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From Poor Grades to Institutional Medalist

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Despite taking a longer route than usual, Prabhmeet Kaur persevered and her efforts have rewarded her with the 2016 Tay Eng Soon Award for ITE Upgrader. Source: The Straits Times @ Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction Confident and articulate, one will not be able to tell that Prabhmeet Kaur, the 2016 School of Business Management Valedictorian once struggled with poor grades in her in secondary school. The 24-year-old alumna failed maths twice during her �O� levels and could not apply to a polytechnic. She eventually enrolled in the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in a biotech course, a "practical" choice because of her interest in science. However, she discovered she did not like the laboratory environment, and instead found a passion for writing and public speaking as a student ambassador at school events. Prabhmeet subsequently applied through the Special Direct Admissions Exercise to NYP�s Diploma in Mass Media Management course a...

The Foundation to Success

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Skipping out on his GCE O-Levels through the Nanyang Polytechnic Foundation Programme (NYPFP), former Normal (Academic) student Ryan Christian Mission took an unconventional route to his dream course at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP)! Armed with outstanding GCE N-Level results, former Commonwealth Secondary School student Ryan Christian Mission gained a spot in NYP without even having to sit for his O-Level examinations. This was all thanks to the Polytechnic Foundation Programme (PFP), which enables high-scoring students in the Normal (Academic) stream to attend a year in PFP instead of secondary 5, where they would study relevant modules to their respective choice of course in poly year 1, as well as common modules as in secondary school � Language & Communication (English), Mathematics, Physical Education and more. Securing his position at the School of Interactive & Digital Media (SIDM) at NYP a whole year before his peers, Ryan explained, �[SIDM] is known as one of the best sch...

5 Awesome reasons to choose Nanyang Polytechnic

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The GCE �N� and �O� level results will be released soon, and whichever polytechnic you choose, the choice is in YOUR hands � yes, you! To our incoming freshmen of 2017, this is my take on why you should choose Nanyang Polytechnic. 1.Convenient Location! Let me begin with the most well-known fact: NYP is just a few minutes� walk away from Yio Chu Kang MRT Station.  No feeder bus services from an MRT station! Also it is just a few stations away from town, what more could you ask for? You might wonder why the location matters. Well, think about the travelling time every morning! Imagine a situation where the only thing harder than school is getting to school (we don�t want that, do we?). 2. A straight pathway to all areas! There are no elaborate structures, nor multiple annex buildings at NYP. Everything is interconnected. So it is very unlikely for you to get lost in NYP. Why? The campus is structured around two horizontal corridors parallel to each other, no matter where your destin...

From Student to Best Journalist

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A typical day for Billy Ker starts at 4.00pm when he reports to The New Paper (TNP) newsroom and works on his assignments until the newspaper is sent for printing at around 1.00am. As an infographics journalist, he conceptualises eye-catching graphics to go with the news articles so that readers can understand the story better through the visualisation. Sounds like a lot of drawing for Billy. But it�s certainly not a bad thing for someone who has always been fascinated by cartoons and animation, especially those from Disney. So the passion for animation started rather young for Billy. After his �O� levels, Billy naturally gravitated towards his passion. He visited Nanyang Polytechnic�s (NYP) Open House and learned that the polytechnic offered an animation course that was pretty specialised and made it his first choice during the Joint Admissions Exercise. His three-year NYP journey was as fruitful one. �The course prepared me for the real world, in areas such as meeting deadlines and m...

Six Waterfalls of the Midland Trail

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�The Midland Trail is more than a road; it�s a virtual history book. Originally a crude pathway worn by buffalo and the early pioneers, it stretches from White Sulphur Springs westward to Kenova, zigzagging along rivers, over mountains and through lush valleys. Along the way it touches just about every aspect and time period of West Virginia�s story�coal mines and chemical plants, Civil War battlefields and historic churches, ancient Native American burial mounds and African-American slave quarters� (Highway to History, by James E. Casto). To celebrate this historic road, I�ve chosen to highlight some of the waterfalls that line U.S. 60 from just east of Gauley Bridge to Charlton Heights. Some of these waterfalls, like Cathedral Falls, are well-known landmarks. But most are smaller and lesser known seasonal waterfalls that flow best in the winter and spring months during periods of rain and thaw. Although they don�t run all year long, when in season, these waterfalls are as pretty as a...

From Lost to Found

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When the going gets tough, the tough gets tougher but no matter what, it won�t bring Edsel Li Zhenhao down! Months after graduating from Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) with a respectable Grade Point Average (GPA) score, Edsel Li can look back at his topsy-turvy days of his life with a smile, and give himself a congratulatory pat. It was only some years ago that he was at his low point and could not understand what his teachers were trying to teach and failed all his subjects. He was at a loss on whether to continue his studies at the Institute of Technical Education. And his mum and brothers were worried about him all the time. Thanks to a couple of life�s difficult moments, such as not getting paid for work done by errant employers, he realised that education is the stepping stone to a good future. He re-enrolled into ITE, found a bunch of hardworking buddies and graduated with an excellent GPA of 3.9. NYP may not be his first choice but he says it�s a �blessing in disguise�. Not only did ...

Direct entry to poly via the PFP � a student�s perspective

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After I dropped to NA (Normal Academic) in Secondary 2, the PFP (Polytechnic Foundation Programme) was at the top of my wishlist. The PFP is a direct route into the poly after the N Levels. It meant that I could skip Secondary 5 and the O levels. Everyone in NA wanted to qualify for PFP and I was no different. Thankfully, my results were good enough, and I was admitted into NYP�s PFP course in 2015. Think of it as the bridge between secondary school and polytechnic. During the year-long course, we take a mixture of secondary 5 subjects and modules that prepare us specifically for our chosen diplomas. Before my PFP year started, I confess I had expected it to be a rather easy and carefree time where I could just sit back and relax. It was not the case! And I had definite highs and lows. For example, we had to take Language and Communications which was very much like English in secondary school. It was probably my favourite module! From the blogging to filming and roleplaying, I had tons...