Student Success Stories

Jing Ting (second row from the front, centre) with Director of SIDM, her lecturers and coursemates at Trident  Computer College of Information Technology, Nagoya, Japan.

Foo Jing Ting is no stranger to the path less travelled. She was one of a few from her secondary school to go the poly route and the only one to head to NYP. Today, Jing Ting is the Diploma in Game Development & Technology’s top graduate, winning the Ubisoft Singapore Gold Medal, as well as the Ubisoft Singapore Award for Outstanding Project Work. She has persevered in pursuing her passions and quietly held her own in a male-dominated course: she made it to the Director’s List and clinched the NYP Scholarship for all her three years in NYP. Armed with just an interest in game development, Jing Ting has built quite a foundation here. Her goal? She hopes to combine her interest in sensors and computer-human interfaces to one day create technological solutions that will benefit people.

We walk down memory lane with her and retrace the steps that have defined her aspirations and pursuits.

1) Why did you choose to go to poly?

Actually, my father wanted me to go to a junior college. Most students in my school also ended up in JC. But I wanted to learn more practical applications, become more aware of industry requirements and trends, and gain knowledge that would be more relevant. Besides, I have always preferred hands-on learning. Moreover, I was very sure I wanted to learn something game- or programming-related. So yeah, I was among the few in my school who chose poly over JC. In the end, no one else from my school except me came to NYP that year. But it’s ok, I knew what I wanted: NYP was my first choice.

2) Why game development, and in particular, the programming aspect of it?

Growing up, gaming was my hobby. I was fascinated by games not just for the fun of it, but also by how they were created. When the time for choosing course options came around, naturally I looked for game-related courses. That led me to the Diploma in Game Development & Technology offered by NYP’s School of Interactive & Digital Media. I really liked that it was programming-heavy because programming is very useful as a stepping stone to many careers in future. How many people get to learn programming through their favourite hobby? Lucky me!

3) Did you have to convince your parents to support your decision then?

My father was apprehensive because gaming/programming is a male-dominated industry. But I went ahead anyway. I think looking at my achievement now, he is more than convinced already.

4) Being the rare few females in your course, did you feel different? Or was the course more difficult?

Not really. My guy classmates are all quite quiet by nature. I think that’s how gamers are. As for the programming part, I am naturally good in Maths, and also am quite a logical person. I think these factors helped me to have an overall good experience in NYP. Plus, my lecturers taught us programming from scratch and gave us a really solid foundation.

5) You also picked a CCA that not many girls would pick – dragonboating.

Yesssss, I love my dragonboating mates! We spent lots of time training together every week and built really strong bonds – mates for life! Dragonboating istotally different from what I studied, but it also required lots of hard work and perseverance. I have no regrets joining it.

#Because We Can