TAY CHO EING
B.Sc. ECONOMICS & MANAGEMENT
FIRST CLASS HONOURS DEGREE (1998)
Tay Cho Eing, 24, is part of
a growing trend at Stansfield: a graduate with a first class honours.
Tay originally enrolled in a Canadian university specialising
in chemical engineering. He came back from Canada after graduating
and resumed his national service.
During this time, he decided
to look for something different from what he had done before as
he felt that the degree that he had was too technical. He decided
to pursue another degree, this time in Economics & Management.
He decided to enrol in one of Stansfield’s part-time courses
even though he was still in national service. Tay even took up
extra subjects in the third year in order to qualify for a scholarship.
Through determination and sheer
hard work, his efforts paid off when Tay graduated with a First
Class Honours and topped that achievement further by being the
first in Singapore to receive a prestigious scholarship from the
London School of Economics to pursue a Masters in Economics &
Finance in the United Kingdom.
TAN
ZHUANG JI
B.Sc. (ECONOMICS) BANKING & FINANCE
FIRST CLASS HONOURS DEGREE (1998)
Tan Zhuang Ji, 27, knew what
he wanted and set out to achieve his goal: a first class honours
for his degree. Tan was a full-time consultant for a training
consultancy firm, but joined Stansfield’s full-time programme
so that he could be totally committed to his studies.
Zhuang Ji became interested in
the University of London programme after he saw Stansfield’s
MRT advertisement. “I have always been interested in Economics,
and LSE was the college.”
Zhuang Ji didn’t believe
in getting lecturers to ‘spoon feed’ him, instead
his approach to studies was different and he shares his philosophy
towards studies during his graduation ceremony.
“An education, rather than
knowledge, is to be pursued, not given. Most of the time when
I attended lectures, I would listen carefully and then ask questions.
I would then hit the books.
I went straight to the source
because I wanted to find things out by myself and not have someone
hand me the answers. But of course I could not do it alone. The
lecturers who were extremely helpful in guiding me through the
discussions with them and my friends helped me to stay on the
right track.”
“When I think about my time
in Stansfield, it will be the last 3 months that I will remember.
During my last year on the programme, I faced a lot of distractions
in my personal life, and I found it difficult to concentrate.
In fact, I didn’t really
study until the last 3 months. I was completely overwhelmed. But
what spurred me were the rest of the students. I know in some
colleges, competition is tough and students become selfish but
not Stansfield students. I was impressed that my fellow collegemates
were generous and unselfish. This generosity was not confined
to the studentsbut the staff of Stansfield as well.”
“I have received my degree,
but I leave Stansfield with fond memories, and with the confidence
and realisation that with determination, perseverance and generosity,
you can achieve what you set out to do.”
NASREEN
FADOO
B.Sc. ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
FIRST CLASS HONOURS DEGREE (1999)
Top valedictorian for year 1999,
Nasreen Fadoo, has this to say to aspiring graduates, “Have
faith and persevere”.
Despite being an ex-Rafflesian,
she readily admits she still had to put in 101% effort and hard
work. Nasreen’s mother is a UOL graduate herself, and shared
that Nasreen decided to take on the challenge of a demanding but
reputed degree because it would provide her with opportunities
worldwide. Nasreen shared with us recently, “It was hard
work having to tackle the programme especially when I had also
just gotten married. I also had to be
prepared to move overseas with my husband but fortunately it got
easier as we settled in.”
She cites having strong family
support as an important factor in contributing to her success.
Adding to that, she strongly recommends that students obtain the
recommended textbooks to further reinforce the effectiveness of
the lecturers. Having the constant support of Stansfield lecturers
and consultants certainly did serve her well. With a UOL degree
in hand, she has managed to carve out a career in another first
class global company, SIA, and intends to climb the corporate
ladder, but for now, she quips, “I am spending more time
with my family!”
CLARIBELLE
PONTIOSO GUANGtCO
B.Sc. INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND MANAGEMENT
FIRST CLASS HONOURS DEGREE (2004)
Years of hard work paid off when
Claribelle Guangco, 22, received her First Class Honours in B.
Sc. Information Systems and Management. She initially joined Stansfield
College, which was known then as Stansfield School of Business,
as a Diploma in Economics student in 2001. Her first success with
the UOL programme came with obtaining a Distinction for her Diploma.
