IND Graduates - Part Three of Three

Hey y’all! Jaiden here once again! This is the last part – Sadly.. *sniffs* - of our coverage of the IND graduates & their reflections.

This last reflection is from IND graduate, Eugene Neo.

Reflection from Eugene Neo:

Needless to say, my most memorable experience in IND is being able to know a bunch of good friends and classmates. We work together, play together, eat together, hang out together and undertake projects together. Doing project work that requires grouping with other classmates certainly performed its task in helping us to bond. The memorable APEL – Applied Principles of Effective Living - class also played a part. Also, the fun-loving lecturers helped in creating a very beautiful experience in my poly life.

Although it's sad to say the programming languages and programs that we have been taught in school is rather different from what the industry is using, I feel that IND actually prepared us for the real world by imparting skills that are required in the industry like communication skills and allowing us to have valuable experiences from internship and lecturers sharing their experience.

If you want to go university, go to a JC. That is like the easiest route to university in my opinion. But well, even though I forsook JC for a polytechnic even though my aim never changed, it is to get into university. So for those of you, who have an aim to go to university like me, play hard! And work harder! Aim for a diploma with merit! It will open up a lot of door in university!

There is much more stress and it is very fast paced. It will be quite a struggle to keep up even if you are very good in your polytechnic life. It is like knowledge bombardment everyday.

Weekdays are all tutorials, labs and lectures in your mind every hour.

There are computing in NUS or computer science or engineering in NTU. That will be like the mainstream degree for it diploma although I know a friend who was from IND who went to a business course in NUS.

Well, wasn’t that interesting? We’ve come a long way. I hope that this coverage is useful for y’all aspiring IMI students out there!

& wow, even this post, the content corroborates with the other posts. Therefore, it is safe to say that no matter what you do, just work hard. Put effort into everything you do, & before y'know it, the fruits of your labour will be borne.

Thank you Marcus, Guan Hong & Eugene for sharing your marvelous experiences in IND & TP itself!

There, those were three very interesting, informative & summative reflections of how TP & IND – now IMI – is like. Get the urge to join this big family of TP yet?

Alright, it’s time for me to go off.

Y’know y’love me, XOXO.

Gossip J, Your source for all information IMI related, & more.

IND Graduates- Part Two of Three

Hey y’all! Jaiden here again! This is part two of our posts on the IND graduates & their reflections!

The reflection showcased today is from IND graduate, Guan Hong.

Reflection from Guan Hong:

The most memorable experience that I had in IND was probably the first week of school in IND. I could feel that the dreadful stress of the ‘O’ Levels were over and I could finally study something that I enjoy.

Throughout the course in IND, I had several opportunities to hone both my technical and creative skills. It definitely has prepared me for my future career in many ways. The special thing about IND compared to the other IT courses is that it allows us to explore not just the technical aspect of computing, but also to realise the creativity in all of us. In this way, we could find out what we truly would enjoy to do and further on it.

If all a student wants is to get a degree, then the mission is simple - be a GPA aimer. As long as your GPA is high enough, you could easily get into university. However, if the student doesn't believe in spending 90% of his time on academic studies and prefers hands-on, I think probably getting into a liberal school that also offers a decent degree is more ideal.

The difference between university and polytechnic is huge. In polytechnic, the pace was a lot more digestible compared to the lessons being conducted in university, at NUS at least. A lot of independent learning is also required. The workload is definitely many times heavier than polytechnic. In short, university is surely not a playground, especially for those who wish to do more than just academic studies in their life.

Generally, life in university is hectic and tough. This is just my opinion though. Probably the minority elites would think otherwise.

While many IND students, including myself, prefer to go into a more creative aspect of computing, it seems many still ended up in very technical computing courses in university. Although IND and IMI are courses under the umbrella of IT school, it does not restrict us to only the IT related majors in university. A few of my friends and myself are victims of this ignorance and it is totally a great pain in our ass. I believe IMI and IND students could explore other majors in university too. As mentioned above, this is the unique thing about IND and IMI students - We are given a chance to explore on both the technical and creative aspects of computing.

Thank you Guan Hong for this wonderfully precinct summation of how TP & IMI is like! Does this inspire any one out there to join us here in TP?

One thing I noticed from this reflection of Guan Hong that corroborates with Marcus’s reflection is that university life is hectic. Therefore, my point still stands. One has to work hard to be able to achieve their goals. Without hard work, nothing will be achieved.

Alright, time for me to sign out.

Y’know y’love me, XOXO.

Gossip J, Your source for all information IMI related, & more.

IND Graduates - Part One of Three

Hey y’all!

Jaiden here again! This is part one of three posts that link the reflections of three IND – That’s what IMI was formerly known as! – graduates about the course itself, & how the course affected, & helped them in their lives.

This reflection today is from IND graduate Marcus Su.

Reflection from Marcus Su:

My most memorable experience in IND was during my final year when I was involved in several projects simultaneously. At that time, I was working on an educational multiplayer intranet game, a mobile voting application and my major project, a online game for Ministry of Finance. I would admit that the stress was tremendous, but it gave me great exposure and opportunity to put my skills to good use. I also saw how many of my lecturers never fail to help me in terms of mentorship.

Temasek Polytechnic's Infomatics and IT School focused on building the student's ability to seek new knowledge and skills as an independent learner, and providing sufficient technical and presentation skills to kick start a career in the IT industry. Students would be able to get an entry level IT job after graduating from the diploma, but given the ever-changing nature of our field of study, we need to constantly upgrade our skill set and keep up with the times in order to be competitive. Therefore, it really depends a lot on the attitude of the student.

To be more competitive especially with the majority of university students being from Junior Colleges, do pick up more advanced Mathematics not covered in TP, such as Calculus, on your own free time. The other aspect to work on would be to learn to be flexible and proactive.

In university, technical skills are considered a given and thus they are looking more of the ability to achieve higher order thinking. It is no longer only about facts and figures, but knowing how and when to apply our skills on what. We are given a lot of power in shaping our own learning as well. But as the saying goes, great power comes great responsibilities. It is a fast-paced, self-directed and deep learning experience. Students can choose to go into multimedia or computer science courses.

Thank you Marcus for that marvellously informative reflection. Let’s hope that this information will be relevant to any of you aspiring IMI students out there!

My pick out of this whole assortment of meats is that it does not really matter whether you go to a polytechnic or junior college to go to university, it merely requires a lot of effort to be put in & that you stay focused on your eventual goal of going to university for your degree.

As Mad Eye Moody would say, constance vigilance!

Y’know y’love me, XOXO.

Gossip J, Your source for all information IMI related, & more.

Botaks!

Clarence and Kim Choon came by to visit and "show off" their new hairdo (after much persuasion of course). Yo, IND alumni, if you have photos to share, esp the botaks one, do email us ok :)