LEARNING AGAINST ALL ODDS

He joined the Navy with just O levels but went on to win multiple academic awards after almost 16 years away from school.

Sometimes the hardest of journeys exists in the mind. Feelings of self-doubt and despair often creep in at the last moment, eroding resolve.

Not for Military Expert (ME) 3-1 Rajendran s/o Ramachandran, who stepped back into the same school 16 years after he left in 1994.

He had dropped out because of family issues and joined the Republic of Singapore Navy as a junior naval engineer. Starting on the Missile Corvette RSS Victory, he climbed to a supervisory role on another corvette. He now works on submarine maintenance in the Force Generation Squadron.

On his first day at Singapore Polytechnic, his classmates thought he was the lecturer. "After that first lesson, I was devastated. I had understood nothing," said ME3-1 Rajendran. Instead of giving up, he hunkered down and set his goals; to do as well as possible in his journey to earn a Diploma in Marine Engineering.

He graduated with a Grade Point Average of 3.9 (the highest possible score is 4). Along the way, he won several academic awards, including one at an institutional level.

However, it was not always smooth-sailing from the point he applied for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Continuous Learning Academic Study Scheme (CLASS) in 2010. Initially, the Polytechnic rejected his application because he did not have Science as one of his O Level subjects, said ME3-1 Rajendran. His boss, ME5 (then ME4) Tan Han Qi stepped in to appeal and even spoke to the Polytechnic directors on his behalf.

"I am very grateful that he did that for me," said ME3-1 Rajendran.

'A' for effort

With so much riding on his success in his studies, ME3-1 Rajendran said that he just could not let everyone down. "The Navy sacrifices something whenever someone goes away to study; it loses someone who can do a job," he explained.

Almost every day, he would study late into the night after revising with his children and putting them to bed. "There were many days when I studied till 5 or 6am."

It was a punishing schedule, to say the least, but his wife helped by taking over at home when he needed the time to study. "She really supported me," he said.

His Navy colleagues would occasionally call to find out how he was doing. Each semester when he received his examination results, he would text ME5 Tan to report his grades.

In the course of his studies, everyone in his cohort struggled with the complex subject of Naval Architecture, which combined many disciplines such as Mathematics, Physics and Material Science, and dealt with the design and maintenance of naval structures. "It became my favourite subject because it was so tough."

ME3-1 Rajendran knew it would be tough so he spent a lot of time reading up on the subject, scouring the library for books and searching the Internet for more knowledge. "By the time the exams came, I was teaching my classmates!"

The group that studied with him benefited too as he was well-versed in the technical aspects of Marine Engineering. They helped him with the more theoretical aspects of the course, such as mathematical calculations and scientific concepts. "In the end, everyone did well. I think all of us graduated with at least a Merit!" said ME3-1 Rajendran.

So how did he befriend his peers who were almost half his age? He credits his people skills to his time in the Navy. "When we sail, it's a small team so you learn how to make friends very quickly."

Winning ways

With his name constantly at the top of student ranking tables, ME3-1 Rajendran was nominated for the Tay Eng Soon Gold Medal. This is an award for Institute of Technical Education alumni across the Polytechnics who have done well and contributed to community and student life. Other academic awards he received include the Keppel Offshore and Marine Prize, Neptune Ship Management Prize and Sembcorp Marine Prize.

Though ME3-1 Rajendran was involved in community work during his Polytechnic course, his priority was his family. "While I studied hard for my own goals, I had to ensure that my family's needs are met and that my children, too, are doing well in school," he said.

He also has another "family" to thank. "Many people in the Navy supported me in different ways. Had it not been for them, I don't think I would have done so well in school."

With a Diploma in hand, ME3-1 Rajendran does not consider his journey complete. He has set his sights on doing a degree next. His advice for people contemplating a return to school? "Just take the first step. It's like climbing a staircase; you can't reach the top until you take the first step."