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Friends I met along the way (Part 1)

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Look at that. You’ve helped me find my smile.

— Captain Holt of the Nine-Nine

It’s Week 0 of my year 3 undergraduate studies. I’ll be going to Toronto in 6 months (excites, yet oh so unprepared). In this time before actually heading to Toronto, there are some people that are significant that needs to be mentioned. While this post is going to be a short one, I hope to meet even more people on this whole exchange journey.

Firstly, I met some peers going to the same place at the same time from the same faculty in NUS. We were able to connect through the google forms that would float around in group chats where people could write down their names and contact details under the university they will be going to. Check back after some time and hopefully, another person have put down their name next to yours! I met a friend who would be doing the Joint minor in Environmental Biology and I thought that was very cool since the programmes are quite similar. I also met someone from Chemistry from my cohort who was going to Toronto on SEP exchange! So the 3 of us were able to share information, clarify what to do, remind each other of deadlines etc. I am seriously happy I met them.

A side note, since the exchange duration will be less than 6 months, I decided not to get a study permit and get an eTA instead. The study permit enables students to work as well as open a bank account more easily (? not too sure) however it will leave a $200 hole in my wallet.

Another person that I am quite grateful for is a senior who responded when I was searching for someone to ask about modules and stuff. He was in Toronto completing the minor when I was in Year 2 Sem 2 but he still replied me and replied really fast. It will not be the first time where I thought that in NUS, the seniors are all super nice and go out of their way to help. On different occasions in NUS, I have met seniors who have no qualms in putting in time, effort and resources to help out. (I wish them all the best! <3)

While this last person may not be friend but family, I don’t think I can successfully embark on the exchange without her. My mom has been bustling about, looking for airbnbs, winter clothings, insurance, airplane tickets etc. I am sure I should be doing these things, but since I have never planned a trip before, I really don’t know where I should start preparing for a trip 87 times as long as the longest trip I have been on. I thought it was crazy when my mom started planning things out super early, especially since my friends and I still haven’t confirmed whether we will be booking flights/finding accommodations together, but I really thank her for it. My mom will be spending a few weeks in Toronto with me before my exchange starts and while I do love my independence (it’s cooler to head off for exchange with friends), spending time with family is also important to me. I don’t want to look back when I am older and think of all the things I could have done with my family and have regrets.

Have to go get ready for the start of the semester, peace out!

First Post Weird Post

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Hi, I am a student at the National University of Singapore. I major in chemistry and just wanted to document my experience taking the Joint Minor in Environmental Chemistry before I forget. 

To start off, I remember the Joint Minor first caught me eye at the NUS Open Day back in 2017 (the March before I matriculated). Chemistry had a talk above UTown Auditorium 1 and some of these programmes were introduced. The place was really packed. I was more interested with the Joint Degree with the Australian National University (ANU) then and wanted to pursue that. Both ANU and the University of Toronto were really great at Environmental Chemistry. These programmes were some of the motivating dreams I had that justified my choice to join NUS Chemistry before I tried any of the modules. I remember it was hard to choose which subject to major in and what I was going to do in university at that stage since there were still so many options.

I went back to see if I met the criteria for the programmes that I liked. For the Joint Degree with ANU, it is quite a challenge to accomplish and I respect any who completes it. Spending 1.5 years (3 semesters) in ANU sounded exciting, however planning a feasible 4 year academic plan for it was a stretch, with multiple manoeuvres to squeeze in all the modules needed. The sprint in the first 3 semesters in NUS to finish all the modules required and still end up with a good CAP (grade) made me all heated up to test my own limits. I naively thought that I would be studying subjects from areas that I liked such as science and also philosophy since the Joint Degree Programme leads to a Bachelor of Philosophy from ANU. It was quite funny thinking back of my own stupidity when I realised that a Bachelor of Philosophy does not mean to study philosophy (as an arts subject) that we know in university courses. Bachelor of Philosophy meant more in a scientific research kinda way. It took a talk with a very nice professor to save me from myself 🙂

