HAVING PASSION & PURPOSE
RYAN ONG DIPLOMA IN AEROSPACE ELECTRONICS YEAR 3
Ask Ryan what drives him to do the things he does and his easy reply is “Happy Can Already”. He explains that he believes in doing things that are purposeful and which make him happy. Even if there are naysayers, he does not let them aect him as his philosophy is that there will always be people who do not agree with what you do, no matter what, so there is no need to be upset. Awarded the SP Engineering Scholarship for all 3 years of his studies and the A*STAR Poly Science Award in his second year, Ryan exudes a sense of steadiness and calm, probably one of the qualities which helped him ace his scholarship interviews. Passionate about all things engineering, especially working on his projects, Ryan is also very caught up in his music, specifically, the piano. Piano is his go-to, in times of stress and to relax to, aside from playing badminton, basketball and running. Not surprisingly, he is a member of the SP Piano Ensemble and is in its exco, holding the oce of Secretary. As exco member, he has helped to both organise and perform in a number of concerts such as the Arts Fiesta at SP, as well as in collaboration with other polytechnics and also at NUH, CGH and IMH. As Year 2 Head of the EEE Student Ambassadors, Ryan has helped to organise engineering events such as the FOP and the SP Engineering Show. During one of the events where he was Vice Chairman of the organising committee, he had to oversee an outreach event involving approximately 700 secondary students in an activity involving robots. Ryan admits that it came as a surprise to him when he was informed that he had been awarded the SP Engineering Scholarship in year 1. He felt that there were many students who were better than him and he did not feel particularly confident during the interview. His advice to aspiring scholars is to ensure that they know why they are applying for the scholarship and not to compare themselves with other candidates. He opines that when answering questions, they should not try to come up with responses which they feel the interviewers want to hear, but be confident enough to oer their own views on issues. Even if in the end, they do not secure the scholarship, it would still be a good learning experience – sometimes why someone is not oered a scholarship could be that they are not the right fit for it in the first place and not necessarily that they performed badly during the interview process.
Last but not least, Ryan has this to say “be happy and be kind to people regardless of their status – this is what will bring you far in life.”
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