It took me a while to make the decision to move out of hall and back home as I’d only be taking two modules next semester. As I’ve lived on the NTU campus for the past three years, I’m still not quite ready to leave.

For one, this place is beautiful, especially when the sun sets. Being far from the madding crowd, we have some of the best views. NTU is hilly and the buildings are low, unlike many places in Singapore, where the sky is often blocked out by tall buildings. The sky here is vast, and to look out of the window (after an entire afternoon of hitting the books) to a bruised evening sky is one of the best stress relievers, and always leaves me in awe.

Proof? This is the view from my hall:

 6.30pm, taken from my block on the way back to my room at Hall 16.

And this is the view on the way to dinner with friends at the North Spine eateries:

6.45pm, taken on the bridge connecting NIE to the main academic complex.

A lovely sunset.

And even when the sky is overcast, it’s still broodingly beautiful:

5.30pm, after class, on the way back to my room.

Even though it was three years ago, I still vividly remember moving in on the first day. It was terrifying, yet exhilarating. For the first time, I had absolute freedom in dictating my schedule for the week. (Wake up at noon? Not a problem. Supper at 1am? Of course!)

It was also the first time I learnt how to use a washing machine, thanks to a very kind senior who taught me which buttons to press, but who was also probably laughing inwardly at me. But that’s the best part of staying in hall: the community.

To walk down the hallway after a long, tough day in school and see a familiar face is comforting. To have someone disrupt your midnight studying with snacks and drinks is welcome. To have friends drag you to the lounge to watch The X Factor together every week is a pleasure. To stand at the hockey pitch at 9pm while it’s raining out, cheering for your hall to win the finals of a hockey game? Priceless.

I’ve never been much of a sports person, because sports doesn’t excite me the way (nerd alert!) books, music or movies do. But since entering NTU and staying in hall, I’ve come to have a favourite sports team, and that’s Team 16. It’s been a rush, watching friends play on the hockey pitch as I scream my throat hoarse shouting their names.

I’ll soon be moving back home, and every Sunday night when I head back to hall, I feel the days in the dorm pass faster and faster. The next semester will signify a new start, and the ease of waking up 45 minutes before my first class isn’t even going to be the thing I’ll miss the most.

My cosy dorm room – my home for three years.

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