Typical BZSE Day!

Most of you may be wondering what the typical day for us BZSE students? Well, it is pretty much fun and laughter everyday, along with the tuitorials and lectures which we have everyday. Since the whole Year 1 cohort is only 40+ people, you would expect us to be very united, not to mention very talkative during our lectures~

So… where’s what our typical day looks like!

8.00AM + : The gathering! Everyone would always gather in front of the Cheers near the bus stop. Here’s where everyone chats about everything under the sun, and occasionally rush out the presentation due this afternoon~

9AM – 11AM : First lesson of the day! The first lessons are always fun and full of laughter, with occasional web-camming and some snoring away due to not enough sleep last night! The first lessons are also the ones which we normally look forward to , like Economics and Introduction to Social Enterprise~

11AM – 1PM : Second lesson of the day! This is the one whereby every minute seems like an hour for us, as we slowly wait for lunchtime. Still, we learn a lot as the teacher’s way of teaching are very straight-forward and easy to absorb! Also, the countdown towards lunchtime is another motivation factor to make us worker faster and faster to finish what we have to do~ Of course, it doesn’t lack in quality ^^

1PM – 2PM : LUNCHTIME! The most satisfying hour of the day! This is the time when we sit together and munch down on the delicious food available here in Ngee Ann Poly! More chatting and talking appears here. But, time always flies by so fast as we are having fun, as the hour only seems to feel like minutes….Aww well! Time for class again!

2PM – 4PM : Last lesson of the day! This is the time when we countdown towards the end of school! Of course, the teachers still keeps us on track in terms of work. The last lessons also seem to be the most inspirational ones, since teachers take this time to talk to us about stuff and allow us to voice out our opinions. Overall, this part of the day is the best is terms of things which we learn.
4PM+ : THAT’S ALL FOLKS! Class is OVER! This is the time where we go home…or go to Ourspace/Attic to slack and hang out with our friends! Again, occasional, this is the time when we rush our projects too!

That’s about it! Hope readers have learned a little more about the student’s lives in BZSE! Although it looks like a carefree life, but trust me, there are times when it is carefree, but there are times when the work comes rushing down towards you~
That’s all for today!

So…why BZSE?

So after looking at all the content in this website, i hope that everyone have learned a little bit more about the BZSE course. Honestly speaking, before i entered BZSE , i also had my doubts over joining this course. There was not much information about this course at all except for the the Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s website. So, one of the purposes of this website is to provide both students AND parents with an informative platform that serves to answer all of their questions about this exciting course, and to provide an insight into the lives of the students in this course and what do they do everyday. So, here’s a little sneak preview to WHY you should choose BZSE as the course of your choice.

1) It’s a Hybrid Course! Joining this special course will allow you to experience 2 different ways of entrepreneurship, the business way and the social enterprise way. Being in this course will equip you with two different sets of skills which are both interlinked in many ways. The course will also both encourage and support you if you ever think of starting a small social enterprise during your 3 years in the course.  Thus, joining this course will give you two benefits which will accompany you throughout your life if you were to enter into the business industry.

2) Did i mention that this is the ONLY course in Singapore that provides a medium for you to learn the ways of social entrepreneurship? Yes! Only Ngee Ann Polytechnic offers this course and we are proud to be the only one in Singapore to undergo this meaningful learning journey, filled with fun, laughter, unity and joy!

3) There is so much opportunity for us to put into action what we learnt! Through exciting events such as the Gawad Kalinga Global Summit 2010, we are able to put our learning experiences to the test. And through the act of managing or setting up your own social enterprise like what Justine Lee did for Soule and we can even learn through the social enterprise in our very own backyard : Dialogue in the Dark!

4) We learn through a different approach! Through hands-on projects whether we have to come in contact with our industry partners, we get to step into their shoes and learn how it is to properly operate ad social enterprise. Through experimental learning with partners like the World Toilet Organization , O School , MINDS and Heathserve, we will be able to grow and learn faster.

So, after all that, i hope everyone got to learn a little more about why the Diploma in Business and Social Enterprise is such a wonderful and unique course! So, do consider this one-of-a-kind course if you’re taking the GCE O Levels this year. As for parents or even friends whom feel that this course is a very meaningful and excellent course, do help us out and recommend this course to all your friends! This is a really meaningful course and i wish that everyone who has the passion and wants to make a change to join this course!

What’s “Social Enterprise” to you?

This has been a post which i wanted to make as the first one, but instead i pushed it to the second one due to the first one being more of a “experience in BZSE” kind of post.

So, there has been a bit of a discussion in the past 2 weeks, upon the definition of the word “Social Enterprise”. The teachers have discussed with us as a whole, and many of us have a clear definition in our mind right now. I for one, already formed a definition.

Before the discussions, i always felt that being a Social Entrepreneur and starting a social enterprise means that you are prepared to earn much less as compared to you being in the business industry. I also had the stereotyped impression that a social enterprise could not earn money and was only sustainable, but not profitable in a sense. Almost as if i thought that a social enterprise was just for those whom wanted to help out the society, not minding the vast gap in terms of salary.

However, after these 2 weeks of heated discussion and clashing of ideal definitions between different modules and different aspects, i felt that my definition of a social enterprise has changed towards the definition which our teacher, Dr Red has given us.

He felt that a social enterprise has its positioning in the “gray” area, in between the Black(Pure business) and the White(Pure Social). This was a definition which i was able to accept. A Social Enterprise doesn’t have to be non-profitable, as there are also profitable social enterprises out there in Singapore, like Soule. I feel that as long as the enterprise helps the society in any aspect, dedicated to it and involves the social aspect in everything they do, i will consider it as a “social enterprise”

So, what is your definition of a “Social Enterprise”?

Care to share it to me in the comments section?

Go ahead then!

Thanks for reading! A few more posts coming the next few days!

First INTSOE Project : Interview with a SE

Our first major project was “Interview with a SE”

Our social enterprise was….The World Toilet Organization!

Our job was to interview the man behind this huge social enterprise, Mr Jack Sim, and to produce a 3 minute clip, a presentation and a newsletter. It seemed be really hard at first, so we got started on the entire project really fast, meeting up on several occasions, working the whole day.

But, with a great leader (Sean PONG), awesome team members (Kiah Gek, Varun and Alicia), we finally finished the entire project! Sure, there were some hiccups along the way, and there were times when opinions collided and we were off track for awhile, but in the end we got together, gave it all we got and FINISHED IT! A job well done indeed! We had a great time and we have learnt a lot from Mr Jack Sim , especially his passion and drive to change the world of sanitation. Thus, it has been a fruitful learning for all of us and we enjoyed every single moment!

Here are some pictures taken when we did our project!

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