1) How did you decide on your current course?

Before entering Hwa Chong, I was from Nan Hua High School and took all 3 sciences together with both pure Geography and elective History (the last batch who could do this!). My interests were pretty diverse, and I was really glad the school allowed this subject combination so that I could continue pursuing them. Although the workload was pretty high, I think it was quite worth it in the end. It was also back in secondary school that I developed a liking for Chemistry specifically. I was really inspired by my Chemistry teacher, who always seemed so passionate about class. After joining HCJC as a JAE student, I knew that I definitely wanted to do Chemistry, and so I picked BCMH (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and History) as my subject combination. 

While I knew I wanted to do Chemistry in JC, I didn’t know if that's truly what I wanted to do for life. Since I was quite lost, what I did was look through the list of courses offered by the different schools and start doing my research and eliminating them from there. For instance, I didn’t know if I wanted to do healthcare. Thus, I started my 8-month-long part-time job after A-levels in a clinic as a clinic assistant. It was while working that I realised: healthcare is not really my thing… Once you narrow down to a few choices, it would be easier to pick, as you can be more focused on your research on the respective courses and find out which is more suitable for you. I remember that towards the end, I was quite conflicted between Life Sciences and Chemistry, but after looking at the course list for both subjects, I thought that Chemistry was slightly more intriguing and had more interesting career prospects for me personally. 

Upon entering NUS, I was drawn by the different second major and minor options they had offered. As you can probably figure out, there were quite a lot of things I was interested in: Forensic Science, Pharmaceutical Science, Asian Studies and languages! The good thing about NUS and being in the College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS) is that they give you quite a lot of units that you can use to pursue your other interests as an Unrestricted Elective (UE). For others, this might seem like a waste of time, but I really appreciate how I can do something I like and still get credit for it. As such, I enrolled in all the introductory courses for these majors/minors in my first 3 semesters at NUS. From there, I picked a few that I was more interested in and pursued them further as minors.

2) How have your working experiences been?

Even though I already entered NUS as a Chemistry major, I didn’t know if I wanted the more conventional corporate life instead. Thus, I decided to just try it out! During my winter break in Year 1, I joined the e-commerce department of a company as an admin assistant. It was a 3-month contract so I continued with the job even after the semester started. Though the experience was short, it made me question whether I really want to just sit behind a computer and live with the backache from sitting down 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, for another 40 years. While I loved my time there, I figured it wasn’t something I wanted to do for a long time. 

Then the following year, I started asking myself: do I want to do something specific to Chemistry, or just science in general? Do I want to work in the lab, or do I want to be out interacting with the public? As such, I applied for an internship with the Science Centre Board for this year’s summer break. Hopefully, it will offer me some insights on working outside of the lab conditions.

While this isn’t exactly a work experience, I went on a week long field trip to KL with my fellow peers as part of the Forensic Entomology course, one of the courses that you can choose to study as part of the Forensic Science minor programme. The trip was a truly enlightening one. Besides learning new information about how insects can be useful in crime scene investigations from renowned experts and experiencing things like the pinning of insects or touching human cadavers with my own hands (gloves on, of course), I also got to interact with the students who came on the trip. The group was pretty diverse, with both undergraduates and Master’s students. Because these Master’s students already had their fair share of working experience before coming back to NUS to pursue further study, talking to them was an invaluable experience for me since I got to get to know how it’s like to work in the various industries directly from them. They were all really nice and willing to share, and because of them, I developed an even deeper interest in Forensic Science. Who knows, maybe I might pursue Forensic Chemistry or even enrol in public service in future?

3) What extracurricular activities have you done to explore your interests?

After picking my subject combination in JC, I still didn’t really wanna give up on the other disciplines that I was interested in. As such, I joined both the Humanities and Current Affairs Society (HACAS) under the Geography Wing and Students’ Science Research Club (SCRC). Yes, I am a nerd, but this allowed me to explore the different areas I was interested in and gain more experiences outside the classroom! However, this was sadly short-lived as I was quickly overwhelmed by my council commitments and had no choice but to leave the other 2 CCAs. Still, I still had a really great time in those CCAs, be it preparing informative Science presentations, or going on excursions to explore Singapore’s geography. While I was really busy during that period of time juggling 3 CCAs, in hindsight, I regretted nothing. It made me more determined to pursue something I am actually interested in, because if you like it enough, it won’t be that much of a chore to do. 

4) Any words of advice for your juniors?

Don’t be afraid to take on challenges and try out new things! It might seem tough when you’re in the process of doing it, but in the future, you will definitely thank yourself for making the hard decisions that you have made. 

It is also alright if you don’t know what you want to do in life. I’m literally turning 21 this year, and I still question myself every now and then if this is what I truly want in life. It is definitely okay to not know what you want to do at this point and keep your options open. While I do admire those who already have their lives set, I find a lot of fun in exploring and discovering what I am passionate about (or not) so that I know I won’t regret it in the future.