Life in Poly

It is a challenge to describe the first week in polytechnic.

It is fun because it is not only doing what you like to do, but also more so because you are doing it with many other great friends with similar interest. DMAT is a place where you can randomly sing out s song without anyone thinking you are mad. Since everyone is just as crazy about music as I am.

It is exciting because we will be working with people, some of which are outstanding in their own carriers, in DMAT’s case as Audio Engineers and musicians. Even some of my classmates has skills set comparable to that of industrial standard even before they came into DMAT. Working with these people will not only be easier or more efficient but exciting because we learn new things to what we have already know, sometimes learning how to apply some of our skills in our daily carrier lives.

But life is poly, is sometimes tiring, I can’t put the blame on boring lecturers or long hours of classes. For me, lessons starts at 8am every weekdays. It’s tiring, because I have to get used to waking up at 5.30am in the morning - which for most of the JC students, it’s a piece of cake – and getting ready to leave home by 7am LATEST

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You might wonder why 5.30am.

1. Because, I don’t always wake up on time
2. Because I normally take a shower before I leave home so that I may not bring discomfort to my classmates with my stench
3. Because I hope to have a heavier breakfast so that I may survive lecture till 10am without being hungry – also given that I don’t eat breakfast as quickly as I do for lunch or dinner.
4. Because I hope to leave the house by 6.30am

• MRT – though the traveling time- 50 minutes - does not vary as much as buses do, but waiting time may become a factor of my delay in travelling time.

• Bus – though the traveling time can be shorter than that of MRT- 45minutes - the jam in the morning may increase traveling time by 30 minutes especially when there is an accident in the jam

• Taxi – though traveling time is the shortest – 30minutes – it is always my least preferred mode of transportation. Traveling from home to SP would cost me $12, meaning that I have to skip 4 meals in order to have enough allowance for the rest of the week!

So after all that has been said about tiredness, I guess it’s a matter of getting used to the shorter hours of sleep, and the long traveling time to school everyday in the morning.

But life in poly can be quite worrying at times, especially when you are told of all the assignments and project that is to come. I often wonder if I could manage my time in order to finish my work, despite having so many other assignments from different modules.

The scariest part about poly is when you start thinking that you are very free when you are suppose to be busy, one example would be when there are assignments to be complete but you are not aware if it. Most of the time, the ‘revelation’ comes when the deadline approaches or worst, reaches!

But there are times where there are really no homework at all, because poly is mainly about self-directed learning. Meaning that I should not expect a lot of homework from each module as most of my learning comes from my own research. Yes, it is true that SP tutors would give a lot of guidance to its students, but on our part, we have to be pro-active to sometimes go ahead of our lecturers and further explore certain areas of study. It looks like I have to self-teach myself certain things about Music technology like how I did for playing guitars and drums.

To make an attempt to describe poly life in one word, it would be ‘Independence’. Yes, we may have freedom to do what we like to do without anyone stopping us in poly, but more importantly we need to be ACCOUNTABLE – not just responsible- for our own lives in poly. But independence not in the way that I solo everything myself, but rather independence is managing my own things in poly well, so that I may also help others in these areas.

It’s not very easy to be accountable; in fact it is difficult, especially for someone like me, who is very passive – depending on someone or something to push me to do something. But I guess, in order that I may ’remain’ in the society of today, I will have to learn to be more pro-active, especially in doing the right things.

Just as it is challenging for JC students to live out a Christ-centered life, it is immensely difficult for me to live out one in poly. Poly may not be as hectic as JC with piles of tutorials and projects to finish – the challenge for me in poly is not with homework yet. Often of times, I find myself forgetting who I am as a child of God, as a member of God’s people.

I find difficulty in living out a Christ-centered life even when there are no assignments due. Many times during the week I find being very arrogant, boasting about what ‘numerous’ instruments I can play – taking all glory to myself. How dare I - knowing that this talent is not mine, but is God’s whom He gave to me and place me in this course that I may develop it and multiply it and use it for His own Glory, just like what the two servants with 5 and 2 talents did in Mathew 25:17-22 – boast freely about MY own talents when it is not even mine?! How dare I look down on other people, when I am not better or even worse off than these other people; to see a speck that is in other people’s eye and yet oblivious to the log in my own eye as in Luke 6:41.

There are many times I felt that I could have responded to these situations better. I was given so many chances by God to do the right thing, yet I chose not to. If there was a chance for me to apologize to those I have hurt, I pray that I might seize every these opportunities bravely to not only apologize but to be humble and seek help, if they can help. But importantly, I pray that God will forgive me in every failure to use so many opportunities so many times, to end up hurting even His People in my class.

I guess saying to live courageously and consistently for Christ, would be something too broad for me. Perhaps as I continue to be in poly, arrogance could be one of the areas I could work on. Perhaps, pro-activeness could be another. So to all readers out there, welcome to the start of my poly life.