Celebrating our STA Graduates!

Our heartiest congratulations to the class of 2021! Click on the diploma programmes below to view the list of graduates.

• Diploma in Arts and Theatre Management
• Diploma in Design for User Experience
• Diploma in Game Design
• Diploma in Media Production and Design
• Diploma in Sonic Arts
• Specialist Diploma in Digital Content Creation for Business
• Specialist Diploma in User Experience for Infocomm Technology

An aspiring game designer, I wanted to start a club to share my love of board games with my classmates, and to build a community where we could explore the potential of analog games and be inspired by them for our designs. On my very first week of school I began hounding my DGD lecturers about what it would take to start one, and never stopped working towards it. I started holding meetings with like-minded students, using my personal collection of games in a corner of the library. Over time, we became an “unofficial” club. Meetings became regular and our lecturers encouraged us to push further.

Being unofficial didn’t stop us from having excursions, facilitating community-building events or providing service-learning opportunities for our members to spread our love of games beyond the school. With the support of our lecturers, we were offered the chance to recruit, and put together a booth for the CCA fiesta in just one day. Our efforts paid off and our membership doubled in size.

The time I’ve spent setting up this club will always be special to me. We built something out of nothing, creating a club with over 40 students coming together to share our love of board games and games design. I believe like me, my club members are proud of what we have created together, especially now that the club is well on its way to becoming official.

Looking back, RP’s Diploma in Game Design* (DGD) lecturers have provided me the education and training to not just create games for the industry as a designer, but also provided the platform to explore opportunities outside game creation, and to build a fellowship in the form of an interest group.

My academic journey was a challenging one as I had dropped out of two different schools at two different times due to health concerns. I had to spend five years trying and failing to get back into school, before finally managing to enrol into RP. My path took many different turns and took longer than most, and I often had to deal with those who questioned my decisions or doubted my capabilities. Looking back, I am proud of everything I achieved during my time at RP, academically and beyond. I am happy to be graduating with a Diploma in Game Design* (DGD), and am looking forward to my future. 

I hope anyone reading this can take some comfort in knowing this: Self-care and being true to yourself is more important than rushing to a finish line that was never meant for you. Your journey may not look like your friend’s, or like the one your parents want for you. It may not look like mine. You take the best path for you, and define what would be your own success, in your own time. It is tough, but believe me, it gets better. 

“You cannot, you cannot use someone else's fire. You can only use your own. And in order to do that, you must first be willing to believe that you have it.”
 – Audre Lorde
 I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to the following people:
Mr Jerry Chua, Mr Loh Chi Yong, Mr Shaun Tay, Mr Jeff Hung, Mr Chin Yong Kian, Mr Dickson Teo, Mr Yandhie D. Pratopo, Ms Sheetha Lakshmanan, Ms Nuraisha Mohamad, Mr Desmond Hinkson, Mr Anthony Chong, Mr Xihui Ng, Ms Wendy Lee, Ms Michelle Seth-Langbein, and Ms Crystal Loh.

Thank you for all the opportunities and guidance you have given me. All of you have helped me make the best of my time, and have made the experience here truly worthwhile.

Words cannot express how proud I am of this cohort for graduating together. I would never have been able to learn as much as I did if not for the skills and talent displayed by my peers. I am still in awe. 

As an adult learner, going back to school was not easy. I was worried that I would not be able to create things outside of my professional background. Regardless of my doubts, I found something priceless that my work rarely brings – the joy and fulfilment derived from my creative journey at RP and the new possibilities of honing my innate skills. The pride and euphoria I felt as I saw my hard work paid off is rewarding. It wasn’t easy but it was worth it.

I believe that the camaraderie and support from my peers is what propelled us to succeed in completing our diploma. From sending encouraging messages and tips to those who were struggling, to joking around even as deadlines loomed, these motivated us to keep moving forward. Although the pandemic has limited our chances of physically working alongside one another, it has not stopped us from learning and it surely has made us more creative and resourceful. 

To Ms Toh Yuet Wei, who recommended me to this programme, thank you for making it possible for me to be part of this amazing cohort of Specialist Diploma in Digital Content Creation for Business. 

To Mr Juraimi Jumahat, who constantly inspired the class with his passion for his craft, thank you for your constant encouragement to not be afraid to try out new design ideas. My drawing skills are basic, but you showed me how my rough sketch could be made into an impressive logo, and that gave me hope. 

To Ms Serene D’Cotta, who is our cohort cheerleader and class guardian, thank you for making yourself always available to answer our queries, and ever ready to help, even after completion of our classes in RP.

To Ms Conny Soh, Mr Jay Kumar, and Mr Adrian Ang, thank you for being patient and keeping us engaged, especially when it was difficult to focus in the early mornings of the weekend or in the late evenings after a long day.

And finally, to my group mates whom had made our learning experience enjoyable through jokes and good food – Let’s plan for a ‘makan’ session soon!

I am eternally grateful to all of you.