Diploma in Advertising and Marketing is not your average diploma but if I were offered a different choice, I’d still choose this course all over again, especially in IACT College! IACT College is blessed with great industry lectures that could teach “a dog how to ride a motorcycle” if it wanted to. I am just happy that I have access to very experienced individuals from the industry and that their main concern is that their knowledge and know-how is passed along to their students, especially those that put in the effort.

This course has allowed me to work closely with many industry professionals and also helped me gain connections for the near future. Along the way, many communication skills were gained and what was rusted was perfected. This course has also helped build my confidence and improve my self-esteem. One of the memorable projects that I've done in this course would be my final assignment for my Video Production class where I was assigned to come up with a music video with my groupmates. Our production team was BLANNK Productions and we had put together a music video called “The Wild Youth” for the song “Youth” by Daughter.

This course has helped me discover my passion for telling stories through the lens of the camera, whether it is through photography or film. The classes here have changed my perspective on its role in the media industry and I now understand how it can be such a powerful tool for our society. I love how it is such a creativity-based course, and it encourages me to think outside the box when doing my assignments, especially in trying to conceptualize a video. I want to be able to make an impact in this world and this course encourages me to channel this passion of mine, to be able to tell the stories I want to tell through the art of film making.

This program provides a workplace setting with real industry projects so that we can experience working on class projects with companies in the classroom. With the support and guidance from IACT lecturers, I am able to gain knowledge, learn new skills and be more confident of myself. My best experience would be getting involved in designing visuals for mural painting for a secondary school, and winning 1st Runner Up in a competition organized by the United Nations, Creative Expressions Competition in 2015. From projects and competitions like these, I learnt soft skills such as teamwork and time management which will be useful in my career, besides being able to showcase my talents.

Personally, BAD really brings the best out in you as the aspect of a conducive learning environment and the practicality of the course prepares you mentally for the world out there. The tactile teaching and learning really puts you in actual ‘advertising’ conditions. The best part of the course is the self-discovery process because instead of telling you how to do it, they’ll be like “This is what you have to do, now go do it!”

I enrolled into this degree program shortly after I completed my Diploma program with IACT College. As someone who has experienced both programs, I can safely say that my journey has been nothing short of amazing. The diploma program’s project-based-learning has given me ample opportunities to explore and cultivate my areas of interest particularly in Journalism, Public Relations and Event Management. This degree program emphasises more on thought-provoking subjects – challenging reality as I know it – which are essential in understanding the nature of media and culture. Nonetheless, these are all made possible with the help of our dedicated lecturers!

The Certificate in Communication Studies is a course that offers both theory and project based subjects. I remember running a food sale project to raise funds to supply dictionaries for primary school students in Kota Kinabalu. All these helped me establish my knowledge and interest in the field of mass communication studies. If you want to get a glimpse of what it’s like studying in the creative communication field, this is the course for you.

If I could describe Foundation in Media Studies (FMS) in one word it would be ‘rollercoaster’. I would say that this course is not for the weak because it has never once failed to test my abilities in many areas. It has exposed and sharpened skills that I never knew I had, pushed me to my ultimate limit but has never failed to keep me interested in the course. I have never regretted my decision.

The Diploma in Mass Communication provides students with an all-rounded exposure to various fields of the creative communication industry. I have been equipped with essential soft skills that are needed in the industry, such as persuasion, communication, management and planning, critical thinking, creativity, and researching skills. Through a series of real-client projects, we were trained to apply acquired knowledge and skills into our work and personal life. These made us become outstanding individuals that excel not only academically, but also whose works are recognized by the industry. One of the most memorable projects was producing a cinema advertisement for a social enterprise named Projek57. It was our first time working with a celebrity cast, as well as screening our ad in a cinema. It benefited me in building a network with people in the industry, as well as work professionally and independently even while I am still a student.

What I love about IACT College is its creative environment – where our imagination is let wild and free, as long as it works! We also get to learn from industry experts and the small class size setting also encourages us to have a more personal interaction with our lecturers. Studying with the advertising specialist also allows me to know people from the industry and provide me insights into my future career. My best project was “Dah Makan?” an awareness campaign for the Creative Expression Competition organized by United Nations, where we got to realize our idea by going to the streets and conduct interviews, which later on became our campaign video!

This course had helped me to build more connections in the film industry and has broken the stereotype of not having a job. The world needs broadcasters in the industry because we are living in a modern world where media plays a very crucial role in communication. The benefit of this course is that they follow the PBL system which is project based learning rather than just theories all the way. The more projects we have, the more we learn. One memorable part about this course is when our music video project required a police station. I printed about 20 permission letters around PJ just to get that location. In the end, we managed to shoot in a police station with an orange jumpsuit and a real lockup! How amazing was that!

I like that the Graphic Design course has subjects that focus on the graphic side of the design world like publication design, packaging design, as well as other subjects like advertising design - where we get exposed to the advertising world. I think the most memorable project I've done is the KFC campaign project that my friends and I did for Advertising Principles. I felt like the campaign had a strong big idea and was successful.

This program has a mixture of both practical and theoretical elements which would be an appropriate balance for a degree course. I think the most interesting thing about this program is how it requires students to think critically and analytically throughout all the modules. The course also gives an extensive look into the world of media and it really provides you an alternate perspective to look at the world.”

This program is not for the faint of heart. It is tough with intention to stretch and strengthen a student’s mental capacities. In the time spent in IACT College, I realized that I've been able to push myself beyond my limits. With the help of caring and supportive lecturers, I am able to see a steady progression of my work, from my time in foundations to the end of degree. The course is designed not just for student to indulge in getting good grades, but equipping students with a portfolio impressive enough to show to secure a job in the future.