshmen comes in). How do you know who the seniors are? They are the ones who seriously do not give a fuck even if they wore pajamas to school.. because by the time you get into third year, final year projects and deadlines pretty much takes over your life. Hmm.. but if you’d really like a tip to surviving this whole wardrobe/style dilemma.. its simple, dress what you like or makes you comfortable. Just please, please, please try to avoid the flip flops? The best day(s) to dress up, or at least better than every other day.. are lecture days. Especially if there’s that cute guy/girl you want to catch the attention of. Flip flops won’t positively aid your attempt. At all.
6) Now, classes. Academics. You’ll probably have this reactive urge to skip this whole point.. believe me, I disliked this part very much myself. If you want to do well or at least decent in school though.. you need to understand that as cool as life in poly might or can be, your grades matter and should be of priority. You’re definitely going to have days where you get bombarded with projects and tests all at once.. the “secret” to surviving this, is to try not to procrastinate too much. Emphasis on try. Not. To. Procrastinate. Too. Much. Because you will. 100%. It’s like the way of life for every single Poly student.. then, your stress level will hit a new high, and you’ll start cursing and swearing, bitching about your lecturers/project mates, rushing to print stuff just before the last minute of your deadline. Fml, fml, fml will be the word of the deadline/exams week. But seriously, everything will not be so bad if you plan out your work schedule in advance and work within your own imposed deadlines. Then again, Facebook/tumblr/blogshops will still and always be the ultimate seducer and procrastination the undisputed bitch. F.our.lives.
7) Every bloody semester counts. Unlike in Secondary school where you can practically mess around for 4/5 years and still ace your O Levels, the only one that really matters.. its different in a Polytechnic because every semester for the next three years count towards your final graduating GPA. So essentially, if you screw up even just one of your six semesters.. you’re only going to make your own life and entry to Universities harder. Taking the Polytechnic route makes it almost impossible to get into University is the biggest stereotypical misconception though. It’s bullshit (read till the end and you’ll understand what I mean). Trust me, you can very easily earn your spot in a University after your Polytechnic education.. just remember and constantly remind yourself from your VERY FIRST assignment/test/project, that EVERYTHING is accumulative and will be reflected in your results at the end of three years.
8) That said, you don’t have to turn on or be in the super-competitive nerd mode all the time. In fact, you can still do well even if you skip classes. Just make sure you cut the right classes. As tempting as it might sometimes be to skip lectures and go hang out with your mates some place else instead.. you need to first know what’s going to be up in that particular lecture. There are the important lecture topics that will definitely be tested on during the exams (you must not miss those lectures) and then there are the ones that are quite a waste of time (but that’s just my opinion). If you’re planning to skip what you think might be the “unimportant” lectures, keep track of your “skip class” quota. Because once your attendance falls below the expected percentage, you might have to retake the module the following semester instead. You really don’t want that happening. Oh, tip.. don’t ever skip the last few lectures before the semester ends! A lot of people will usually skip classes then to mug for papers but that’s when your lecturers will be giving the most exam hints.. so, if you want to skip, skip smart.
9) Don’t waste your money on textbooks.. they cost a bomb and you hardly ever use them (but this might be subjective to your course of study). If you can, ask around and try to borrow textbooks and (especially) notes from your seniors. Those are the real treasures. Modules and syllabus usually stay the same for three years at least, so your seniors have already been there done that, and you’ll know what to expect. Come exam revision time, practice on past year’s/semester’s exam papers; there’s a certain repetitive pattern to every cycle’s exam paper.. if you manage to figure that out, you’ll almost definitely know what will be tested on and it’ll save you so much time and effort to focus on what will come out instead of studying topics that won’t even appear in the papers at all. The other easier way is to just pay attention in lectures and do your tutorials.. if you actually manage to grasp the topic the first time, you’ll find revision a lot easier, even if you do it 10 weeks later.
10) But don’t make your school life all about grades. You know, as you enter this new journey that is to be the next 3 years of your life, people will probably advice you to just “be yourself and not somebody else”. To the freshmen in particular, I won’t exactly say don’t try to be somebody else.. no, if you really want to, try to be somebody else. Being in this whole new environment allows you the perfect opportunity to do that.. and in the process, perhaps you’ll learn and find out who you really are or not. That would be the time to stand up strong and proud being who you are. It’s only through trying that you’ll ever know.. so go step out of your comfort zone, go crazy, go socialize, go party, go experiment, go fucking live life itself! Because after that, you start work proper and forever, you’re off to serve the nation or a University out of Singapore, etc, and that’s a whole different ball game altogether. For now, go make your 3 years in Poly something to remember.
Share this with your friends/freshies if you’d like to or feel free to add your own survival secrets!
Ps: The people you see in this picture.. it’s probably safe to say that the bunch of us lived our Poly lives in that manner as mentioned in the above 10 points. And if you’re curious to know where that led us to and how it all ended up after our Poly lives.. 3 are currently in NTU, 2 in NUS, 1 in NIE, another 2 got accepted to colleges in the UK and one even got accepted to Harvard. You could be next.. it’s your own story waiting to be written :)
pps: For those of you who are wondering.. yes, I wrote this in the mood of the whole Poly academic year starting all over Singapore again and how the ones who've been there and done that started out from that stage, lost confused and afraid, and yet we "survived".. so this is like a reminiscence and passing-on kinda piece.
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