My experiences during JXP and reflection on my current life--Xu Bohan

The final glimpse of the River Valley High School mingled with a faint tiredness and reluctance to leave. The five-day JC visit has just finished, but the experiences in class, in the playground and in the canteen with my buddy and friends are still clear in my mind. There are three things touched me profoundly during this experience: their busy and tiring life, and in contrast their energetic state of mind, and finally our privilege to be provided so convenient facilities and considerate services.

During our five days staying there, they have three exams to take and another one in the following Tuesday. I am a bit surprised of their tight schedule that they even do not have adequate time to prepare for the test. What the teacher covered on the previous day could be included in the test on the following day. There is no full-day break for them to prepare for the test as my high school occasionally did. In addition to test, school begins quite early and the morning classes proceed one after another, almost without intervals between two classes. Moreover, unlike Chinese high school students who are getting used to taking a nap after lunch, JC students don’t have such time. Shuttling from one class to another constantly is what their everyday routine is like.

On the contrary, students there are always awake and energetic both during and after the classes. Most of them get up around six a.m. every day, which schedule they kept for more than ten years. Unadjusted to this schedule, I was not entirely awake in the morning classes and was rather exhausted in the afternoon. Every day on the bus back to our hostel, we were silent because of lacking strength to chat but nap on the seats. My buddy told me that during the period busy with co-curriculum activities, she could sleep as late as two am in the midnight, resulting in only four hours of sleep. How could they ‘survive’ in such afflicting and exhausting schedule? But indeed, Singapore students make it. In view of this, I admire their strength of will to keep energetic in this so packed daily routine and also feel pitiful for them to be a sleep-deprived generation.

Meanwhile, I feel it privileged to be provided such living and study condition: living inside the campus with no more than ten minutes’ walk to the lecture theatre, varieties of restaurants providing diverse flavors, convenience stores located nearby the classroom, as well as gyms and swimming pools opposite to the hostel. We are the pioneer batch to have the chance living inside the campus directly during the bridging course, facilitating us to immerge into the university atmosphere, but with a less packed schedule and less studies burden compared to college students. I genuinely feel that bridging course period is incomparably wonderful, given that our friends in China are still striving for the university entrance examination and local JC students are ceaselessly engaged in their busy studies and activities.

In a nut shell, despite further integrating into Singapore culture through the in-depth immersion, I feel more of our privilege as scholars. Cherish my live now and make endeavor!

My JC visit (lessons learnt)_Zhi Yiwei

When the classes ended and I walked out of River Valley High School, all those emotions mixed up in my mind. To be honest, I was glad that I could get back to my ordinary life track. But at the same time, I felt so unwilling and sad about leaving RVHS for all the delightful experiences I had there. It evoked my memory of high school life so strongly that when I stepped out of the school gate on Friday, I was really emotional and thought, "Yeah, now my high school life has officially come to its end."

JXP has assigned each of us a buddy, and asked us to go to whatever class our buddies attend. As I had classes with my buddy and his classmates, all the touching memories came back to me, and I felt like being in my high school class again. In high schools, everyone is keeping their dreams, no matter how tough it might be to reach those dreams, we don't feel desperate. Because we are not fighting alone, but as group. Unity brings us the sense of belongings, making us feel that the whole class is a family that support each members no matter what. Although getting prepared for college entrance test (or A level) is not that easy, with this belief, learning becomes much easier, and no difficulty seems to block our way towards our dreams. 

This is where it gets emotional for me. As I have already left my former high school and my class, and in our bridging program, we don't have a class that could unite and motivate its members. Only after four months, I would get into college and really depend on my own. At that moment when I walked out of RVHS, I almost burst into tears, because I never really cherished my high school time before; more importantly, I realized that I have already grown up.

Yes, I have already grown up, and I have to learn to be my own support and motivation. To all the moments that have passed, I should say "thank you": Thanks to all the sweet and encouraging ones that once brought me joy of life and wills to fight; thanks to all the bitter and discouraging ones that once made me see my flaws and later made me stronger. I would keep all of them in my mind and cherish them, while still focus on my current life which also has its charm – so that I won't regret when I look back again. I should learn to make the best of every moment that I am having now. I should always remember to push myself forward to make it a step closer to my dream, just like what my class has done for me in the past.

Zhou Chuyu_2

In addition to the "hardware" of RV, what I value the most is the "software" of the school, which is the cultural reflection of the school. From my buddy Nicole, I know lots of details of the Junior College student's life, the hardness to survive in the tests and the happiness to study in this wonderful school. What is more, lots of the details in the school also reflect the attitude of education in Singapore.

I really love 5B, which is a united class. All the classmates are just like a family and I really enjoy the accompany with them these days. Especially my buddy and her closed friends, Gladys and Deborah, we always have chit chats during the recess and talk about lots of BAGUA.

It is quite funny that there are 3 students in 5B have their birthdays during my 5 days visit in RV, and their celebrations are quite cute. Because the name of class 5B sounds like fiber, students celebrate their birthdays with a fruit and candles. That is really sweet!

I observe a interesting stuff in RV-- rubbish bin! The lovely rubbish bin with lots of colorful painting add lots of  vigor for the school. It is a pity that I cannot photograph all the rubbish bins in the school, but the pictures already show how cute they are.

