Near Perfect GPA But I Am A Slow Learner Too
School of Information Technology
When Swinnerton Pok first joined NYP, he had few expectations. All this ITE graduate wanted was to focus on his Diploma in Business Informatics so that he could deepen his IT skills. But oh, the opportunities that he got while in NYP! He became a Microsoft student partner, president of the School of IT (SIT) club and a youth corps leader, and did we mention the many competitions that he took part in? He graduates with a GPA of 3.99 and the following academic awards:
- POSB Gold Medal
- POSB Award for Outstanding Project Work
- Calyon Creativity Award
He’s been offered places at SMU and NTU.
1. Tell us about your unusual name, Swinnerton.
My dad chose it. Before I was born, he went through a list of possible baby names, and ‘Swinnerton’ popped up. It was a winning name because ermmm… it has the word ‘winner’ in it. Heh.
2. Why did you choose to come to NYP?
During my ITE days, I participated in the IT category of the WorldSkills competition which is this massive competition where youths from various institutions pit their skills against each other. I took part in the local round but if you win, you’ll get to represent Singapore in the international leg. Anyway, I found just how skilled NYP students were in this competition and I was inspired by them. I knew that given a chance, I would choose to further my studies at NYP. And I did! I chose the Business Informatics course because I also wanted to learn some aspects of business along with IT. My dream has always been to become a technopreneur.
3. So, what was your NYP experience like?
I have a lot of good memories from my time here, from teaching kids about the dangers of cyber-bullying through IT games to doing spring cleaning for an animal shelter. I had an awesome time during my internship at Accenture Singapore, too – I got to work on a cool project on blockchain and robotic processing automation.
4. Is there anyone who has inspired you?
My senior – Pawandeep Singh! Although he was from the Normal (Technical) stream, he never gave up. He attained a perfect GPA of 4.0 in NYP and bagged a place in NUS. I’m amazed by his perseverance, and also struck by how humble and down-to-earth he is. He always encourages me to focus on my studies and strive towards what I want.
5. What is the one thing that your friends don’t know about you?
They don’t know that I am actually a slow learner. When they see my grades, they think studying is a breeze for me. But the truth is, when I am introduced to new concepts, I take a long time to master them. My solution? Just gotta work a bit harder.
#BecauseWeCan