I am Clarissa Sih, a Year 1 Mass Communication student. And I will be bringing you the inside scoops from the very first Youth Olympic Games (YOG) that are going to be held here on our sunny island!

About 2 months ago, I was involved in a competition jointly organised by McDonalds, Singapore Press Holdings, and MediaCorp. This competition would give the 3 winners a chance of a lifetime to be rookie journalists for the very first Youth Olympic Games.

Being a Mass Communication student in NP, I stood in good stead as I  have the raw skills and technical expertise to be a journalist at YOG. After 2 rounds of auditions and interviews, I was selected as one of the winners of the McDonalds Young Journalist Programme!

The New Paper did a story on us. That's me in the middle! :)

In preparation for YOG, I underwent training with renowned broadcast journalist from Mediacorp, Hasnita A Majid. I also spent 2 days in SPH's newsroom learning the ropes from the real-world journalists and acquiring useful tips for conducting interviews and writing articles.

The other 2 winners and I with Hasnita A Majid, Senior Producer for Channel News Asia.

The three of us at The Straits Times newsroom!

NP has been actively involved in the lead up to the Games as well. On 22nd June, we played host to more than 450 students during the Singapore Youth and Media Conference (SYMC). Students from schools such as Bartley and Yuying Secondary school visited us and participated in forums that discussed the impact of the media on sports and the future of sports in Singapore.

Speakers such as Singapore's first A1 racer Hafiz Koh and national triathelete Mok Ying Ren were present for the forum that held lively and informative discussions with visiting students.

Melvinder Singh, Hafiz Koh, Zain Ahmat and Mok Ying Ren during the forum.

Visiting students were also given the opportunity to find out more about the media industry through interactive seminars. There were 7 workshops to choose from, including Sports News Reporting, Sports Marketing and Sports Public Relations. Renowned industry experts were on hand to provide exclusive insights into the sports industry and the media. 

Students participating in one of the workshops conducted

There will also be many student volunteers from NP involved in roles such as Media Operations Assistants and ushers. Our very own Baracuda Batucada will be performing at the finals of selected sports events as well! Do look out for them should you be watching the Games Live.

All the best for those preparing for your exams and prelims- hang in there! It's gonna be over before you know it. ;)

The next time you'll hear from me would be after the Opening Ceremony, where I promise lots of pictures and highlights from what organisers promise would be a spectecular extravaganza!

I've been working on HYPE (HYPE is a lifestyle magazine for youths published by Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Produced by final-year Print Journalism students) non–stop so that means sleepless nights and skipped meals (>_<), but it'll all be worth it when you see the completed magazine! I can't wait for it to come out.

In other news, guess what?

Our Absolutely NP site has been officially launched! :D

If you're feeling unsure about which diploma you should choose, then you should definitely check out the Personality Quiz! It's a good way to help you figure out what you want to do in the future, and it's really easy to 'cause all you got to do is just follow your instincts when you're answering the questions. Choose the one that sounds most instinctive to you, so you'll get the right answer for you.

Once you've found out what's the right course for you, head on down to this page! You get to see the cool places that your (soon–to–be) seniors have gone to, like San Francisco (US), Germany, and Seoul! NP has got lots of opportunities for you to go to awesome places like these, so keep that in mind when you're trying to decide which poly to go to!

For me, I had the chance to go to Wuhan, China, for 6 weeks and it was an absolute blast living there. Delicious wantons, waking up to see the sunrise, climbing Mt Wudang, going on a 3D2N cruise round The Three Gorges. I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world. One of the best experiences I've had in my entire life.

This is all of us at Wudang Mountain! ^^

OK! Here's yet another reason why you should join NP.

We haz aweshumz facilities.

Hehe. I'm not kidding! We've really got cool places like Studio 27 (where you get to jam with your band, and there's also Wii and L4D2~), OurSpace@72 (there's a café = coffee = <3), the Loft@94 (it's totally like a condo!), and not to forget the makan places like The Makan Place, Zesty Tomato, and Pines Cafe!

There's even more of these awesome places, so check out this page ok!

And finally, the most awesome part.

We're currently having The "Absolutely Be a Friend of NP" lucky draw, when the first prize is a Sony Vaio Netbook! All you've got to do is just fill up this form, and you'll be entered into the lucky draw. Heh. I wish I could join, but it's limited to all you lucky secondary school people, so don't waste this chance! You can win a free netbook just by entering those details into the form.

