Nicole Bernadette

When I write reports, I feel like I'm carrying out surgery. Maybe it's because I'm being meticulous, or maybe it's just because I'm weird. Probably the latter.

Anyway, what a way to start this blog post - absolutely morbidly - just like how the second half of this semester was for me.

I'm being dramatic, it probably wasn't so bad. But it was definitely challenging.

On the first day of this semester, I was greeted with a slap on my face. My teacher told me that I was not meeting expectations and I have not done very well during the first half. I cried (what's new) but quickly took action to improve.
That same day, 25th June 2018, I deleted several apps from my phone including Instagram, PUBG, Twitter, YouTube and more. I eliminated them because they were a source of distraction for me - and I didn't want that. I couldn't afford to have that.

Following the deletion of the apps, I worked hard and stayed as focus as I could.

Fast forward more than a month, I survived without Instagram for approximately 43 days! I'm actually quite impressed and proud of myself because Instagram and I used to be inseparable. But

Source: https://media1.tenor.com/images/c6e249926e0174b8aaf3175649e92338/tenor.gif?itemid=4969734

My my, so much has happened in 6+ weeks.
First off, I kind of rekindled my faith. It's shaky, but it's there. I feel like I've been so doubtful, fearful, and shameful the previous few months - but meeting up with my precious friend Melissa and great church leader Kenji has helped me realise how cool, loving and forgiving God is.

Also, in my post about the previous term, I mentioned that I needed to make a website and be in an MOE video for web design and development. I think I can talk a little more about it now since the video is out on MOE's Instagram, YouTube channel and it's even being featured on an Instagram advert. High-key embarrassed because I don't look very glamorous. Nonetheless, it's pretty cool.

The link to the Instagram post is here.
The link to the full video on YouTube is here.

My my, how time flies.

The applications in the picture above were the torture devices for this semester.

Year 1 was such a roller coaster ride and let me just continue from where I left off in my First Semester in IT post. At the time, I hadn't gotten back my results for the first semester yet but all I can say is - I did better than what I expected and I'm very, very thankful that my hard work paid off.


For this second semester, which completes my first year in polytechnic, I personally feel like it was more manageable. Perhaps it's because I've already adjusted to the system and I know how to manage my time better. Another factor could've also been the fact that web development is more manageable compared to mobile application development.

This post will be me rambling and giving a summary of the semester 1.2 and my first year in TP IT.

These were the modules I took for this semester:

• IT Security Essentials (ITSE)
• The Essentials of Persuasive Presentations (CMSK)
• Digital Devices and Systems (DDSY)
• Data Structures and Algorithms (DSAG)
• Coding and Testing (CODT) + Database Application Development (DBAV) + Application Development Project (ADEV)
• Sports & Wellness
• Introduction to Language & Culture (French)

ITSE was fun during the first half of the semester. There was a project where we had to talk about cyber security and such - I made a video on Ransomware Growth which captured some attention from the teachers, I think HAHA. But one of my philosophies when it comes to school work is to make yourself feel like:

In a good way of course, haha. I think you'll get what I mean after you watch my video for one of my ITSE projects. Here's the link to the embarrassing video.
It was good because teachers knew me but bad because it put me under a lot of pressure due to the expectations which the teachers had for me. I'm honestly not sure what grade I'll get for this module but I'm hoping that I won't be too disappointed.

CMSK is a compulsory module which I'll have to endure till year 2 ends. It's not too bad but it's still a cause of stress - especially when a presentation comes around. Speaking of presentations, I feel like my presenting skills have improved by leaps and bounds. I no longer feel as nervous and I feel like I'm able to memorise my script much better. I'm also a little more comfortable with improvising on the spot. It feels good :)

DDSY, from what I heard, was a pain for a lot of people. I'm no exception. Nothing much to say but this module was stressful. I'm just hoping for the best.

