My experience in ITE vs Poly

I attended both the Institute of Technical Education College Central (ITE) and Singapore Polytechnic (SP) for my tertiary education. Despite the local perception of going to ITE, I have absolutely no regrets about my educational path.

Earlier this year, during my Poly internship, I wrote a similar piece about my experience, which was published on The Smart Local.

However, that version was a watered-down version of my story. Don’t get me wrong; I am grateful for the opportunity to share my story. But I also want to share a more authentic version of my experience.

Luckily, I have my own personal blog, so I will share it here.

I understand that there are restrictions that come with working with corporate sponsors and the need to appeal to the public, but I want to share my full story without any limitations.

ITE

2018. An 18 year old Gaby is in tears because she learned that she can’t go to Poly to pursue journalism right after Secondary school. Why? Because she scored an L1R5 of 19 with an astounding E5 for maths. Yeah, that’s pretty much it.

I’m not going to act all righteous and say I was unaffected when I learned of my fate. Falling prey to public perception, I thought I was done for once I stepped foot in ITE.

My first memory of ITE was when I went for orientation and learned that I had a classmate named Gabriel - and I already anticipated the multiple occasions of confusion that would ensue.

As the months went by, I made friends and grew accustomed to the new tertiary education timetable - which included going home before 12 p.m. on some days?? Slay.

As time went on, I started to enjoy the ITE experience, which included a

• A campus DJ

• Bubble tea

• Ayam penyet for less than $2

• KBBQ and

• An inhouse cafe with all the coffee and pastries you could ever wish for

And when I tell you I LOVED the cafe, you could find me there at any free moment I had. A nitro cold brew for $1.80? Yes please!

There was also a massive library, a billiards room, and we even had an on-campus camp in what felt like an on site dormitory but was comfortable. ITE CC for the win.

While it all sounds fine and dandy, one thing I didn’t enjoy was the uniforms.

The uniform consisted of a tight button down shirt and an even tighter pencil skirt. As someone who spent the last 11 years in a long IJ pinafore, I had a tough time adjusting at first.

Like, what do you mean my knees can be seen? (It’s not supposed to be, but who cares?)

Apart from that, I will admit that it did feed my ego sometimes, as the buttons near my breasts would pop off (literally). [Insert Tia Tamera by Doja Cat and Rico Nasty].

Unfortunately, it was an expensive ego boost, and I just couldn’t afford to keep buying new blouses, so I just ended up wearing hoodies over my uniform. So if anyone in my ITE class remembers, this is why.

Alas, the uniform did more harm than good when it came to my body. It made me even more insecure about my already chubby body. The tight skirt pressing up against my stomach didn’t do me any good and pushed me over the edge with my eating habits.

Basically, it meant that I rarely ate, ate small portions, or if I did normally, it’d be down the toilet asap.

When it came to academics, ITE was fairly easy to manage. I studied Event Management so that meant a lot of group work for practicals - which I appreciated because I was not made to do maths or manual labour.

Apart from Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions (MICE), which involved a lot of maths, I believe I managed fairly well.

And surprise, surprise, I actually enjoyed Sports & Wellness (SNW) despite my aversion to physical activity. I even got some attention for my sports shorts, but no harm, no foul.

The lecturers were mostly friendly, too. Sure, there were a couple of duds here and there, but that's par for the course. They walked me through my problems and issues with my work, which I greatly appreciated. Overall, I'd say I had a pretty good experience with my ITE classes, except for those one or two lecturers who shall remain nameless.

While I wasn’t 100% close with my ITE classmates, I was comfortable enough with them to engage in conversations without a customer service voice. I can still name every classmate, despite it being about 3 years since I graduated.

However, towards the end of my ITE experience, my friend group started conversing more in Mandarin than English, and I felt completely alienated. I took the hint and split, but I eventually buried the hatchet once we graduated.

I'm still super close with a few of my ITE classmates - we talk literally every day! It's great to have friends who check up on you and encourage you to try new things.

I don't want to spill all the details, but let's just say they've been there for me through some pretty private stuff. I feel really lucky to have them in my life.

POLY

So while in ITE, I applied to various Polys via EAE because I was determined to study journalism and I knew my MICE grades would not help me.

Fortunately, I was accepted into SP’s Media and Communication course, and I was literally over the moon.

Until Covid hit.

I had been dreaming about studying my passion for years - envisioning myself in lecture halls and hitting the field. But instead, I found myself staring at my laptop screen for almost 8 hours every day from my dining table. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, to say the least.

