By NASA MARIA ENTABAN

Find out what college life is really like.

IF you’re fresh out of secondary school and have plans to enrol in a college or university, you’re probably wondering what life there is really like.

Surely, daily routines will differ greatly from secondary school, and you probably don’t know what to expect as you fill in college application forms and wait to be accepted.

Get a glimpse of a student’s life at Taylor’s University College, in The Star’s new online video series College Life in One Day (CLIOD).

In each episode, you get to see what students studying different courses do in a day. In this week’s two new episodes, the stories are told from the point of view of students studying in the school of Hospitality and Tourism, and the school of Architecture, Building and Design (SABD).

Shannon Yew (right) and his coursemates with the fruits of their labour.

 
 
Lim Li Yin, 20, and Shannon Yew Weng Hong, 19, were thrilled to be a part of the video production for the series.

Playing principal parts in their respective episodes, Li Yin and Shannon were happy to share their experiences as students.

“It took us only two days of filming but I had to bring a few sets of clothes, in order to achieve the “many days in studio” scene,” recalls Li Yin, who has spent a memorable three years studying architecture.

“I was kind of excited about being the ‘main character’ in the video, but I didn’t expect it to be still frames linked together, where I had to move 10 times slower than normal to capture the desired effect,” says Li Yin.

In addition, she had to act out a great number of facial expressions – happiness, stress, sadness – for the video.

Li Yin admits that although her course of choice has been challenging, the experience was rewarding. She got to go to Egypt as part of her course requirement.

“The trip was crucial in my architecture studies as it allowed us to visit the historical sites and architectural monuments. Throughout six semesters, we studied history of architecture, including Egypt’s, and we actually got to stand right in front of them and see for ourselves how marvellous they are!” gushes Li Yin.

Pictures of her trip are included in the episode, which also showcases an exhibition of projects by her course mates.

Hotel Management student Shannon reveals that his course is not for the timid or faint-hearted.

“It’s filled with many practical and theoretical projects, and there are a lot of presentations to build our characters and self-confidence. We also learn how to make effective presentations, such as conducting briefings, meetings and presenting proposals which are vital in an industry like this,” explains Shannon.

Shannon and some of his course mates felt proud being able to showcase their college activities in CLIOD, even though they were a little nervous in the beginning.

“We all agreed to be spontaneous and professional about it, and to best represent ourselves. After a few minutes, everybody started feeling relaxed. I think we all enjoyed the experience and look forward to watching the video,” says Shannon.

What he likes best about his course is that he learnt a lot of practical techniques, and not just theories.“It’s mostly hands-on; from chopping vegetables into various shapes and sizes to carving an entire duck in front of guests to flambéing pineapples; we don’t spend all our time sitting in classrooms.

“It is thought-provoking to learn all the trade secrets from our lecturers and actually understanding the operating systems in hospitality establishments; it really exposes us to an entire world behind the scenes,” he adds.

> Catch CLIOD at thestaronline.tv or www.taylors.edu.my. If you want to win the grand prize of a scholarship from Taylor’s University College, read on!

Submit a video of you and/or your friend that is fun, funny and educational, for example, how to make a nutritious breakfast in five minutes, or how to eat and not smear your lipstick. Come up with a creative title (in a maximum of five words), and a video with a meaningful story behind it and make you’re sure able to upload it to YouTube.com.

You can join as an individual contestant or as a group of up to four participants – the first category winner stands a chance at winning a scholarship of RM10,000 to RM15,000 while the second category winners will win a scholarship of up to RM40,000 for the whole group. All first prize winners will receive a Nokia phone each.

CLIOD is a project by The Star Online in collaboration with Taylor’s University College, and Nokia as a partner.

Remember to submit your video URL and your (or your group) details in our contest form, http://thestar.com.my/youth2/cliod/contest.asp.