A recap of my time in Ngee Ann + plans before university
It has been almost 3 weeks since my last presentation in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Honestly, it was more anti climatic than I expected for the end of a 3 year journey filled with so many new experiences. So, here’s me summarising my journey and where I am now.
My time in Ngee Ann
For some context, I entered Ngee Ann Polytechnic in 2021 around the middle of the pandemic into the Common ICT Diploma (CICTP). It was my first choice for JAE and fairly easy to get in with my results. I didnt join CICTP with an existing passion though, I was still discovering what I wanted to do and I was hoping that tech was for me.
Year 1
The first semester in Ngee Ann was introductory and a pretty good learning curve I would say. It introduced python as our first language and gave us a taste of the many different courses. I did feel like I learned a lot at the end of semester 1 being completely new to coding but wasn’t really sure or prepared for what I could do with all these different information on my own.
At the end of semester 1, CICTP students naturally get pushed into a more “specialised” course and I chose Ngee Ann’s Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics. Spoiler Alert : I did get in lol. I remember during my semester 1 break I joined my very first event held my CYS and there was a CTF involved. I did not know how to do anything since pretty much only knew python. At that point I was hoping for further exposure in future semesters.
Then semester 2 came around and we were exposed to more topics like Operations Systems and Network Fundamentals, OOP Programming with C#, Databases, and basic CSS and HTML. The semester was not the hardest but threw me face first into the more technologies. I definitely left Semester 2 with a better idea of what I could do on my own but I spent the holidays working 72 hour weeks at a part time job to save up for my laptop (would not recommend, had a severe lack of sleep).
Year 2
Then Year 2 came around. The first semester of Year 2 we could pick electives and I picked Mobile Applications and Development as well as a Cloud Architecture and Technologies. Both were great electives where I met amazing mentors. Year 2 was also the year where I could try out more activities. After the first semester, I joined two hackathons and took up the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner all in the same semester break of 2 months. Idk how I did it since Year 2 semester 1 was one of the toughest but I guess tough times create tough people. I won both hackathons as well so that was nice. Semester 2 also flew by and at this point, we were starting to do mods that were more cybersecurity related on both red and blue team. In that semester, we did a Penetration Testing project for a client’s website (which I am not allowed to disclose). And I ended of that academic year doing Worldskills in the semester break.
WorldSkills 2023
I digress abit here and talk about my WorldSkills experience. Worldskills is a national competion between tertiary instituitions and like its named, its a competion based on skill. I competed in the Web Technologies category that year alone and the competition consisted of 6 papers Modules A to F, 3 hours each spread out across 3 days. Web Technologies is basically Web Development and the papers covered from frontend leetcode questions to WordPress to Web Design and also Backend. To compete, competitors needed to be extremely familiar with full stack development, various frameworks and CMS development as there was no Internet access allowed during the papers.
Well this competition sounds like its for the pros right? WHICH IT IS.
Only knowing basic vanilla HTML/CSS/JS and having ZERO skills to actually win anything, I joined the competition. (LMAO) But you know, you never really win anything without throwing yourself into the deep waters, which was what I did. Through the experience I picked up Laravel and a little bit of Vuejs which came into great help for my capstone. WorldSkills was one of the hardest things I did in poly as it made me doubt even the most basic skills I had. But the competition also made me realise that I wanted to do tech despite all its challenges, as there was always something new to learn. The industry is fast paced and changing and like WorldSkills, I had to pick up skills at such a rate as well. I didn’t leave WorldSkills with a medal but the challenges I faced gave me a small taste of reality and what it takes to stay in this industry. That experience was something I would have not been able get in my regular experiences and I’m grateful for getting the opportunity to participate, and the clarity it provided me in terms of my future aspirations.
Year 3
Then came my final year. This was the year where I did an interdisciplinary capstone with business students and my internship. It was a little more relaxed than Year 2 and I’m glad it was. At this point I was ready to leave Ngee Ann for good.
Internship @ Singtel MSS
Under the Singtel SHINE Program (a program that no longer exists), I worked in their Security Operations Centre as a Security Engineer. More specifically, I worked in the Engineering Automation team (SOAR) where I met the most amazing mentors and people. I speak candidly, and the team definitely treated interns and full-timers on the same level with equal respect. That was the surprising thing as I expected some distinct hierarchy within the team but they were so welcoming and patient that I never felt out of place even when I was the only female around. I also got frequent feedback and code reviews on my work and a lot of recommendations which improved the quality of work I produced.
How Ngee Ann has changed me
Physically, I feel the same when I was 17 and fresh out of secondary school. But mentally, I’ve grown so much not just in terms of knowledge but it grew my character as an individual as well. I’m glad to have discovered my passion through the 3 years of my polytechnic education and have no regrets in joining this industry. I’m forever thankful for the people that have inspired me, believed in me, worked with me and mentored me. I have always found trouble believing in myself, and without them I wouldn’t have been able to get to where I am today. For that, I am forever grateful.
However, despite the amount of knowledge I’ve gained throughout these 3 years I still feel an enormous knowlegde gap between what I know and what’s out there. My time in Ngee Ann exposed me to many different areas of tech which is great, but the knowledge that I have feels…half baked. I touched on a lot of software development and 2 semesters on cybersecurity but do I feel like an expert? Definitely not. Poly barely scraped the surface and there is still so much left to master.
So…what now..?
Despite the competitive job market right now in tech (especially entry level), I still plan to pursue undergraduate studies in Computer Science/Engineering. I love this field and hope to gain a deeper understanding of concepts to be a part of something bigger eventually.
There is still roughly 6 months before the university begins so I get some time to explore and work on things I never had the time to.
The 6 Month Plan
Offensive Security
One of the things I have decided to work on is my Offensive Security Skills. In Ngee Ann I had a small friend group to join hackathons but never a CTF one which discouraged me to join CTF events greatly despite being interested. WELL NOT ANYMORE. Time’s too short to be waiting for anyone and the first activity of my 6 months break is to play CTFs and bug bounties. I will blogging my way through the challenges on this page as well so stay tuned :))
Rust
Another thing I’ve decided to work on will be Rust. It is a low level language but a safer alternative to C and C++ (which I have no personal motivation to pick up right now) and I decided that Rust would be a fun choice to start with! They have great documentation, and a friendly community which really helps. I plan to complete ‘The Book’ first before building my first OS in Rust.
Volunteering
The last thing would be more active in the community and talking with more people from different backgrounds through volunteering. So, I signed up to volunteer with RepairKopitiam from May to July every Sunday and I’m super excited to start xD
Final Words
_and…thats it! At least for now. I think these are already a ton of things but I like jumping arpund different things to discover what I like. I want a greater mastery of skills before uni begins, but this is also a perfect opportunity to try new things and take new risks
I will be blogging my way through my journeys so till next time..byebye!
End.