I’ve recently come back from Dublin, Ireland where the Global Undergraduate Summit 2022 was held. My FYP-URECA paper had been awarded the regional winner in my category at this year’s Global Undergraduate Awards. Though the win was unexpected, it felt nice to have had my work seen. As an extension of my URECA project, I had worked on this paper, the ​​Black Lives Matter: Perceived (Ir)relevance to Understanding Race Issues in Singapore for a long time, and like most other research, it had been an isolating and demoralising process at times. However, as much as we’d often like to take full credit for our ‘successes’ (if you could call this that), these very ‘successes’ are often the result of many, many people around us, who, directly or indirectly, positively impact us.

When I sit and think about my undergraduate journey at NTU, it is undeniable that the NTU-USP family has left such an impact on me. Of all the brilliant things I have learnt from all of you, the most impactful lesson is this: to not be afraid to try! As simple (or duh) as it may sound, it is actually quite difficult to not worry, do your best, and let the rest come easy. Yet, NTU-USP provides such a safe environment for us to try, no matter the outcome. There were countless opportunities for me to do things I was keen on. When I wanted to try acting again, I was encouraged to join USPresents; when I had ideas I wanted to bring to life, I could through the various subcommittees available, especially the Arts, Culture and Social Affairs, and Social Service Projects, which I were a member of; when I wished to build my confidence and put myself out there, I could as an orientation group leader or project head. In planning some of the many events NTU-USP holds, not once have I heard the word no; it has always been about how we could bring this particular idea/vision to life, and what we could do better. I think that sort of mindset really has a profound impact on us. As students, it makes us feel like we can do anything, and more importantly, we are supported to do so. Though I am often one to doubt myself a lot, when I had applied for this award, I had not thought so much about it. After all, what harm was there in submitting my work? Thank you, NTU-USP, for making me feel like I can do anything I set my mind to. On days I continue to doubt myself, it’s something I try to remind myself.

Through the vigorously intellectually-stimulating modules offered as part of NTU-USP, I have had the opportunity to converse, debate and most importantly, learn from an outstanding group of students and faculty. With our varied majors, educational backgrounds, and lived experiences, conversations have been nothing short of extraordinary. Something I have come to embrace is that though it is easy to speak with those with whom our viewpoints converge, the real challenge comes when we have to converse with those with whom our viewpoints diverge. When we speak only with those we agree with, we find ourselves trapped in an echo-chamber of ideas and beliefs, and there is often little room for us to learn anything new. Rather, we often just strengthen our pre-existing beliefs. However, when we engage critically with differing perspectives, that is when we are forced to learn to respectfully communicate, and actively listen…and often leave learning something new. When one does research, there is sometimes a natural tendency to want to receive a particular set of responses which may align with the broader aims of the project, or even my own personal beliefs. Yet, I’ve learnt (and rather, am still learning) to embrace the heterogeneity which comes from our very diverse lived experiences that shape us and the beliefs that we have. Rather than see them as a hassle to one’s end-goal, it’s better to see them as opportunities to learn and grow from. Thank you, NTU-USP, for providing me with a different lens through which I can perceive the world.

Thank you, NTU-USP for some of the best years.

If you’d like to read my paper, Black Lives Matter: Perceived (Ir)relevance to Understanding Race Issues in Singapore, you can do so here. Alternatively, you reach out to me @yikeshantini on Telegram or Instagram for a copy.

Submission by:

Shantini Rajasingam, Class of 2022, SOC

Take a moment to think about this word: Today. What does it mean to you?

For me, today marks 8 weeks since I’ve completed my university education. It marks the end of 4 years of this journey that’s been bittersweet.

Today also marks another day amidst my ongoing transition. Now that my life doesn’t revolve around my formal education, what should I set as my next goal if there’s no set syllabus and no rubric to assess my progress?

Throughout my life, I’ve been chasing the ABCs and even then, I felt I was only allowed to chase the ‘A’ – the shining gold that can only be found on the apex, that would supposedly pave the way to a future of happiness. Only, this made happiness far more abstract and unpredictable, given that my concept of “excellence” is very delicately balanced on a sharp and pointy tip.

My today presents challenges that is built upon my ability to find a job fast, to save money fast, and to secure a home fast. The balance that I have struggled to maintain can collapse under the weight of emotional burdens and frustrations.

Thankfully, NTU-USP taught me a much healthier system – to live on through the letter ‘B’, the art of being, rather than doing and acing.

This community has taught me a new foundation to build my identity on, one of greater stability and gentle curves. It’s one that’s hard to drop off because it’s so wholly balanced upon a culture of laughter, forgiveness and strong relationships. It’s one of flow and freedom beyond the rigidity that ‘A’ offers.

No one is alone at the top of that lonely mountain, and everyone has room to explore all their emotions and experiences without needing to maintain that delicate balance of being a “perfect” person.

Throughout my 4 years, I was surrounded by members of this small community and the gentle warmth they buoyed me with. Whenever I’ve been lost in a sea of doubts and fears, I can look around and see so many hands reaching out to catch me and carry me through.

In this job-hunting season, many have offered help with their words of encouragement and advice, and, most importantly, their confidence in me and my potential. They weren’t necessarily my longest or closest friends in NTU-USP, and still they have touched me and carried me through.

