Hello, I'm Miho
I'm a final year student studying Electrical and Computer Engineering in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, but I'm actually older than most! I'm 22 this year as I went to ITE College East studying Information Technology for 2 years before I went to Poly. I always had a lot of questions about what school life is like but could not not find any answers as I didn't have friends who went to SOE and forums like on Reddit gave very generic answers so I hope I can answer some of your questions and offer some guidance if you are also interested in coming to SOE!
My most memorable experience of Poly
My most memorable experience of Poly was definitely when I had to go on a trip to Nanjing in China, with Ngee Ann under one of the OIP (Overseas Immersion Programme) that the school offers. During the trip I completed two modules, one core and one elective module which made the next semester of school dramatically easier as I had less school hours which was important for me as I was working part time, which meant I had more time to work. It was a very unique experience as part of the Immersion part of the programme we went to visit places like the famous bund in Shanghai, and it was also the first time I travelled out of the country without my parents for a long period of time as the trip was around 6 weeks long. It was actually really fun as well as we had lessons in the University of Nanjing and were staying in the dorms near the school and I would cycle to my class everyday with my friends living in the same dorm as me. I enjoyed learning about the culture and the way of life of the people there and all the authentic chinese food I got to try and made a lot of new friends I otherwise wouldn't have if not for the trip. I would really recommend anyone who gets the opportunity, to go for the OIP as its a unique experience and its alot more fun than it sounds. The school also provides alot of financial help if you meet their criterias for it, if you're someone who is worried about the financial aspect of the trip.
Is it possible to work part time during poly?
The answer is yes! With some good time management and discipline it is possible but I personally did not have time to squeeze in taking up a CCA as well as I worked at least 30 hours a week at my part time job. I currently part time at a small cafe near school as a barista making specialty coffee and I am also their social media manager as well. I also take up some freelance photography jobs mainly for menu and food photos. Before I went to Poly, I was searching around everywhere for a picture or a idea of the timetable of what school hours would be like so I could have a sense of an idea of how to plan my time to work part time, as I paid for school on my own and had to also earn my own pocket money and had to help pay for bills at home too, I have posted a few pictures of my timetable to help some of you have an idea of what school hours is like. My advice to anyone wanting or needing to work part time and go to school full time is to always plan your schedule in advance and to find a part time job that pays decently well and to do something that you enjoy or you may suffer from lack of motivation and burn out . Usually even at the start of the semester most of if not all the modules will post the teaching schedule and when the common tests and final exams will be held, either with the notes or on MEL, for me personally I would plan my study and work schedule weeks in advance using the teaching schedule, taking notes of the dates of important tests and informing my manager in advance on the days or weeks I wouldn't be able to work earlier. Doing this, I made sure I had enough time leading up to my tests or exams to study and also I made sure that I had also earned enough money and when to budget in advance because of the days or weeks that I couldn't work. My GPA did not suffer and honestly I did as well as most of my peers, so don't feel like you're disadvantaged from needing to work, it is definitely possible to do well in school and have a part time job.
Advice I would give anyone starting their first semester
What everyone says about how important the first semester for your GPA is, is actually extremely true. Before I went to poly, I was actually in ITE for 2 years, so adapting to the style of how poly works like lectures and tutorials was actually quite difficult for me at the start. Contrary to popular belief, you do need to put in effort into studying in poly as well, finding a good group of friends that can motivate you to study more and help you out at subjects you aren't good at goes a long way. For most of the electives modules I took, most of them have at least a group project portion, so be sure to work on your communication skills and most importantly contribuite as well for your projects, as there will also be peer evaluation for most of these projects.