CODT, DBAV and ADEV made up one cluster of subjects and the final project for those three modules was a website. The previous semesters major project was a mobile application - this semester was focused on web design and development. The theme for the website was food and beverage so, being a vegan foodie in the past, I decided to make a website selling vegan food and I made use of my past food pictures.

Sports & Wellness was implemented the year I entered poly. I thought it would be a chore but it was actually really fun. There were many laughs - like the one time we played netball and I got body slammed by a classmate and fell HAHA, and doing pilates with the girls - I really enjoyed S&W.

French was my cross-disciplinary subject (CDS). I won't go into the details but CDS is essentially a compulsory module that a student has to take which is unrelated to their core course of study. For example, if I'm an IT student, my CDS cannot be related to IT.
French was so fun and I really loved learning the language and the culture. I did rather well in the tests and role play presentation so it's reassuring to know that my CDS wasn't going to affect my GPA negatively. One of our assignment is to attend some French event outside school so I went to watch a French movie called Alone (Seuls) at Shaw Theatres during the French Film Festival.
Throwback to dusty blonde hair.

When I thought my French journey in school has concluded, I received news from the head-of-department of French that I got nominated for a French Alumni Award :')  One student from every institution receives the award and it is really such a honour to receive it. It's always so motivating when hard work pays off.
I think I'm going to continue learning French - it's truly such a beautiful language.
Woohoo :)

The first half of semester 1.2 was good, I was told by my care group teacher (form teacher) that I was doing very, very well. But I guess I got distracted during the second half of the semester. Things got difficult and then it got dull. I was more unstable and the assignments and tests in the second half were more taxing. Nonetheless, I did my best and I just kept going. And voila, I made it to the end of the year. and I'm praying that when the results come out in April, I won't be too disappointed. If I do badly, I believe that it'll be much-needed wake-up call.

I learnt a lot this semester, not just academically. I've made and strengthened a lot of friendships, especially within my class and I've learnt a lot about myself too. I won't go into too much detail but I think overall, this semester was a roller coaster ride. I met a lot of new people and encountered a lot of not-so-nice individuals that got me like:


But I've met some gems too and I think all the hurt I went through was worth it in the end :)

I actually filmed my reaction when I opened my results for the first semester, I'm planning on filming my reaction for this semester and the following semesters as well. Then I'm going to compile the clips into one video do a final reflection on my time in TP! I think it'll be fun to look back on :)

All in all, I really enjoyed my first year in poly and I'm proud of myself for persevering. I think it's so important to celebrate the small victories too! I'm also so grateful for the teachers and friends who've made this past year so much more enjoyable and amazing♥ Also really thankful for the unwavering support from my family♥♥♥

I'm enjoying my holiday so far. I recently performed with my secondary school string ensemble in Victoria Concert Hall. I have a vlog of the nonsense that went on behind the scenes leading up to the concert on the day itself on my YouTube channel. The link is here :)

I can't wait to keep doing enriching activities for myself and relax after a grueling first year, haha. Going to recharge for year 2, I definitely need all the rest and chill vibes I can get. In the meantime, I'll be eating, sleeping, going to the gym (been getting back my fitness) and spending time with loved ones♥
Last but certainly not the least, I'll be praying that my semester 1.2 results will be favourable, and if not then I'll also be praying that I won't be too disappointed.


That's all for this post, bye for now :)

[Source for all the gifs are Google]

The applications in the picture above were the tools IT used to slaughter me. It wasn't easy, but I made it. And in this post, I'll be sharing my thoughts on my poly experience so far. I realised there aren't many polytechnic students who talk or blog about being in IT so I thought it'd be cool to do it.

My dream would be to inspire more girls to pursue technology💕
Enough blabbering, here's the tea.
So much has happened since I last blogged. Let me address the biggest update first which is how did my first semester go?

