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After nearly
a year of preparation by SIT and iDA, IT Fiesta @ RP took off on the 2nd
of June with 60 participants from 10 different secondary schools. As with our RP
culture, we broke the students away from their regular clique of friends, and
randomly grouped them up into teams of five. Some made friends quickly while
others took a little while to warm up. But any reservations were quickly
dispelled when the entire group was turned over to the Adventure Learning Center
for four hours of raw excitement. Laughter engulfed the wary silence and soon
everyone was playing like they knew each other for a long time.
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The end of the first day left the students thirsting for more. While the
students had a series of fun-filled activities in the pipeline, the camp did not
detract from the key objectives of introducing programming and instilling a
better appreciation of IT into every student present. Day two saw more hands on
with Rurple, an environment designed to help ease newbies into the world of
programming. Students got their hands dirty writing python codes and thinking
logically to communicate with the computer. Most acknowledged that programming
was tough, but at the same time they fully recognised the benefits of the
knowledge gained.
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Several industry experts honoured us with their presence. A session was
scheduled for the speakers to share with these young participants as to what an
IT career is all about. Speakers Caris and Lisa talked about their career path
in their current designations in Barclays. Amidst doubts and uncertainties
posed, the speakers took care in reassuring the audience that they can look
forward to a challenging and interesting career in the IT industry. Allen
Simonsen gave his insights on how the gaming industry works, and offered sound
advice to those harbouring dreams of working in this highly competitive but
lucrative gaming industry.
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A delicate balance between sustaining the fun factor for the students and
achieving our objective of getting them to appreciate IT was maintained
throughout IT Fiesta @ RP. During the visit to Sungei Buloh, we brought them on
a trail which saw the use of wireless and web technologies to better understand
the flora and fauna in this wetland reserve. As the students immersed themselves
into the world of nocturnal animals in the Night Safari, they were encouraged to
take digital photographs of their experiences. These photographs were then used
on the last 2nd day where they worked on a Photo Hunt game. Everyone
got hands on experience using Adobe Photoshop to tweak and prepare their
photographs.
A sumptuous BBQ dinner was held over at the Campus Height before the camp drew
to an end. Fabulous food from Kaffe Esplanade kept their mouths and fingers
busy. A heavy thunderstorm dampened some of the BBQ food, but definitely not
their spirits. Even as the entire group retired to the Agora Halls for a rest,
many were still wide awake and full of vigour.
The grand finale was the prize presentation ceremony which was graced by the
presence of Eric Lauzon, CTO of Nortel Asia and our School Director, Mervin
Beng. A deeper insight into the direction of IT and the purpose of the camp was
shared by Eric and Mervin and participants fully benefitted from their wealth of
experience.
A big thank you to iDA, SIT, OIS, CSM and all the committed staff who made IT
Fiesta @ RP possible.
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