Pre-University Seminar 2008

Despite living in a small city like Singapore, we should not limit ourselves but instead continue to think big. This was the sentiment expressed by Muhammad Yusoff Bin Gulam. He was among the 22 selected Republic Polytechnic student representatives in Pre-University Seminar 2008 that took place from 26 to 30 May 2008 at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

“Global City, Home for All” was the main theme for this year’s Seminar organised by Meridian Junior College and Ministry of Education. As early as February 2008, our student participants had gotten together to brainstorm ideas in exploration of the project topic “Talent Unlimited: Exploring New Niches, Exploring the Road Less Travelled”.

Muhammad Shahamir Bin Shahruddin described, “Preparation was thought provoking injected with countless internal debates and constructive arguments that provided the foundation for a convincing presentation.”

During the five-day residential programme, the student participants were also required to participate in various exciting teambuilding activities, parallel discussions and panel discussions. This had taught the students the important value of teamwork.

“Working in such a large team really shows team work - our daily team of 4-6 is nothing compared to a team of 24,” said Nelly Yap.

For some, this was indeed a good opportunity for one to improve their social skills through the various interactions with students and facilitators from other participating institutions. Sharonjeet Kaur shared, “Friendship were formed despite our different backgrounds and being bold enough to chat with strangers was something I had gained from the seminar.”

This year, some highlights included a Digital Chase around NTU tapping the latest IT capabilities which gave the age-old ‘treasure hunt’ a new dimension. The Sandcastle Challenge is another highlight which brought the participants together in a massive envisioning and sandcastle construction challenge which was certainly in line with the theme - Building a “Global City, Home for All”.