It wasn't easy. I knew I'd be in a very male-dominated environment but I wasn't expecting it to affect me as much as it did. Let me talk a little bit about my background.
I studied in an all girls' school from primary school till secondary school. The only time I got to study with the male species after that was in my first year in JC (thank goodness for that or it'd take me so much longer to adapt to studying among so many guys in poly).

Let's talk about the gender ratio in my class. There are 4 girls out of the 26 people in class. I'm very thankful for the girls though, they make going to school fun. I'd group with the girls for almost every group project. Some guys are very friendly and helpful too which is great but some guys got us girls triggered nearly everyday. But I suppose you can find all sorts of people anywhere.

The first semester started off well. I felt like I had a good start and was on the right track.

I came into poly with big dreams but having experienced the first term, I'd be delighted to come out of poly with a 3.65 GPA, anything more would be a bonus. 

I have friends in business who are in their second year with a 3.95 GPA and I respect them so so much. Maybe IT is a very different ball game but wow. What a dream it'd be to have a GPA of 3.9+. Then again, business seems very content heavy and I can imagine the things they'd test - especially if economics is involved (*flashbacks to JC econs*).
Every course has its own struggles.

Anyway, IT is not easy because there is a lot to juggle during a short amount of time. I managed to do alright for the first term but when major submissions came around in term 2, there could be 3 submissions due on one day and 4 presentations in one week. On top of that, you have to make sure you're doing the weekly online quizzes for most subjects.

Some teachers also weren't very helpful, in my opinion. It's sad because if each student had gotten more individual attention and fostered a stronger student-teacher bond with the lecturers, the whole learning process would've been so much more enriching. But the teachers always seem to be so busy. The only means of communication with the teacher would be email (excluding calling their school phone number). Some teachers tend to reply late too which can be frustrating especially if you have a submission due around the corner.

On the other hand, there are some kind and patient teachers as well. If you kindly email a teacher for a consultation, more often than not they will meet up with you. You can request for a one-to-one consultation and really make sure you are getting the help you need in your assignment.

Also, be ready to spend a lot of time with your computer. If you are planning to do IT, make sure you have a good laptop because so much work will be done online.
Some subjects are e-learning subjects so there are no face-to-face lessons for them at all (a lot of students were frustrated that they basically paid the polytechnic to learn online instead of from teachers but that's the way it is I guess).
Many subjects also provide a lot of e-resources and when you do go for the face-to-face lesson, you feel like you've already learnt everything online and the teachers are just reading off the slides or repeating what you already know thanks to the e-learning. So no matter what, students are always going to complain. #guilty

I'll probably make a video or blog post about some tips when starting out poly, we'll see how it goes. I'll take a look at my GPA for this semester and see if I'm worthy to give advice, HAHA.

I'm currently waiting to get my results for the semester, I'm not sure when it'll come out but I'm so nervous. I doubt I did as well as I hoped, but there's nothing I can do to change my results now. I just have to do better from now on. 

So what kind of assignments/projects did we have to do?

I'm studying Information Technology in Temasek Polytechnic. During the first semester, we had these diploma modules:

• Logic and Mathematics (LOMA)
• Statistics and Analytics (SANA)
• Computational Thinking (COMT)
• User Experience and Interface Design (UXID) 
• Network Technology (NETY)
• Business Information Systems (BUIS)
• IT Law and Ethics (ITLE)

ITLE was 100% e-learning.

UXID was fun because it had some design elements involved which I enjoyed.

The subjects which I really struggled in were COMT and NETY.
COMT is basically the subject where the bulk of our coding was done. We were tasked to create a music player app and it was honestly quite difficult.
It's so important to not get influenced by other people in class because some have coding experience- good for them, they put in the time and effort to learn - they better be better than you (for now at least).
Students who went to ITE have a huge advantage when it comes to NETY because that's what they did most of in ITE, so don't be intimidated when they are good at it, again, - they better be.
Just keep up with the school work and you should be fine. Classmates are also usually very helpful so don't be afraid to ask for help - this is so important.

