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Meet Cassandra Chia, a Year 3 Diploma in Social Sciences (Social Work) student. After gaining some basic understanding about the course through NYP�s Open House, Cassandra felt that it suited her personality and decided to enrol in the programme. �I always knew I wanted to work with people as I think human connection is important. I think being able to interact with, develop empathy towards, and put myself in the shoes of diverse individuals is both humbling and meaningful,� she said. What Cassandra did not realise then, was that what she was going to learn from the course would actually impact her in her personal journey of discovering herself. The course provided Cassandra with the knowledge and skills in areas such as basic counselling, group work facilitation, programmes and events management, introduction to sociology and psychology, and taught her how to work with elderly, children, youths, families and people with disabilities/special needs. Thus she learnt to better understand ...

While Singapore might have achieved prosperity, there are still some  homeless people in Singapore who are often invisible and forgotten. That is why we, a team of Year 3 students from the Diploma in Social Sciences (Social Work), decided to focus on the homeless for our Final Year Project (FYP). Through several weeks, during the evenings, we reached out to the homeless living on the streets to find out more about their lives, social circumstances and living conditions. We also talked to social workers who work with the homeless to get their professional views and find out more about their experiences and the challenges they face in their work. However, our surveys with members of the public showed that very few of them knew about the predicaments of the homeless, or how people can end up being homeless. Hence, we organised a one-day-one-night simulation programme for members of the public to step into the shoes of a homeless person. We publicized the event through our Home Without...

Cindy pictured above If you talked with Cindy Goh, a first year student from the Diploma in Social Sciences (Social Work), you would never have guessed that she is a cancer survivor. The effervescent and petite 17 year old has a toughness that belies her small frame, and not a hint of self-pity. Cindy was diagnosed with bone cancer at the tender age of 10, when, during a study trip to Australia, her teacher noticed her limping and expressed her concern. Initially, both Cindy and her mother attributed her limp to flat feet, and hence were not overly worried. It was not until Cindy�s father discovered a hard lump in her knee that made her parents decide to rush Cindy to the hospital. She underwent surgery to remove the tumour in her knee, along with 90% of the muscle surrounding her kneecap. A metal kneecap was also implanted in her left knee. After the surgery, Cindy went through a year of chemotherapy to combat her cancer. Sometimes she was admitted back to hospital after her chemother...

For us as students, deciding what to do after we complete our diploma is normally a vexing duty. Thankfully, for Diploma in Social Science (Social Work) students, there is an annual career and education talk organized by the programme-planning module students. After 8 weeks of planning  our career talk , titled Unleash 2015, was executed on the 25th of May, by a group of only 6 students, and 27 volunteers assisting in controlling human traffic, putting up decorations, taking pictures, and more. The team The talk attracted an audience of 120 students from Year 1 to Year 3. In the first segment, UniSIM introduced its new degree programme - Bachelor of Social Work. This programme begins next year, so we would be the pioneer batch if we decide to join it! Following the informative session by UniSIM, we had the opportunity to hear more from a youth worker and a social worker from Fei Yue FSC�s YouthGO programme. They told us how they engage youths under their care, which was highly insp...

Gary (centre), with his grandmother (left) and auntie At first glance, Gary Lau Hwei is intimidating. He is heavily tattooed from head to toe, has asymmetrical eyes and 1.5cm wide ear lobe piercings. Of course, few would want to approach him. But nobody would expect that he had a perfect GPA of 4.0 for almost every semester in his studies at the Institute of Technical Education East (ITE East).  Gary was also a recipient of 12 academic awards, including the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Model Student Award. What is more remarkable is this young man�s tenacity despite the many trials and tribulations he faced during his younger days.  Gary�s parents divorced when he was 3 years old, and he was separated from his two elder sisters, who went to live with their father. His mother had custody of him.  Not having a proper father figure in his growing up years was tough enough for young Gary; but he also had to live without much monitoring from his mother who held two jobs due to fin...

After 3 months of intense preparation, 52 Year 2 Diploma in Social Sciences (Social Work) students, including myself, finally staged our first musical production: The Prison Within, as part of our Communication & Public Education module! The musical, a collaboration between NYP and CARE Network�s Yellow Ribbon Project, aimed to promote greater public support for the rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-offenders into our society.  The Prison Within was a musical drama specially crafted to raise awareness of not only the trauma and stigma an ex-offender has to live with, but also focused on what the families of ex-offenders go through; as well as how an individual�s incarceration can affect the communication and dynamics within a family, and even outside the family. To stage this production successfully, we had to learn the ropes of stage performance from our dedicated team of professionals from the arts scene: Peggy Ferroa (director), Cathy Kee (assistant director and choreo...