The headaches and screen fatigue I felt every day were excruciating. Yes, there were opportunities to bond with my classmates after class, but I was just exhausted and just left immediately once we were dismissed. I did try in the beginning, but mentally, I just couldn’t.

Things didn’t really change once we were allowed to go back to campus. The massive fucking campus. The journey to class was a real workout - it took about 3 songs to get there, and I always arrived with a sweat-soaked back. It was brutal.

After which I was greeted by an AC as powerful as a can of beer in an alcoholic’s bloodstream - and I would know.

I was told that SP was undergoing renovations and the Design school was yet to be touched. This meant dated decor and classrooms, which was a bit of a letdown for me considering I had just come from the most recently built ITE.

Even the cafeteria wasn’t air conditioned and had like 4 stalls open at a time. It honestly felt like a downgrade.

I understand that it’s not anyone’s fault, but again, this is my own experience.

One thing I did enjoy was the fashion freedom. This was when I took the time to discover my aesthetic and what I enjoyed wearing. From mini skirts and tight tops to flowy dresses, I tried it all.

I just didn’t appreciate being “dress coded” in an instance where I was wearing a regular dress and my chest protruded out, making it “obscene”. My lecturer said I had to "stop this", like it was some kind of offence. I’m literally just built like this.

To add salt to the wound, a few weeks later, another girl wore the same dress I had in my closet and I just knew I could never get away with wearing it the way she did to this specific class.

Remember when I said that I didn’t take many opportunities to bond with my classmates? Well, they had already formed their cliques, and I was just starting to get to know them once we returned to campus.

It could be the age difference, but I felt like I couldn’t hold a proper conversation as

1. I am dangerously introverted

2. Almost every conversation at the time was about dating apps and relationships.

Thankfully, I had a classmate who shared my taste in music, and we bonded over our love of artists, their art, and eventually more. Additionally, he also made class more fun with his out of pocket humour that he would text at the most inappropriate times in class.

I actually laughed out loud once because he remarked that the teacher’s chair was taller than she was.

Besides him, I wasn't really close to my classmates, and that was alright with me. I enjoyed my alone time and preferred to munch on my lunch alone while catching up on my favourite YouTube commentary videos rather than feign interest in a chat.

I specifically remembered a classmate running into class screeching, “Good morning!!” at 8 a.m. I lost all my respect at that moment. Pick your moments. Know better. Have empathy and common sense.

When it came to projects, I often felt like my voice was ignored, especially during my Final Year Project. It was frustrating because I eventually blindly agreed to whatever my group mates said, which led to me losing my authority as the group leader - not that I really had much authority in the first place.

Unfortunately, my grades suffered as a result, and I still hold a grudge to this day. I'm not trying to play the victim here and act like I'm blameless, but I did try my best to contribute until I felt like I was being overshadowed and neglected.

I just know I wouldn’t have felt this way in ITE.

I did, however, make some interesting acquaintances with schoolmates who weren’t in my class. I had a great friendship with some and a less than biblical experience with others.

When it came to lecturers, most of them were alright. They didn’t engage in “hand-holding” when it came to consultations, but how am I supposed to fix the problem when I’m not sure what it is? Regardless, I figured it out eventually…which I guess is what they wanted.

Academically, it was tough. I found myself often staying up until 1 a.m. for assignments. I’m a firm believer in maintaining a work-life balance, and I’m not one to mug, but I found that hard to maintain in Poly.

It wasn't until I started my internship at The Smart Local that I finally found some time to rest after work, even though there was that one time when I had to write articles until 2 a.m.

Additionally, I joined the Newsroom CCA in Poly, thinking it’d be an actual newsroom, but it was actually a content creation hub for students. I discovered that I enjoyed creating and starring in short form content.

I was also granted the opportunity to become the head of the club’s YouTube division, in which I also discovered that I liked

Alas, if we weren’t tethered to a school, I felt that we could’ve made some stellar content.

Overall

Poly felt like a step backward from what I grew accustomed to in ITE. The updated facilities, the class comradery, the friendly lecturers - complete 180. My experience in ITE felt much more enriching than the one I had in Poly.

I felt more growth in ITE and felt like I shrunk myself to fit into spaces in Poly. If it wasn’t for the support of my ITE friends, I wouldn’t have been able to make it out alive.

I guess each institute had its ups and downs, but I overwhelmingly preferred ITE to Poly.

After reading all that, please enjoy this playlist of songs that were significant to my ITE experience