Graduating students look back on their Yale-NUS journey

As the old saying goes – give a hungry person a fish and they’ll be satisfied for a day, teach them how to fish and they’ll never go hungry again. As graduating seniors from the Class of 2023’s Double Degree Programme in Law and Liberal Arts (DDP) prepare for their respective career paths, three of them shared with us just what they have learnt. They reflected on their time at Yale-NUS College and shared how the interdisciplinary academic experience and vibrant college life has helped to broaden their perspectives and sharpen their goals for the future.

Tristan Koh will be joining the Infocomm Media Development Authority after graduation. Image provided by Tristan Koh.

For some, the flexibility of a liberal arts education helped them to explore and learn new things about themselves. Tristan Koh (Class of 2023) shared that he stumbled on his interest in computing and the tech industry by accident. In the DDP programme, students can take electives at Yale-NUS as early as their second semester of the first year.

“I randomly chose to take Intro to Computer Science as an elective,” he recalled with a laugh, explaining that he had wanted to try something different in university – and that Yale-NUS provided him that opportunity.

He also described how the supportive faculty at Yale-NUS were instrumental to nurturing his interests and pushing him to go further. He cites Professor of Science (Computer Science) Olivier Danvy, who taught Tristan in his Introduction to Computer Science module. “He made an effort to reach out to students without any technical background,” Tristan elaborated. Prof Danvy also gave him a space to grow his interest in a new subject.

Other than giving him a good foundation in computer sciences, Tristan appreciated how Prof Danvy went out of his way to make sure that Tristan did not feel intimidated by a new subject. Consequently, Tristan’s exposure to Computer Sciences led him to develop a potential future pathway.

Upon finishing his studies, Tristan will be pursuing a management role under the Infocomm Media Development Authority, a statutory board under the Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information.

Shafreen Fatimah Binte Abdul Nazir (Class of ‘23) will be entering the tech consulting industry following graduation. Image provided by Shafreen Fatimah Binte Abdul Nazir.

Shafreen Fatimah Binte Abdul Nazir (Class of 2023) resonated with Tristan’s sharing about having their horizons broadened. Shafreen will be going into the technology consulting sector following her graduation from the DDP programme. Having been exposed to studying data privacy regulation and cybersecurity through her legal studies with NUS Law, she explained that she had always been interested in pursuing law practice in the technology industry.

In particular, she cited modules taken at Yale-NUS for opening her eyes to things beyond the legal technicalities, allowing her to explore her interest in geopolitics or economics, she explained. She also greatly appreciated the varying opportunities that the College offered for her to delve into different disciplines, through being involved in faculty research or by being able to take on more advanced courses in specific majors.

“[Through exposure to these different disciplines], I’ve become very intrigued by the intersection of labour, tech and economics in particular,” she shared.

In addition, she expressed that one of the things she appreciated most about her college life was being able to live and learn amidst a vibrant community of bright minds. “The diversity of the student batch is unparalleled,” she said, and referred to the multitude of aspirations and goals shared by her peers during her time at Yale-NUS.

In fact, it was the conversations Shafreen shared with her suitemates that motivated her to choose Paris for her semester abroad destination. Her suitemates all hailed from different countries, and as a suite they frequently shared about their respective cultural heritages. Inspired by this, Shafreen decided to challenge herself to spend a semester in a social and environmental context far from what she was used to in Singapore.

Shafreen reflected that her time abroad widened her mental paradigm, and emboldened her to look to other global cities for career opportunities.

A photo of Lee Hung Ping (Class of 2023) during his semester abroad experience. Image provided by Lee Hung Ping.

Students also found that their time at Yale-NUS has helped to impart important life skills that have helped them grow and mature. Like Shafreen and Tristan, Lee Hung Ping (Class of 2023) appreciated the broadened perspective on the world that he got from the many opportunities offered during his time at the College.

Hung Ping cited his time at Yale-NUS as being a pivotal part of his self-development and growth. It encouraged him to deepen his understanding of himself, and to pursue other academic interests outside of law.

Said Hung Ping, “I appreciated that in Yale-NUS, I could further my understanding of academic subjects for their intrinsic value.” An example that he cited was his Week 7 trip in his first year at College, where Hung Ping and his peers travelled to the Himalayas in India to learn about bioethics and planetary health.

In this memorable trip, Hung Ping was exposed to concepts such as anthropocentricism versus biocentrism. He started to question for himself, for the first time, whether human life was truly the most important and therefore should be privileged on this Earth; or conversely, whether people should start to see all life as equally important.

Following his graduation, Hung Ping will be pursuing legal practice in Singapore. Even though disciplines such as Environmental Studies or Philosophy are not directly related to his future field of work, Hung Ping still very much enjoyed the opportunity to “learn [solely] for the joy of learning”.

Additionally, Hung Ping believed that his time at Yale-NUS helped him to better understand people who came from different backgrounds or cultures as well. Through his exposure to students hailing from a diverse range of nationalities, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds, he grew more comfortable interacting and working with different people.

Hung Ping even shared, “Most of my close friends in Yale-NUS were made in my Common Curriculum classes.”

As with the rest of his peers, Hung Ping leaves the College not only with a degree in hand, but also precious friendships and memories of the unique and vibrant community at Yale-NUS College.