Edited by: Victoria Chang
Written by: Lai Yun Xin
Photos by: Ong Yong Jia
Dr Rebecca Nichols, also known affectionately as Prof Becky by students, is a Psychology lecturer, as well as one of our current two Quantitative Reasoning instructors. As a newcomer to our latest lineup of USP professors, let us welcome Prof Becky to the USP community by hearing her some of her thoughts on the USP, as well as certain facets of her personal life!
What are your impressions of the USP student life so far?
All my impressions are really positive; I love that there is a great sense of community and family among the USP. I think that that’s one of the selling points of USP to students, and also something that makes being part of the USP really special. USP students, overall, are very bright, committed and motivated and seem to be active not just in their classes but also in the USP community as a whole, so that makes it a wonderful place for a faculty member to be.
What are your impressions of the USP programme curriculum so far?
We have a lot of skilled faculty with varied talents and interests, and I think that that makes for a strong liberal arts curriculum with lots of choices for USP students.
How did you become an academic and why did you choose psychology as your area of focus?
I was fortunate enough to take a psychology class in high school, In the US, psychology courses are not regularly offered in every high school. I really loved it, and I think at that point that’s when I knew I wanted to go into psychology, but I wasn’t exactly sure which aspect of psychology I wanted to study. So, for the first few years at my university, I explored out a lot of different areas, and when I took courses in cognitive and social psychology, I felt like those areas best fit my interests. During my undergraduate years, I got into research, and I continued to work in research at my university even after I graduated but before I went into graduate school. For anybody who is thinking about going to graduate school, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to get active in research. Not only did it help me cultivated my passion for psychological science, but also it gave me a lot of experience that was helpful for my application [to graduate school].
Other than psychology, what are your other areas of interest?
Outside of academia, I have been a dancer for a long time – ballet, jazz, modern…but I feel that over time, my body’s gotten a little older and a little less tolerant to dancing! (laughs) So in the last few years, I’ve taken up yoga as well. Yoga actually helped me a lot during my PhD, because it really reminded me to stay present and helped manage a lot of the stresses and anxieties that come with a long graduate programme, so it’s really been a beneficial aspect of my life.
Seeing as to how you’ve come a pretty long way from the States to Singapore, do you find it to be very different from the States here?
I typically lived in big cities in the US, [and] because Singapore is also a very metropolitan place, it’s been an easy transition for me. I also moved around the States a fair bit during my life, so I think having moved around has also made coming to a new country a little bit easier as well.
How are you finding Singapore so far? Do you like it here?
I really love living in Singapore. Before I applied to come to NTU, I had actually been to visit twice. My partner is a faculty member at NUS, and he came a year before me, so one aim of every visit was to gauge how good of a fit Singapore would be for both of us to be in the long run. And even just after a couple of visits, we both felt like Singapore would make a very happy home for us, for the next few years or however long we end up being here! It’s a really vibrant and remarkably diverse city; it’s incredibly well organised and I think a lot of different aspects of community and society function really well. Everything operates very smoothly. It’s a friendly place for us as foreigners as well, so it’s very comfortable for us to be here. On the weekends, both my partner and I love to try to explore parts of Singapore we haven’t been, to try some new food, or go to a new hawker centre we haven’t been before. The vibrancy that is here, which is in part due to Singaporeans coming from such diverse backgrounds, truly shapes the culture here, and there’s just so much to learn about and so much to explore! For us, we really value that quality in the place where we live. We feel very fortunate to be here.
In particular, do you have a favourite hangout or pastime anywhere in Singapore?
Well, we like to spend a lot of time outdoors, so most recently we have been to Pulau Ubin, the MacRitchie Reservoir, and Labrador Park. We particularly enjoy Labrador Park, because you’re amongst the nature, but you also have urban elements interspersed, and there’s usually lots of people congregating, so right now, it’s one of my favourites. Other than that, I also like going to Botanic Gardens, because there’re often free concerts and other artistic and cultural events going on there, so it’s just nice, for example, to be able to hang out in the grass and hear a free concert from the symphony stage. Just exploring Chinatown or having a stroll along Little India is great as well. This is a tough question for me, because it’s so hard to choose! But I would say those are some favourites that come to mind right now.
Are there any other places you haven’t been to that you wish to explore in Singapore?
Well, yes, but I might not know them by name! I’ve not really explored much of the north part of Singapore, so I’m not exactly sure about what is up there! I rely on [my partner] a bit because he’s been here a little bit longer, so he has a better sense of where to go next, and what to see and do next. I’m not sure if there’s somewhere specific
on my list for Singapore, so that might be the next spot on my itinerary. We also would like to go to Malaysia fairly soon, because I haven’t crossed the border yet either.
Are there other activities that you enjoy engaging in that are more local to Singapore?
We have a friend who is a performer in Chinese opera, She is in rehearsals now, but we are hoping to go to one of her performances very soon! We also went to a free concert featuring entirely Singaporean artists in Sentosa, and as far as we could see we were the only foreigners there at the concert (laughs), but we truly enjoyed their performances. We understood some of the artists were performers who have been featured on some of Singapore’s singing TV shows. They were so talented.
Are there any other local activities you haven’t tried that you wish to start engaging in?
I think what [my partner and I] are now interested in is getting more involved with our community centre; we’re interested in taking classes there as well! I’d like to start taking some Mandarin lessons; I’m not sure how successful I will be, but I’d like to learn even just little bits of the language as I’d be able to better my involvement in the community in which I live, and the students and faculty with whom I work! I’ve started to watch a few YouTube videos, and right now it’s just a matter of correctly reproducing some the sounds, which are a bit tricky for me to even hear. But I’ve heard that once you get over that hurdle, then learning becomes much easier.
Do you have a favourite local food or beverage?
This is also a hard question because I love food so much! I would say that probably right now I’ve gotten a little more into Malay dishes, especially ones that are a little bit spicy –they’re quite flavourful. One of them is beef rendang, which is really yummy! But we also eat quite a bit at some stalls closer to home; some Chinese stalls there are quite good. We often go to Little India just to find some bites there as well. As for a particular dish…I don’t think I have a favourite, I think there’s just too much to choose from! I will say that I have not tried durian yet, though! It’s still on my list to try.
From conversations with your students in class, you’ve often mentioned that you need caffeine to survive! Have you ever tried buying coffee from a local coffee shop, which you might know of as kopitiams?
(Laughs) Yes, I have tried it and it’s quite good! I usually go with the regular kopi, which is just with milk. I still have yet to learn the names for all of the different types, but since I usually just take milk with my coffee, I go with the regular kopi. And actually, it has really helped me during our TOPS class on Saturday mornings! (laughs) I think my coffee habit came from living for several years in Seattle, where there is a strong coffee culture. Starbucks originated in Seattle, which is funny because there’s sort of an ‘anti-Starbucks’, ‘anti-corporate coffee’ vibe in Seattle, and so what has resulted is a lot of very small, very independent coffee shops, and an appreciation for the art of coffee-making. My family lives in Seattle and I went to college in Seattle, so it was during my college years that I started to really appreciate coffee.
Are there any other things you’d like to add on?
I guess I just can’t overemphasize how fortunate I feel to be part of USP, because even though I have been here for a relatively short time, I already feel very much a part of this family, and so that makes my work more fulfilling overall. It also makes me feel like I have an extended family here in Singapore!