Here, walls are brought down, and the air circulates with bright warmth and gentle kindness.

Here, I learnt the greatness of ‘B’ beyond that which ‘A’ can only hope to give me. I learnt that my today isn’t that lonely or frightening. NTU-USP has taught me to make my today one of bravery, belief and new beginnings.

What does your today look like?

Submission by:

Fan Ting Hui, Class of 2022, English

As a communications professional, much of my day-to-day work involves perspective. As the bridge between brands and their intended audiences, our job, put most simply, is to tell stories that both represent the brand and resonate with audiences. Perspective, in our case, is more than just a point of view – it encapsulates an understanding of the brand DNA, what it stands for, what it can speak about and perhaps most importantly, how it responds to the changes happening in the world around us.

It was daunting at first as a fresh graduate, having to learn both the skills of communicating effectively and getting myself acquainted with the depth of industry knowledge required to form the very basis of my stories. It didn’t help that most of my clients were in the business-to-business (B2B) sector, cutting across industries that were completely foreign to me as a linguistics major – think semiconductors, low-code software and even private equity!

While it was definitely a steep learning curve, I realised quickly that I saw this more as an opportunity than a challenge. I found it exciting to dip my toes into subject matters that I was completely unfamiliar with and emerging at the end with a somewhat proficient understanding of how these industries worked made me feel incredibly accomplished – after all, this was what I loved about my time at NTU-USP.

Module offerings like psychology-based Error and Bias allowed me to delve deep into the human mind, while Science, Culture, and Society – one of my favourite modules to date – illustrated the intersections between scientific developments, the arts and the transformation of society throughout history. Of course, no NTU-USP experience can be complete without the mention of the Travel Overseas Programme for Scholars (TOPS), where my friends and I investigated the perceptions of war tourism in Vietnam, touching on concepts across politics, history and the economics of war.

What I learnt then and what I know now is that effective communication doesn’t happen in silos, and it is informed by different perspectives across the spokesperson, brand, audience, and within the wider context of the industry. This is essentially an interdisciplinary approach.

At the same time, defining the interdisciplinary approach as having a wealth of knowledge from across various fields of work and applying that knowledge gives less credit to the beauty of an interdisciplinary education than I would like. I think it’s also very much about developing an open, exploratory and probing mindset, coupled with a curiosity to find connections in and within things that may seem at first glance completely unrelated.

This is a mindset I’ve taken with me into my work, as I strive to tell stories that are grounded in perspective. As the world grows increasingly interconnected, disciplines will only converge and not stay ringfenced. We’ll start talking about ethics in the global disruption of semiconductor supply chains, or have politics make their way into tech – the ability to see these connections and respond to them in a respectful, precise manner will be key to being an effective communicator in the 21st century.

Submission by:

Lim Jia Yi, Class of 2021, LMS

The term “interdisciplinary” sounds grand and glamorous, but what does it really mean to be an interdisciplinary student? This is something that I pondered upon since the start of my NTU-USP journey. Four years down the road, I can safely say that the exposure to an interdisciplinary curriculum has provided me with opportunities to apply knowledge from various fields in my current work. Upon graduation with a Bachelor’s in Communication Studies, I am currently pursuing a PhD under the Interdisciplinary Graduate Programme in NTU. My research focuses on the use of digital technologies such as virtual reality and video games to improve people’s self-perceptions and interpersonal interactions. Till date, I have had the opportunity to take up courses in various areas such as Psychology, Sociology, and virtual environment design. The thought of having to scale a steep learning curve appears rather daunting initially yet being able to gain knowledge in a new area can be a really fulfilling experience. Furthermore, this is crucial in achieving my research goal, which is to improve people’s self-perceptions and social experiences using digital technologies. This requires one to have an understanding on how people communicate with one another, while also knowing how to conceptualize and utilize current digital tools to achieve those goals. Over my four years in NTU-USP, there were various opportunities to discover how knowledge gathered across disciplines can be integrated to tackle different issues. For instance, I had the chance to work with a team from various disciplines on a qualitative research project during the Travel Overseas Programme for Scholars (TOPS) and that experience prompted me to ruminate upon the research topic through both the lenses of a Business and Social Sciences student. I also managed to incorporate some of the knowledge that I have gained from the NTU-USP classes such as Ethics and Error and Bias into my Final Year Project, which examined how players make moral decisions in video games and their subsequent intergroup perceptions after the game play. The various classes outside of my main field of study allowed me to have a better understanding about how people perceive others, as well as some of the moral considerations that people have when faced with ethical dilemmas. Altogether, those experiences helped me to better design the video game for the study and consider various perspectives that could influence the research findings. While the idea of being interdisciplinary might allow us to be more marketable and more knowledgeable, it is still crucial to be an expert in a particular field of interest. Being exposed to an interdisciplinary curriculum provides an icing on the cake by allowing us to extend our knowledge in various areas. This would be helpful, particularly when we are tackling certain issues such as improving intergroup perceptions, self-perceptions, and attitudes toward environmental issues, which might require more than just one area of knowledge in order to devise an intervention.

Submission by:

Koek Wei Jie Dominic, Class of 2020