The Poly Experience.

Just read a post about how tough JC life was for a girl who studied in HCJC. (Here you go.) Sure, JC life is tough, but being a polytechnic student isn't easy either. Many people stereotype poly students as a "slacker" or someone who doesn't like to study. Quit the stereotypes cos poly life ain't that simple.

As poly students, we have to cope with the huge load of work that's segmented to the following - homework, projects, presentations, exam papers. Let's not forget the percentages of all of these segments. Except for homework, all these segments consists of 20% to 40% of our modules. Homework and attendance consists of 5% to 15% of our modules. What's worse is that the deadlines for projects and presentations normally are really close to the exam papers and everything just cluster together which make everyone panic like hell and people would just start spamming on Facebook and Twitter about how stressful they are. Not blaming them, cos that's what I do too when I'm really stressed out. I just spam. Well, it's just probably what most teenagers would do these days.

For me, since year 1, I've been stressful. I hate studying and hate going to school. (I still do now.) I'd rather work now and slowly work my way up the ranks. But I can't. Because no one can survive with just an O-level certificate. This is Singapore. This is reality. And it sucks so badly cos studying is the last thing I would want to do right now.

In school, everyone wears really nice clothes and everyone just judge you based on what you wear. So I started going shopping every holiday just to get pretty clothes and not get judged. You may say that I'm living on the comments of others. I don't mind, cos that's the truth. I started wearing heels to school. I wore dresses more often than ever. I spend more money on clothes now than before. I know it is a burden on my father but I can't help it. This whole 'judgemental' thing has taken a toll on me, no doubt.

When I miss lessons, I'd ask my classmates what they did and whether there's any homework and stuff. And well, all I can say is just be careful about who you're asking. Some would tell you they did nothing in class while some would say there ain't any homework. Of course, there're the good ones who'd tell you everything they did in class. Lecturers would start asking why have I been missing lessons and the school would send letters regarding the attendance issue. My reasons for not going to school? I can't wake up on time, I'm lazy to go to school and I don't even like going to school.

I was denied of modules regarding filming. Twice. The first time was because I missed the minimum GPA of 3.0 by 0.02. Yes, just 0.02 and I was out of the list. The second time was because I didn't choose concentration on Radio and TV Production but I stated TV Production as my first choice. Under Radio and TV Production, there were 3 modules. TV Production, Radio Production and Broadcast Journalism. To concentrate on it means I have to study all 3 modules. I didn't want to study about Broadcast Journalism that was why I did not choose to concentrate on Radio and TV Production. However, due to popular demand, I didn't manage to get into the filming class but was shifted to a design class instead. I chose SP because I wanted to learn about filming but now, I am denied of the chance to learn about filming. And my dream job just drifts further away from me.

And then, there's the stress from personal life. No one's life would be smooth. It just depends on how you handled it. Well, I handle mine badly, to be honest. I remember myself crying in class one fine day out of a sudden. And everyone thought Abraham (classmate who was sitting beside me at that time) made me cry or something. Till now, I still can't handle stress well. I'll probably come to learn how to do it, or not even at all. No one would know. But let's just hope that I will.

No student would lead a good life in Singapore, trust me. Because the education system has turned Singaporeans and PRs into servants of the system. They have to work hard for the system or they'd suffer in the future. It's not the message that the Singapore government is giving, but it is something we all know. We are controlled by the education system. If we do not complete the education system, we would get either low-wage jobs like cleaners and if we do, we would probably earn big bucks. So what students can do now is to just study their ass off and get at least a Diploma in order to get out of schools and work. Some may even study after a few years of working cos they find that a mere Diploma doesn't help.

I still haven't figured out what I wanna work as in the future because filming seems impossible now. Also, I do like designing but my designs have been criticised since.. forever, which makes my confidence in my designs to decrease. Event management seems interesting but my group recently got the lowest grade for FYP. It seems like whatever I study, I can't excel in it. And I keep wondering if this course was the right one for me. I'm starting to regret choosing this course. But I can't do anything about it anymore but to just hang on and go through the last year. After this, I'll not be a slave to the education system anymore, hopefully.

Alright, sorry for the super lengthy post. Took me two days to actually finish up this post because there were just too many thoughts and I prefer to blog at night, so yeah. Thanks for reading, lovelies! :)