The last day in RV is their A level test release day. I went and visited how they got their results. RV really did well in the A level test. I saw lots of smile and cry that day.  I miss the University Entrance Exam in China, and this experience make up my study journey with getting one of the most important result in my life. 

Zhou Chuyu_1

Every time I think back to the days when I am in River Valley High School, lots of wonderful sceneries come up to my mind. Those are all beautiful days in which I can experience the different education environment in Singapore and make lots of new friends. When I sat in the classroom with my buddy, I really enjoy the wonderful classes.  

This is the beautiful school. The new buildings give off the thick atmosphere of studying. Walking in the school, it is really an enjoyment to breath the fresh air.

Classrooms here are full of funny decoration. When we have tutorials in the classroom, we feel active and energetic!

One of my favorites in the school is the CANTEEN. As a CHIHUO, I find the canteen in RV is really a heaven for me. I love all the food here, especially the mint chocolate ice-cream, the baked potato and the banana milkshake. Eating is another reflection of culture, and I really appreciate this part of culture.

My JC visit (education system) -- Zhi Yiwei

As the one-week long JXP to River Valley High School come to its end, I have found out that one important objective that MOE set for us has already been accomplished: Getting to know Singapore education system better. Almost all of those questions raised before JXP has got its answer. Based on my experiences, I have also developed my own understanding about the benefits and drawbacks of Singapore junior college education system.

Generally, Junior college acts as a transition between secondary school and college. It allows students to learn in lectures where hundreds attend, while arranges small group's tutorial for students to practice more and solve their doubts – which is the basic mode of college education. While at the same time, the school would set timetables for each students in advance based on what modules they choose. It also put CCA in a particular time of the day so that students could worry less about balancing time between CCA and studies – which is still very much alike secondary school education. The purpose is being quite clear – MOE hope that students could step out of their secondary years and get prepared for universities, and that they could become more of their own time manager.

In realizing the function of a transition, I think the system works well. Lectures and tutorials in Junior colleges are quite similar to the way universities conduct them. Starting learning in lectures from an earlier age could absolutely make students more used to this way, so that the good habit of fully participating in the lecture brings them higher efficiency. During lectures, students have their own tutorial teachers around so that they could ask questions easily. As many studies suggest, the efficiency when people first learn something matters the most. All these settings could ensure this point, as well as the good learning habit they could bring to college. Besides the studying part, CCA settings are also functioning well. Junior colleges provide more varied options which are closer to the ones in college, in order to make sure students develop long term interests.

However I would say, according to my experiences, the education system is not yet perfect. One big problem I have is about timetable settings. Firstly, it gives students a break once two hours or even more, leaving them very little time for refreshing. Secondly, it never give students a fixed lunch time – the lunch break varies from 10 am to 2:30 pm. For instance, on a Tuesday, I had a meal at 10 am. I was quite puzzled at first about why they don't wait until 12 noon, but later I found out it was because there was no break from 10:30~14:00 at all! My buddy told me that they have to eat 2 lunches on Tuesdays, and that he was not quite pleased with it. This arrangement is undoubtedly bad for students' health, which the schools really need to consider when making timetables. 

Anyway, no one is wonderful, and so does an education system. As long as it listens to advice and keep improving, it only gets better.

Yan Yixuan3

  Other things impressed me most in the JC journey are the ghastly amount of P.E class and the delicious food in canteen. I enjoyed P.E class most in high school, but I found that the P.E class was so different in Singapore. Running 2400m is divided into three times, and 4 minutes a time and other exercises are more unbearable, such as 4 sets of acute exercises. However, when I thought that maybe it was the last chance I tried my best to run on the track, I felt nothing but the enjoyment of this journey. With the whisper of the wind, I ran, ran, and ran. With the thought, youth is wonderful; I rushed to the final line and listened to the high-frequency heart beats, exhausted. In addition, the food in RV canteen is really fine to me, regardless of the delicious ice-creams, the main dish such as baked potato, salmon, bak kut teh, Muslim food, vegetarian food, while the snacks and drinks such as chocolate chips and bubble tea are also my favorite. The luckiest thing was that we have two 30-minutes break, which meant that we can eat two times for lunch, so I almost tried all the food in RV. What a wonderful journey! 

Yan Yixuan2

  During the JC journey, I made a lot of friends. Firstly, my buddy, Yueling, is a very cute girl studying hard, and her CCA is hip-hop. It is a pity that I have no chance to see she dancing since her CCA has not begun. When we took chemistry lab lesson, she told me the process patiently, and gave me chance to practice it. When we took economy lesson, she taught me some academic words so I can enjoy the fun of economy. Her best friend, Jiawei, is also very kind to me. Besides, Jiawei is a member of student army, and she told me the process of the examination, which she took 2 years ago. It sounds cruel since it required students to load heavy stones and kept running about half an hour, and during the running students were also asked to find some clue to get the last check-point. In fact, I kind of like this interesting CCA. I also made friends with two girls from China, and all of us enjoy exciting movies such as thrilling movies and all of us are interested in life science, and one of them is quite interested in cosplay, which is also my interest. We three decided to watch movies next week, and enjoy the delicious food in Singapore.