Isabelle is a year 3 psychology student from NTU who enjoys all things about nature. She lives in Ulu Sembawang, some of her friends call it the ‘kampong’ because she lives closer to Johor Baru than Singapore. It only takes her 10 minutes to get to the Singapore custom! Her favorite places to go either have coffee, greenery, animals or all three! (Hint hint: Casa Verde @botanic gardens). When not lounging around watching Netflix, she can be found at a coffee shop mugging away or at home, sleeping (She does not do well on less than 8 hours of sleep *sobs*).
Her love for all things green was inculcated by her nature-loving family. Her grandparent’s back in Malaysia had the luxury of owning a garden. She vaguely remembers roaming about as a tiny child, barefooted, squishing the bugs and not fearing the mud, fascinated with what nature had to offer. Her parents inspired her to explore the natural world and supported her strange collection of dried leaves and flowers (She once kept a pet spider too! But it escaped…). Monthly trips to the zoo and nature reserves were memorable aspects of her childhood, sadly she does not have much time to visit them these days, but she’ll be back!
Each morning she feels like a Disney princess, waking up to the sounds of birds chirping.
That’s one thing she appreciates about living in ulu Sembawang. It’s relatively quieter than the city areas and thus densely populated with trees and birds. Once, a hummingbird even flew into her balcony! (Much to her moms’ horror). Her love for nature comes from a sense of peace it provides. It clears her mind and gives her the space to think.
She hopes that Singapore will continue to preserve its lush foliage as she can’t image a world without greenery. After all, the favourite part of her day is when she gets to look up at the trees on her way home, watching them dance gracefully in the wind and then taking in a deep breath of fresh air. It’s almost like nature is comforting her after a long day of school.