They thought they didn’t match up to their NTU peers, but turned weakness into strength

SINGAPORE — He thought his education route was unconventional and was afraid to reveal it to his peers when he began undergraduate studies four years ago.

With a 2.6 Grade Point Average (GPA) and a Higher Nitec in Business from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Mr Muhammad Imran Md Zin managed to enrol himself at Republic Polytechnic in 2012 — but that was already his second try.

A year before, he applied to take up business-related courses which required a much higher score than his 2.6 GPA and could not get into any.

It was only in the next application round, when he applied for courses that were aligned with his GPA score, that he got into the polytechnic’s industrial and operations management course.

Working towards a Diploma in Industrial and Operations Management, he graduated with a 3.94 GPA along with a Lee Kuan Yew Award for Mathematics and Science.

Then, he eventually made his way to Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

Mr Imran, 30, is graduating this month with a Bachelor of Science degree with honours (distinction) in maritime studies.

The oldest in his graduating class, he recalled how he was unsure of whether he made the right choice in pursuing further studies in the beginning.

“It was definitely not easy transitioning (into university life). I struggled with the amount of assignments. Math was also a concern as I was not very good at it.”

He told TODAY: “I excelled more in presentations and group projects. Most of the time, we had exams, and language was also something I struggled with.” 

It was during National Service (NS) that he found new friends who motivated him to better himself.

“I met the right people during NS. All of my friends were from junior colleges. I was the only guy from ITE. But they didn’t look down on me. They taught me a lot, especially English.

“So at the time when (our NS stint was ending), we had a round-table talk. All of them were going to universities, be it here or overseas.

“I could only make it to polytechnic, unlike them. I tried my very best in polytechnic and got GPA 3.9 during the first semester, and the rest was about consistency and hard work.”

He carried this attitude with him to NTU, he said. Still, the first semester on campus was a tough one due to the different assessment models.

More than that, he was also “embarrassed” by the longer journey he took to get to university and was afraid his varsity mates would look down on him.

To his surprise, his classmates were open and encouraging, and they made him feel that he was treated like an equal.

Mr Imran said that he had things he could teach his classmates and vice versa.

“Even though they were younger, we got to know each other better. And sometimes, they needed help with something like coding or presentation skills and I could help.

“And when I needed help with other things, they would help. It’s like an exchange of learning.”

Now, Mr Imran is graduating, feeling “confident” and “prepared for the future”.

He won a Global Internship Award last year from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, which gave him an opportunity to work in France for a month out of a 10-week internship.

He is now working with Danish logistics conglomerate Maersk as a stowage coordinator.

A SWITCH TO ART AND DESIGN

Another graduating student from NTU, Mr Toby Tan, 24, had to make up in university for what he deemed as lost time — feeling, too, that he was at a “disadvantage”.

In junior college, Mr Tan was in the science stream and after his A-Levels, he became a part-time instructor at an art studio. That was when he seriously considered art as a career.

“Before university, I had no art education. Drawing has always been a hobby for me, though I never thought about pursuing it as a career…

“Somehow (the studio) accepted me (as an art instructor) and I was surrounded by creatives. That was when I started to pursue art.

“I wasn’t very passionate about science and my A-Level results weren’t that great as well, so that further pushed me to make (my major) my first choice.”

This month, Mr Tan is graduating with an honours degree in arts, design and media.

He is now working as a creative designer at Pinwheel, a marketing and advertising firm, and has been given commissioned works from online entertainment outlet Netflix and fashion companies Obey and Levi’s.

Aside from the technical skills he picked up at NTU, he said that it was his lack of art background and the thinking that he may be disadvantaged which drove him to seek opportunities for himself. 

“I told myself I couldn’t take a chill pill in university. I wanted to really push and make up for the gap.

“It was me reaching out to companies on Instagram or through email… showing them some of my work, saying I really wanted to work with them. Most won’t get back to me but some would, and I got to work on different things here and there. There was a lot of initiative involved.”