Humans of NIE is an initiative introduced by the 30th Trainee Teachers’ Club. For this initiative, the 30th TTC has interviewed various members of the NIE community. These interviews will be featured on VOICES and the @humans.of.nie Instagram page. Snippets of these exclusive interviews will be on @humans.of.nie, while full access to these interview transcripts will only be available on VOICES. Do look out for special messages from our interviewees to you! The 30th TTC hopes that through Humans of NIE, the different members of NIE’s many sub-communities will be able to get to know each other better.
Our Human of NIE for this issue of VOICES is Yi Jie. Soh Yi Jie is the current president of the Teaching Scholars’ Programme (TSP) Club. He is a Year 2 student teacher in the Bachelor of Science (Education) programme.
Q: What do you like about NIE?
A: I like that we have small class sizes with like-minded peers who are really supportive and equally passionate about education. I am also grateful that I am given the opportunity to pursue both my passion for Chemistry and teaching at the same time. Our professors are very understanding and make an effort to build a close rapport with us.
Q: What is your favourite place in NIE?
A: My favourite place in NIE is the canteen as it is where my friends and I bond over meals. It is also where we go when we want to chill and relax after class. It is also the place where I get to meet my friends who major in other academic subjects whom I see less often in class.
Q: What is your most memorable experience in NIE?/ What is the fondest memory you have of NIE?
A: My fondest memory in NIE would be our Project Love Sikkim youth-expedition trip, where we spent around two weeks in India. It was an eye-opening experience to be able to explore a new environment and interact with the locals. Besides gaining a better understanding of the culture there, I also got to forge new friendships and gained insights into the education system in India. Through the trip, I also learned a lot more about myself, and I also learned to appreciate better what we have here.
Q: Is there anyone you are grateful for in the NIE community?
A: I am very grateful to have met many supportive and inspiring professors in NIE, including my own academic advisor, Dr Tan Lik Tong. I am also very grateful to Eric, who is the TSP Club Advisor and manager of the TSP programme. Eric often goes out of his way to support us in planning our events and is always there to advise us. Both Eric and Vanessa (another one of our programme staff) have provided us with a lot of help throughout our journey in NIE.
Q: Who means the most to you in the NIE community? Why?
A: I think it would be my Chemistry classmates and my close friends in the TSP programme. They are the people whom I see every day, and they are always very supportive. They will always be there to push me on when I am feeling tired from studying and it is always very heartening to see everyone working towards a common group.
Q: Is there an interesting life experience that you would like to share?
A: I actually applied for the teaching award twice. In my first year of NS, I rejected the offer as I was still hesitating whether this was the right path for me. Eventually, I applied for it again in my second year when I was certain that I wanted to be a teacher, and I was really grateful to be given the opportunity again. After coming to NIE, I am really glad that I made the right choice.
Q: How is it like being president of your club? What have you learnt in your term?
A: Being President of the TSP Club was not always smooth-sailing for me, especially with the Covid-19 situation. Many of our events had to be cancelled or modified because of the existing safe-distancing measures. As a result, it was quite challenging for us, primarily because our club objective is to help bond members from the TSP. Furthermore, because our club is still relatively new, there were quite a number of administrative matters that we had to handle. That being said, I am very glad that our team were able to still come up with some innovative events such as the TSP Family Run while adhering to the safe-distancing measures.
Through my term, I have learnt more about team management and effective communication. I have also learnt to be more creative when solving problems by thinking out of the box. Lastly, I also learnt to better manage my time between club work and study.
Q: What would you like to say to your club members?
A: To the TSP Club EXCO, thank you for your hard work over the past few months. While the journey was not as smooth-sailing as we imagined it to be when we started, I am sincerely grateful for all your continuous support. I hope the journey has been meaningful for everyone and that we can finally have a proper bonding session once the pandemic is over. Special thanks to Hong Yi, VP of TSP Club, who is always here to lend me a helping hand.
Commentaires