It’s a rite of passage for those who are sitting their O Levels to talk about where they want to go after secondary school. I was at the same crossroads three years ago, together with a lot of my friends, deciding between enrolling in a junior college and polytechnic. My friends and I spoke to everyone – from older siblings to teachers to tuition teachers – just to find out which choice was better for us.
In my case, ultimately, I chose to go to polytechnic as I felt that its hands-on curriculum suited me better, as I was more of a “need to experience to learn” person than a “read and memorise” student. Besides, there were many perks that polytechnic life offered that sounded great – until I experienced it for myself. Here are five freedoms that took me a while to get used to.
1. No uniforms = more freedom or more thinking?
Having the freedom to wear whatever I wanted to school sounded amazing. But as it turned out, I wasn’t ready to think about what I had to wear to school every single day. There were days when it felt nice and was a no-brainer to wear my new clothes or shoes, but oftentimes, I found myself staring at my closet for more than 10 minutes and saying to myself, “I have nothing to wear!”
As the school year progressed, I realised no one really cares about what we wear; I’ve even seen people going to school in shark slippers. After three weeks, I then started to warm up to this relaxed and casual lifestyle, and threw on whatever I felt like wearing that day, be it a new top or an overworn oversized shirt. This taught me it does not matter what I wear to school, as long as I feel comfortable and confident in it.
Almost a month after I started my first term in polytechnic, I started adopting the mantra of “comfort comes first” when it came to clothes.
2. Four-hour-long breaks to chill…by myself?
When I first received my timetable, I saw that I had a four-hour break between classes. At the start, I was worried about who I would spend those breaks with. My friends from secondary school had either gone to junior college or other courses in polytechnic, and I had not met anyone in class yet. I was also afraid I would not be able to make any friends due to my introverted self but I cheered myself up by thinking it would give me the time to eat, rest, and even go to the mall to shop.
Seniors often talk about how great it is to use long breaks to hang out with friends and find new activities to do together. But here I was, all alone. I spent first few days of four-hour-long breaks on my own. Within the first two hours, I had already done everything I could possibly do – have lunch, do my assignments, meet my friends from other schools and even sleep in the next class’ classroom. It was definitely not what I had expected.
Eventually, after making friends from my CCA and class, the long breaks began to fly by. My friends and I would often go to the nearby mall, cycle around Bedok Reservoir, play games, have lunch, and maybe even share the latest juicy news in school to take our mind off studying. And these breaks became the time where I formed some of my best memories in Poly.
My four-hour breaks flew by once I made new friends. We would do everything from working on assignments to having mookata during these times.
3. Being spoilt for choice in school, a foodie’s heaven
Polytechnic campuses are split into individual schools, within which are different canteens. It’s like heaven for a foodie like me, as I am spoilt for choice with a wide range of food – from chicken rice to Korean food. But then I also get torn between food stalls because I want to eat everything. In comparison with my secondary school experience, where I had a favourite stall, this is still a good “problem” to have. So, this wasn’t a hard transition.
4. A dynamic campus environment
Beyond filling my tummy, I also got served different energies at each school’s canteens. For example, School of Business always had someone doing a podcast or playing trending music through the speakers, while School of Design was filled with fashionistas all dressed up in different styles, from simple casual all the way to Y2K, streetwear and indie styles.
Add to that a campus that’s so huge it has its own gym and swimming pool, and being able to study modules tailored to your interests, and with no ringing school bells? Polytechnic life offered a whole new level of independence I had never experienced. I had to manage my own time and ensure I got to my scheduled class on time. At first, I would make sure that I buffered enough time to reach classes because I was learning to navigate the sprawling campus.
I also met people from diverse fields through CCAs and clubs, each invested in their own passions. It’s fascinating to hear my law-studying friends discuss case laws and legal principles, and surreal to realise that I might be talking to a future lawyer. I also met people who are older and more experienced than me and learnt from them.
However, there were times where I start to doubt myself while facing high-performing peers and those from other courses. But I just had to constantly remind myself that I am doing something I am passionate about now, and not compare myself with others.
In a way, polytechnic feels more like a thriving community club than a school.
I met really passionate people, including a talented bunch of theatre/acting lovers in my Teatro (Spanish for theatre) CCA (left), and my film-making course mates (right).
5. Getting real-world exposure too soon?
“Internship” is not a word I was unfamiliar with, and it’s also one of the many things polytechnics offered that I wanted to try. But I had also only ever worked part-time jobs serving bubble tea and as a cashier during my school holidays. So, I never thought I would be ready for a full-time job while still studying. If you told 13-year-old me that in six years, I would be working full-time at the Ministry of Education (MOE), I wouldn’t have believed you—but here I am, and it is definitely a different ballgame.
At the start of my four-month-long internship, I was afraid I would not be able to get the hang of working full-time and having meetings. Now I know I doubted myself too soon because I did eventually adapt to the situation, by working things out step by step and slowly getting the hang of the job scope.
Internship taught me that the work we do have a bigger impact compared to school assignments. In school, for example, missing deadlines just meant a minor drop in grades. But at an internship, doing the same could affect the entire company and team negatively. I also learnt to adapt to workplace etiquette and team dynamics as my interactions went beyond classmates and lecturers, to supervisors, bosses and clients.
Meeting Minister Chan Chun Sing was not something I thought I could check off my bucket list so soon!
Of course, my internship wasn’t all stressful. I got to meet fun colleagues who shared stories about their lives—like bringing their kids to theme parks, going on holidays, and what it’s like being a working parent! It was interesting to hear about things I could never ask my friends. Through them, I also unexpectedly learnt to appreciate my parents more, as I could now see how they tackled the challenges of being working parents.
Despite the learning curve, which was steeper compared to studying in polytechnic, I had a lot of positive learning experiences and I believe as long as you are eager to take on a challenge and step out of your comfort zone, internship would be a great experience to have.
Commemorating the last day of my internship.
So, was Polytechnic the right choice for me?
Transitioning from being in a scheduled and strict environment to a place I have to learn a host of new things independently, like navigating websites such as Brightspace, which includes our subject information and assignment briefs for each module, and Microsoft Outlook, to keep up to date with school happenings and assignment deadlines, as well as information from lecturers, wasn’t easy. It was tough having so much more freedom than expected in my first semester, but now that I’m in my final year of poly, I cannot imagine going back to a strict timetable like my secondary school days.
The range of experiences that polytechnics offer definitely changed me for the better in becoming more independent and having confidence in myself and the work I do – but it isn’t for everyone, so it’s definitely something to consider if you are at the same crossroads.
Photos courtesy of: Regina Ho
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