I am very happy to announce that I am a Year 1 NP Scholarship holder!

To say the least, I was definitely not expecting to receive this scholarship, but I am very honoured that I did. I’ll share a bit about that journey and how I got here.

How it started

I got into Ngee Ann Polytechnic's Data Science (Now renamed to Applied AI and Analytics) course, and I did not know what to expect. Most of my schoolmates went into either Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics or Infocomm Technology. Therefore, I was about to dive in without knowing much about the specifics of what I am going to be doing. On top of that, I had a lingering fear that my bad habits from Secondary 2 and 3 may creep back, considering I no longer had the great pressure that was the O level examination.

However, the day came for the opening of Ngee Ann to Y1 students, and I managed to quickly get used to the environment. I also took the opportunity to ask my seniors and orientation group leaders about how the course is like and what to expect.

My Journey to applying for the scholarship

Like most assignments, I aimed to start working on my scholarship application as early as possible so that I would not procrastinate it to the last minute, because I tend to like making things perfect even if it is a minor thing. Thankfully the application was quite short, which means I had ample time to proofread my submission multiple times before submitting it for review. At the same time, I was also aiming for the DSTA Scholarship, however I was unfortunately rejected at the interview stage. I did not let that get in the way of my NP Scholarship application.

Thankfully, the school invited me for an interview, which meant that I was on track so far.

The Interview

During the interview, I felt that I could've been much more prepared for the questions that they asked me, however, I think I did fine overall. However, back then, I had slight doubts in the back of my mind on whether I would be able to clinch the scholarship, considering that others might've been much more prepared than I was.

After the Interview

There was definitely a bit of waiting involved, but when I saw the email stating that I got the scholarship, I was extremely happy.

Ending notes

I am very grateful that I was part of the handful of students selected to get this scholarship. It involved a lot of work, and many late nights ensuring that my grades are up to par. At the end, with many sleepless nights and hectic weeks of deadlines, I managed to attain a 4.0 for the first semester, but I know that I must continue with my effort, as poly life is more like a marathon rather than a sprint like O Levels was. For O Levels, I could afford to pull off a comeback because at the end of the day the previous assessments did not matter as much. However, the same cannot be said for polytechnic, where every semester and module counts into your GPA. I also cannot afford to be complacent, like I was in secondary 2 and 3, (You can read more about that here).

I am also very grateful to all my lecturers who supported me through my journey that brought me to where I am today.

I cannot wait to see what Year 2 has in store for me at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

— Sairam