Lee Wei En (21S24)

Lee Wei En’s unconventional journey to Jurong Pioneer Junior College (JPJC) was one filled with many twists and turns. As a Normal Academic student, Wei En came to realise his interest in the Mathematics and the Sciences. In secondary school, Wei En had benefitted directly from Subject-Based Banding (SBB) and had experienced first-hand how it gave him the opportunity to stretch himself in subjects he was strong in regardless of his stream. Eager to develop these passions further, Wei En decided on the Junior College route as he desired to read these subjects at a much greater depth. In turn, he dropped the idea to pursue the Polytechnic Foundation Programme.

Nonetheless, what had first appeared to be a straightforward decision was soon fraught with uncertainty. While Wei En was confident in Mathematics and Sciences, the same could not be said for English. Despite not having had a taste of General Paper, he feared the subject, drowning himself with imaginary scenarios of the coming struggles he would have. Wei En also understood JC to be academically rigorous and demanding. Plagued by these doubts, the Polytechnic route now seemed a more appealing and a surer choice. With that, Wei En enrolled into the Polytechnic instead, reading ‘Information Technology’.

In an unfortunate twist of fate, Wei En found himself miserable. He recalled feeling handicapped in his new course, “I did not have a computing background and found myself struggling, while my peers were able to complete their work well.” To make matters worse, the long drawn pandemic had restructured the curriculum to be fully home-based. The lack of face-to-face time created what seemed to be an endless cycle of hopelessness. He simply could not catch up; and he came to be greatly demoralised. Finally after keeping at it for up to 5 months, Wei En decided to leave the polytechnic and applied to Junior College instead. Looking back on his fateful journey, this long ‘de-tour’ has enlightened Wei En, “I don’t want to be stuck with something that I don’t enjoy, which isn’t what I want and who I really am!”. So strong is this conviction, that he continues to hold this revelation dear to his heart.

Not forgetting his weakness in the English language, Wei En took extra effort and sought consultations with his GP teachers. Wei En is extremely grateful to his GP teachers, Mdm Shasila and Ms Isabelle Tan who spent countless hours coaching him. Besides his battle with GP, the adjustment period was also challenging as Wei En had placed immense pressure on himself, “Making this detour, I felt that I had stagnated. While I was still in JC, most of my polytechnic peers had already progressed to National Service or onward to University. It was awful feeling like a failure. I felt that I was left behind.”

Nonetheless, he persevered on, finding strength in his CTs’ and newfound friends’ encouragement. Wei En cited JPJC’s caring environment to be a great source of support. “Fortunately, my CTs and friends helped me to start afresh and not to dwell on my negative feelings.” Furthermore, Wei En had led a full college life, playing an active role in the non-academic areas as well. He served as the Vice Captain of Aries House and volunteered to be an Orientation Group Leader since welcoming the new juniors now took on greater meaning for him. With more and more friends, the difficult adjustment period also came to be a thing of the past. It no longer bothered Wei En that his path was different, “We went through thick and thin together and this enabled me to share my feelings and worries more freely. Despite my unconventional ways, my friends accepted me for who I was.” The strong ties allowed this close-knitted group of friends to support one another in their A level journey together.

Wei En is also grateful to his parents who did not place excessive focus on his academic results but had instead given him the autonomy and freedom to pursue his own path and choices. Wei En fondly recalled his parents’ advice “we will always stand by and support you. Your academic results is your responsibility and not that of others.” Determined to achieve his goals at his own pace, Wei En’s perseverance is anchored by having a positive mindset and the unquestioned confidence that joy can be found in the process, even if one takes the road less travelled. Thus, finding one’s purpose became of utmost importance, granting Wei En strength to strive closer towards his goals.

In addition, Wei En attended the JPJC’s Alumni sharing series and was further affirmed by his decision. He was struck by how alumni were able to carve out meaningful journeys of success despite their rough starts in life. “It was humbling – learning how they remained contented and grounded despite their stellar achievements. One sharing stood out to me ‘no one will ever have the exact same experience; it is what one makes out of one’s own experience that makes the difference.” Drawing parallels to his circumstance, Wei En felt fully at peace with the path he has taken. “It is perfectly fine to pursue other alternatives rather than force himself down an unsuitable path.” True to his love for the sciences, Wei En’s most usual and enlightening epiphany came from his Chemistry lesson on enzymes. An enzyme’s ‘lock and key mechanism’ details that a specific key is needed to open a specific lock. We cannot force in a key that does not fit. In the same way, sometimes things just don’t fit together well. It’s perfectly fine because there’s always another path available. We simply need to learnt how to accept and adapt.” Indeed, Wei En’s unconventional journey bears testimony to his wise words.

Wei En intends to continue to pursue STEM course in either NUS or NTU where he hopes to develop new technologies that can mitigate issues and social challenges faced by society.