And even if you don't win the netbook, there are still 50 pairs of movie tickets as consolation prizes, so you can go out and catch a movie.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention. By joining the contest, you'll become a Friend of NP and get inside scoops on the latest happenings on campus, and also stand to win more exciting prizes on a regular basis. Heh. See, so much incentive for you to join, what are you waiting for? The contest ends July 31!

And to be a little bit shameless, here's a little plug for my magazine

Start plug: July 31 is also the launch date for Issue #31 of HYPE, which we're having at *SCAPE The Street + Market.

We're gonna have a flea market, and awesome live performances by local bands like Postbox, Trella, Duxton Plains and Run Neon Tiger! It'll start from 2 pm, so you can sleep in first before heading down to shop! Check out this ">link ok hehe end plug

Hey people! It's been a long week and since I've cleared almost all of the work I had to do, I was just sitting down in front of my computer, stoning and browsing through Facebook absent-mindedly and look what I've found...

Tadah! This is my friends and I about almost two years back ;)

And this is also again, my friends and I about almost one year back!

So how have I changed from the first photo, through the second photo and up till now? Maybe I became prettier... ... ... Heh heh ok just joking I know that self-praise is an international disgrace right. Anyway I think some of you might have guessed the similarity between the two photos if you looked beyond them being just fragments of my memories. That's right, these two photos were both taken when I was at RED Camp 5 and 6 respectively! These two camps form really memorable parts of my life and I could say that RED Camp 5 was my deciding factor to further my education in NP.

During RED Camp 5, I was a RED camper. I went to RED Camp 5 with no hopes nor expectations at all because then, I was still a fun-loving and carefree secondary 4 kid who just wanted to have fun and maybe have a glimpse at what Mass Communication, the course that I'd been eyeing, is all about. But I discovered the camp was wayyy more than just all fun and school tours. I could say that I've made many meaningful friendships, both with fellow campers and the Student Leaders. This is what set NP apart from other places because after RED Camp, the place really felt like home and I knew I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

One year later, I had to chance to impact the campers like how my SLS did and the feeling is really BEYOND fulfilling :')

So basically, RED Camp is a 3-day stay-home camp for you students who are taking 'O'-Levels this year and it's where you really can find out more about NP's courses, 100+ CCAs (and even try some of them out!), hang out at our hot spots and of course, have really yummy food (we had KFC, Breek's and Yoshinoya last year... Mmm) and lastly, what's a camp without making new friends along the way? :)

Sounds awesome? What's more awesome is that you don't have a pay a single cent to experience all this awesomeness! Sorry for the overuse of the word but I really cannot contain my excitement because

RED CAMP 7 is coming up on 22nd - 24th November 2010 and the online registration is open all the way till 5th October but you won't wanna wait until then would'ya? ;) it's going to be AWE... wait for it... SOME!!!

Hello! I'm Ice, the quirky half-Thai half-Singaporean student from NP Mass Communication! :)

And you're gonna get the latest campus happenings, makan reviews and the coolest entertainment news from me!

To get things started, I just want to share a bit about myself! Well, people can't tell that I have Thai blood in me because I sound just like any other Singaporean. I'm spontaneous and just go with the flow! My passion is in media and studying in Mass Communication has been a ride! All the cool experiences on campus doing projects and making new friends definitely keep me going. Speaking of poly, all you final-year secondary school students who are interested in poly education, should know a thing or two about the DPA (Direct Poly Admission) route!

DPA is basically a direct route into the poly course of your choice, which offers these benefits:
-    A place in the course of you choice even before you sit for the “O” level exams!
-    The Ngee Ann Preparatory Programme (NPP) will give you a taste of NP’s learning and provide you with a stronger foundation, even before you start your formal polytechnic education.
-    Earn credits for modules ahead of your peers. This will free up curriculum time, allowing you to engage in more CCAs, obtain extra certification and pursue enrichment modules.

Sounds like a plan? Head to Ngee Ann Poly DPA website for more information and more importantly, to submit your DPA application online. The online application period begins tomorrow, 8th July to 13th July!

By the way, The Ultimate Poly Experience is happening at NP between the 8 - 9 July and the 12 July! There'll be guided tours around the school as well as DPA talks to help you decide whether poly is the way to go and also to find the right course that matches your interest :) The registration's already closed but for those of you who'll be going, we need to hear about it in the comments and tagboard!