Pursuing Passion with Strength and Grit
School of Applied Science
Hi! I am Tee Jia Xing and I came through the Polytechnic Foundation Programme (PFP) route. As I have always been interested in Science, I decided on Molecular Biotechnology at NYP.
Instead of spending my 5th year in Secondary School to take my O levels, the year-long PFP prepared me for my poly curriculum and gave me the chance to be immersed in the culture. I learnt how to speak up, and to look for help, when needed, from my lecturers. When I moved from PFP into my first year, I was able to cope well with the diploma and the Grade Point Average System.
In 2018, I graduated with a Grade Point Average of 3.77. I also made it to the Director’s List for five semesters. I am headed to university after serving my National Service. I was pretty disciplined about my studies because I had another great passion: My CCA, which I started.
You see, when I was in my PFP year, I was hitting NYP’s student gym (it’s really nice by the way), and I made many friends who were also into strength training. I had my first encounter with the sport of Strength Athletics, and was intrigued by their unique competitions and training styles like tyre flips and farmers’ walks (a walk with dumbbells, in order to train your grip). So, I decided to start the NYP Strongman Club.
The experience definitely taught me some life lessons: including how to be enterprising! My first major task was to get our tyres – which weigh 250 KGs each! We scouted car workshops to procure them then I had to find a contractor to transport the four tyres to NYP. We were worried that the truck carrying them wouldn’t last under all that weight but it did!
We started with about 20 students, and we’ve doubled our membership now. We have fun with competitions and training.
I had a fulfilling time at NYP and I grew a lot. My advice for future students is this: you need to have passion in anything that you do. Believe in yourself and do what you want to do.
#BecauseWeCan