Transitioning from a phase of life to another is never easy!
We interviewed Deborah and Joelle from Singapore Polytechnic (SP) as they shared about the preparation they did before starting their poly journeys (:
PolyParcel (PP): Hello! Please introduce yourselves(:
Deborah: Hello I’m Deborah from SP Architecture, year 1! ((:
Joelle: Hello I’m Joelle from SP Optometry, year 1!
PP: What were some of the fears that you had about coming to poly?
Deborah: When I came to poly, I had fears and doubts like, “Will I be able to make friends in poly?” and “Will I be able to adjust and adapt to poly life properly?”. I was also quite fearful of people backstabbing me because many seniors have warned me about it before. I’m very thankful that my course isn’t one of those.
Joelle: At first, I was afraid that I couldn’t make friends in poly. But when I entered n poly, I got to meet people from various backgrounds from all around the island. I was worried that I was unable to relate to them as we had few things in common (e.g. no mutual friends, having different places where we usually hangout, etc).
Another thing was the fear of not being able to adapt to the academic structure in poly, especially since there are more projects than exams.
PP: How did you deal with those fears?
Deborah: When it comes to making friends, I learnt to deal with my fears with these 2 things:
1. Openness
I came to understand the need to be open because not all the friends you make are gonna stay by you forever. I had high expectations that I will be closer to the friends I made during group projects in the Home Based Learning (HBL) season.
However, when I went back to school, I realised that everyone was still trying to find their group of friends. Friends will come and go through the seasons. Learn to hold your friends close but loosely, so that when they leave, you wouldn’t be too devastated.
2. Be yourself
Instead of trying to change myself to be more well-liked (e.g. being super positive) or putting myself out there, I decided to just be myself, to be comfortable in my own skin.
I’ve also come to realise how important it is to be independent and to establish your own set of values when it comes to fitting into poly culture. The culture in poly is what you make it to be, there is no standardised culture. Unlike secondary school, you need to stand on your own two feet and live by your own life principles. If not, you're gonna be very swayed by how your friends or even how your lecturers think.
Joelle: One thing I tried doing was to step out of my comfort zone to make friends. Even though we did not have orientation, we could still connect with each other through our class’ WhatsApp chat groups.
I am usually not the kind of person who will initiate conversations in group chats. However, I decided to do it so that I can make some friends during the HBL period. When we started going back to school, I wasn’t very close to the friends that I made through text. It took a while to get to know everyone and slowly as the months went by, I got to meet friends whom I am able to click with.
When it comes to projects, I tried my best to contribute even though it’s not really my thing. I made the effort to be present for discussions and be active in it by sharing my thoughts without my group mates prompting. This helped in making my presence known to them. The last thing that I want to be is to be a burden to my group mates.
PP: What were some things that were helpful (and not helpful) while preparing to go to poly?
Deborah: Understanding the reality of poly really helped me to develop an independent mindset. I went into poly knowing that poly life was going to be completely different from secondary school.
The lecturers are not gonna handhold you as tightly as the teachers in secondary school and that I had to be responsible for my own learning. This understanding came from seniors who shared their poly experience, which gave me an insight of what poly life is really like.
However, there was some advice that I’ve heard that wasn’t as useful for me. For example, many seniors warned me about how their friends and/or classmates backstabbed them while working on projects and assignments. It was a struggle for me to trust my classmates initially due to what they said.
I also had the privilege to know some of my course and school mates before entering poly as some of them are my friends from primary school. They allowed me to be able to ease in more easily as I had someone to talk to, making it less awkward.
Joelle: Participating in the Poly Preparation Programme* (PPP) was helpful for me! It was the first group of people that I met before going to poly. They make me feel like I have a community to fall back on even before school began. Following SP’s Instagram page was also helpful as they have many content that helped me better navigate and be familiar with SP (e.g. food to try in each of the food courts, academic stuffs).
Similar to Deborah, I’ve also heard from my brother and my cousins about some not-so-good experiences that they had when they were in poly. They would share the importance of mixing with the right group of people, so that I wouldn’t be influenced negatively.
Hearing from them, I had a bad impression of poly people. This made me more wary on who I should hang out with and found it harder to make friends as I was worried. If I wasn’t worried about making the right group of friends, I would be able to be myself a little more.
*Poly Preparation Programme is a programme planned, organised & facilitated by Poly seniors, we hope to offer you a different kind of orientation and a sneak peak into what poly life is really about.
PP: How helpful was PPP in preparing you to enter poly?
Deborah: Through PPP, I was able to meet and connect with seniors and batch mates even before poly started! Without these friendships, poly life would be so different. Till today, I am still friends with many of the seniors and batch mates that I’ve met through PPP 😊
Besides that, there was also an online live panel session where seniors shared their poly experience. Being able to hear from them gave me a better idea of what being a SP student is like. They also shared tips about time management, which helped me through the first year in poly without burning out.
Joelle: Hearing from other seniors with similar experiences comforts me to know that it’s not too bad and that everyone is in the same boat. Before coming for PPP, I have heard 2 extreme views of what poly is like. I’ve heard from people that their poly life was either super good, smooth-sailing, making many friends and hanging out with them every single day or super bad, mixing with the bad people, getting bullied in school, failing modules, etc. Hearing from other seniors, helped me understand what a realistic poly life is like.
Screenshot of ‘Get Cozy with Kim’, where TP graduate Kimberly shared about her poly experience!
PP: What was the most memorable moment during the PPP?
Deborah: At the end of PPP, I got to play frisbee with my seniors and batch mates! It was very memorable as I was able to bond with them even more!
Joelle: Frisbee for me too! Even though I was scared to play frisbee (because everyone was good at it), it was enjoyable to watch them play 😊 Another memorable moment was meeting my friend’s friend at PPP! I came to PPP without any friends, so getting to meet her was a memorable moment!
PP: What advice do you have for those coming to poly?
Deborah: Someone once told me that “poly is gonna fly past very fast” and that’s very true. Make the best use of your time in poly by managing your time well, setting aside time to study, to rest and to spend time on relationships that matter. There will be seasons of grind, and also seasons of fun. Most importantly, don’t get too stressed over school–enjoy your time in poly!
Joelle: It might sound a little stupid but, just don’t worry too much about poly life. Everybody’s expectations and experiences about poly are going to be different. You do you. Fully utilise your time in poly, spend time with friends, pick up commitments (e.g. CCA, pursue interests) to make your poly life enriching! Oh yeah, knowing what food the poly has is also important 😉
Gear yourself up for poly with poly seniors! Hear from seniors first hand about their experience on poly life through a series of online workshops crafted for you.
Planned, organised and facilitated by Poly Seniors for Juniors entering Poly, we hope to offer you a different kind of orientation to start off your journey and give you a sneak peak into what life in Poly is like.
POLY PREPARATION PROGRAMME: TRANSITIONS 2021
Date: 4th March 2021 (Thurs)
Time: Varies for workshop
Location: Zoom
Sign up and book your slots HERE!