For the Joint Minor with the University of Toronto (UofT), one must have done

1) H2 Physics in A Levels or take a physics bridging module in NUS

2) H2 Mathematics in A Levels or any 1st year mathematics module in NUS

3) Have a CAP of at least 3.00 in NUS

4) Read some Chemistry modules in NUS

I had 2 academic plans, one for the Joint Degree and one for the Joint Minor in Environmental Chemistry. It was slightly easier to come up with the academic plan for the Joint Minor as it entailed only 1 semester abroad. Since lab modules in Chemistry should be taken in NUS, rescheduling 1 lab module is better than rescheduling 3 lab modules. After understanding more about the programmes in my first semester in NUS, I decided to follow the academic plan for the Joint minor with UofT. (My parents weren’t that keen on the 1.5 years away from home…)

During Year 2 Sem 1, applications for Student Exchange Programme (SEP) came. The application for the Joint Minor is after the deadline for SEP. Hence, it would not be the case that I can apply for SEP along with my peers if I did not manage to get the Joint minor. However, if I chose to apply for SEP, there was a deadline to accept the offer if I was offered a university and this deadline was before I would know if I was allowed to go for the Joint minor. I can’t have a back-up plan. Information was quite scarce about the Joint Minor and it’s availability so it was quite a tough decision. I went to the global fair held at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House with my friend to check out all the different universities and my, the people there were super friendly and awesome to talk to! I really recommend going before applying for SEP/Overseas Programmes. At the global fair, I asked the Science SEP representative if they knew how many spots the Joint minor has per year and they replied 5 spots. hmm…

I decided to skip the SEP application and apply for the Joint Minor because that was what I really wanted. There was an email in Year 2 Sem 2 (around December) calling for applications for the Joint Minor, where a physical form will have to be handed in the Chemistry Department at S8. I also went for an interview and I realised I learnt a lot in that interview that I did not know before. The interview was relatively more casual and I was able to ask some questions.

Interview Insights:

  • Academically, the Joint minor will be harder than a SEP. The minor module grades are mapped back and counted towards CAP while in SEP, the modules are S/U. More time will be spent studying.
  • UofT has 3 campuses. I was wondering which campus the joint minor will be and it is the main St. George campus
  • I S/Ued my CM1121 Organic Chem, and my interviewer did ask me about it. My interviewer was worried that UofT may be concerned about it.
  • The maximum number of modules that one can take in UofT is 5.

After the interview, I was offered the Joint minor! Yay! In addition to emailing to accept the offer, the process to finalise my acceptance of the offer would be to submit my OFFICIAL transcript and a deposit to the Science Dean’s Office. Throughout this entire process, there are risks to be taken with regards to embarking on this Joint minor, such as not knowing if I would be able to go on exchange if I wasn’t accepted since I didn’t apply for SEP and not being confident in doing well in a foreign environment even though the module grades have to be mapped back. Even at the last step (accepting the offer), there was a risk to be made in paying the deposit ($1500) which will be returned when I come back from Toronto having passed my minor modules.

I guess the crux of why I am writing this is that while I was wondering at different points whether I should continue to work towards the Joint minor, I wanted to go online and read a senior’s experience. It could be motivation to continue or deterrence, however, more information would make the experience a less lonely one, especially since I did head into this relatively on my own. Discussing it with my friends and family did help a lot. I also found a review 🙂 it wasn’t very recent but was quite inspiring. I was also linked with a senior that was there in Toronto who helped patiently answer a lot of my questions. (More details about that on a later post)

(I also learnt the hard way that when the Science Dean’s Office ask for the Official Transcript, it doesn’t mean just going to Edurec to download the transcript. It actually means going to Student Service Center at Yusof Ishak House to print it at the last minute (at a cost of course, but its coloured! Brilliant!) or requesting it and waiting a few days for it to be done (still at a cost, but a slightly less one). Please photocopy it in case it gets lost!!)

Stay tuned for more posts on more shenanigans, this has only been the start of the journey! Do leave comments, I’d love to reply to them! It’s my first blogging thingy, so it’s not perfect.