From 2021 to 2022, I studied at Hwa Chong Institution (College Section). At the start of J1, I started finding myself frustrated by how sheltered the environment in Hwa Chong was and wanted to step out of my comfort zone more often to seek challenges I have never faced before. Hence, instead of seeking various school-wide opportunities, I started stepping out into the community more actively to do work. These included initiating a mental-health project with peers from other schools, and joining the Youth Action Challenge in which I worked with 2 other adults and a Poly student to come up with a business solution to caregiving problems in Singapore. Through the Youth Action Challenge, I also met individuals so passionate about the community that I eventually continued working with them on other projects, such as becoming an intern writer under ARAS (Academy of Relationship and Sex), and even a collaboration with Period. Even from school, my CCA, HCInteract allowed me to step out of school a lot more to participate in community work, be it through volunteering opportunities or student-led events. I was also part of a Student-led project, MedSoc, that gave me the opportunity to volunteer with the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

 

While this meant that I had a lot less time to study in school, I was still active in scholastic achievements and pushed myself to venture into the fields I was interested in. Being one of the 5 students that took on both SMTP and the BSP program, I also studied H3 Biology to explore the syllabus outside of the school curriculum. While I still struggle with GP, I’d say I’m quite proud of how far I have come in dealing with the academic rigor of JC.