“I thought that my first year in the local university in
Philippines was tough enough! But the Diploma programme made me
appreciate the higher and more demanding standards of University
of London”, she says.
The journey for Claribelle was
not easy. Throughout her course of study, she experienced financial
difficulties and uncertainties that could have made her give up
her studies. However, staff and lecturers at Stansfield helped
her along the way. “I was very thankful when I received
the Merit Scholarship from Stansfield which covered my second
year tuition fees at a time when I was financially unable to support
my studies.” She thought that hiccups in her journey were
over until she received her second year results. “I was
disheartened when I obtained my year 2 results because it was
not ‘good enough’ to retain my scholarship for my
final year. I thought my dream of obtaining a first class honours
was over”. However, the immense support given by her family,
friends, lecturers, staff and classmates at Stansfield enabled
her to bounce back with determination to be the second B.Sc. Information
Systems and Management first class honours graduate from Stansfield.“I
knew that I only have one chance to do well, and my success will
be much reward for my parents and everyone who helped me along
the way. I carried on with my final year with firm resolve to
excel. The emotional support I received from people around me
gave me that needed boost of esteem and belief to push away negative
thoughts in my head.”
When asked about the important
lessons she has learned in her journey, she quipped “The
UOL programme hasinstilled in me a critical and balanced thinking
that I find useful in my work and personal decision making. I
have come to appreciate that learning is a continuous process
without boundaries. I have learned to work independently while
relying on the support and encouragement of others. Finally, I
have learned that success is a team effort as much as it is an
individual journey, and my journey has just began!” Claribelle
intends to pursue her Masters in Information Systems at the London
School of Economics.
LUANNE THESEIRA
B.Sc. ECONOMICS & MANAGEMENT
UPPER SECOND CLASS UPPER DEGREE (1997)
Luanne Theseira, 28, commenced
her B.Sc. (Econ) degree with a certain amount of apprehension.
However, she succeeded and graduated with a second class honours
degree. After completing her Business Studies Diploma, Luanne
entered her chosen field in public relations, starting first as
an account executive in an advertising firm and working her way
to become the Public Relations Manager at a well-known hotel.
“I took the course more for
self-fulfilment than anything else,” she says. Although
her job did not require further qualifications aside from her
ability and experience, she took the course seriously. “
I saw the encouragement the Government was giving graduate women.”
Luanne admits that she was not
consistent with her studies due to her work pressure and family
commitments. She made it a point however to attend class regularly
and kept herself updated by reading extensively, keeping journals
and newspaper clippings on issues relevant to her studies. She
was able to relate her work experience to most of her year two
and three subjects. In her final year, Luanne was expecting her
first child and nearing full term, “I was afraid that the
baby would be born during the exams!” .
Was it worth the effort? “If
I am competing for a position with other graduates, I know that
I will not be side-stepped because I now have the advantage of
both the paper qualifications coupled with my work experience!”
IVAN
CHEW
B.Sc. (ECONOMICS) INFORMATION SYSTEMS & MANAGEMENT
FIRST CLASS HONOURS DEGREE (1996)
Ivan Chew, 24, had twice the
reason to feel elated at the University of London graduation ceremony
held in 1997. He was the first to graduate with a First Class
Honours in the B.Sc. (Econ) Information Systems & Management
Studies for the University of London external programme and was
also the first to do so at Stansfield. Ivan enrolled onto the
UOL programme after having completed his Diploma in Business Studies
from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. He joined as a part-time student initially,
but decided to switch to the full-time programme halfway through
the course. Judging from his excellent results, he did the right
thing.
Not surprisingly, he was one
of the several students identified by the schools as having ‘1st
class’ potential in his second year. Ivan’s lecturers
were informed accordingly and ‘special attention’
was given to him and the others who were similarly identified.
They were required to do more research and reading on their own
and were also encouraged to contribute in class by being more
vocal.
As to how Ivan got his First
Class, he shared, “I’m first and foremost glad that
I met the right people who had the same desire to do well in their
studies.” He is also thankful for having ‘pestered’
his lecturers whom he praises for their commitment and concern.
Ivan works for the National Library where he gets to put into
practice what he learnt and he also intends to further his studies
by doing a Masters in Information Management.
