01 March 2019
Ng Pei Ying is a first year student at the Institute of Technical Education, studying digital animation.
Having experienced bullying and isolation in her secondary school days, Ms Ng was desperate to turn her life around. She attended an introductory talk on a pilot programme called ELEVATE, a service-learning project created by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) for ITE students to use the vocational skills they learn in class to meet the community’s needs, and decided to become involved.
In Pei Ying’s case, she and six friends were assigned to teach drawing and animation to children at Care Corner Student Care Centre, which provides after-school support for children from low-income families.
Pei Ying became a caring and encouraging mentor under ELEVATE. She also overcame one of her biggest fears — public speaking — when she had to share her ELEVATE story at the programme’s graduation ceremony after its June-to-November run.
Though her stint in ELEVATE is over, Pei Ying continues to do volunteer work through balloon sculpting, one of ITE College Central’s co-curricular activities. She has since decided to become a social worker.