As I mentioned previously, I had to make a music player application for COMT. My music player application turned out fine, I suppose. I had the main basic features like a signup page, login page, music player page with several buttons like play, pause, next, previous, shuffle etc. but I couldn't manage to get a lot of my more advanced functions to work which really stressed me out. I kept comparing my application to others which were so much more aesthetically pleasing and advanced but in the end, I decided to just work with what I have and do what I can. I'm hoping for a B at least (please).

Whenever the emulator/app crashes, I felt my heart sink and shrivel in my chest. I felt so immobilized whenever something went wrong. 

Very often you don't know what's wrong and that makes it so much scarier. That's IT for you and I quote my teacher, "It's only the beginning." 

I told myself that I'm going to work on my coding during the holidays and that's what I've been doing since the holidays started :)

I have stayed up quite a few nights on the brink of panicking when my app doesn't work. I have broken down a couple of times and one of those times was in school. I've never felt this worried about my work before, not even in JC. I've come to realize that the more you care, the more stress you get. It's not about which post-secondary path is more difficult or stressful, because there will be stress wherever you go as long as you care about what you do.

Does being a girl in IT have any benefits?
Some teachers have the tendency to be a little less comfortable with girls, simply because they're not used to teaching girls too so they'd be more careful with their words and gentler in how they explain things. But that's a small percentage of teachers and it's not all the time.

Most of the time, if not all, how a teacher views you is not so much dependent on your gender but how you behave. A lot can be said about your character from the tiniest mannerisms and habits so I'd say to be mindful of how you behave around teachers, especially in the first term so that you're able to make a good first impression- the perception your teacher has of you tends to stay for quite a while.

But think about it, how cool is it to be a girl in such a male-dominated industry? Girls in technology are such a rare commodity and you'll definitely stand out amongst the many other male applicants during a scholarship or university interview.

It's a benefit because, at the moment, it's uncommon.
But it's funny how an advantage can also be a disadvantage - the lack of females in IT is shunning more females from entering IT which makes it a vicious cycle.
But I guess what I'm trying to say is - be proud and confident in what you do, no matter what you choose to pursue.


How have I improved so far?
I've definitely learnt a lot regarding IT but I've also learnt a lot about myself and improved some personal skills.

1. For one, my typing skills on the computer has improved by leaps and bounds. 
2. I also discovered what study techniques work for me. 
3. I've definitely improved my public speaking skills due to the array of presentations we had to do. 
4. I'm much more comfortable around people because of orientation and having to make new friends.
5. I'm much more comfortable around guys - I remember crying in JC one time because I was so shook by the new species that is boys. But I honestly treat some of the guys in class like gal pals HAHA. Very thankful for some helpful guys in my class though, honestly.
6. I'm better at managing my time and prioritizing.
7. I've found my motivation and that has allowed me to really push myself to do the best I can.

Do I regret dropping out of JC to go poly?
Ultimately, no. But I've been doing more research and recently discovered some amazing YouTubers from UK who are very intelligent and going to top universities like Cambridge, Oxford, Durham, Harvard etc. and I kind of regret not staying in JC to do A-levels.
The A-levels, if done well, can get you to so many good places. With that being said, I felt that I wouldn't be able to perform well for A-levels at that time due to my lack of motivation and purpose which is why I made the decision to go poly.

Now that I'm in poly, studying a field which I have interest in and having a goal in mind (I'll make another blog post about my goal hehe), I feel so motivated to do my best.

Being in poly has its drawbacks when it comes to future prospects but in the long run, if you're able to do well in poly, you're as qualified as any JC student.

In conclusion, this first semester in Information Technology hasn't been easy and I felt like giving up on IT a few times. I questioned myself if this was really what I wanted - so many people have also told me that I don't seem like an IT person. But I pulled through and now that the stress is gone and I've been able to collect my thoughts, I am quite certain that I enjoy what I'm doing.


That's all for this post, bye for now! :)