Meet The People Who Tanked The Bell Curve For You: Exchange Students
Folks you never knew you never knew.
Pictured here broadening their horizons.
Every semester, hundreds of foreign university students brave the unknown and travel from all around the world to face new challenges and experience the sights and sounds that were previously unfathomable to them. They take on a challenge of a lifetime and do a semester abroad in NUS.
Love for bumping us up the bell curve.
Here at The Bullet, we've done some serious investigative journalism asking around and found some exchange students to find out more about the mysterious mass of bodies that float around campus everyday that help keep the rest of us afloat with an S/U-able grade.
The Exchangers
Zhang Yi Fu Studies Chemical Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-champaign
Leslie Phung Studies Law at University of New South Wales
Léa Thiriet Studies Sociology Université Grenoble Alpes
Jeniece Montellano Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio
Q: Out of all the universities that you could have picked, why NUS?
Yi: It is the fifth best chemical engineering institution in the world and because it is the number one school in Asia. Also cos all of my credits would transfer back with no problem!
Leslie: Firstly, NUS has a reputation for academic excellence, secondly, some of my best and closest friends that I met on my last exchange were Singaporean. Lastly, I think Singapore has such a unique history.
Léa: Singapore is an English speaking country and I wanted to improve my English skills. I have family here too.
Jeniece: I wanted to know more about Southeast Asia, and I knew that NUS was an amazing school, especially for science. My family is from the Philippines, and I really wanted to experience other cultures in the area.
Q: What classes did you take here?
Yi: I took mods in History, Theatre Studies, and Chemical Engineering.
Leslie: I took four law modules and one language course.
Léa: I took classes in Sociology and Global Studies.
Jeniece: I took Changing Landscapes of Singapore, Anatomy, Medicinal Chemistry, and European Literature
Getting to know the locals.
Q: Where did you visit while you were here?
Yi: I visited 7 countries: Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, HK/China, Myanmar, Indonesia, and Vietnam
Leslie: Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Léa: 6 countries, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and Indonesia.
Jeniece: I travelled to 9 countries including some places after the semester.
Q: So how much studying did you actually do while you were here?
Yi: I actually did a fair bit of studying because my grades counted toward my GPA, but since it’s also my last semester I was slacking.
Leslie: I felt like I was playing catch up all the time, I felt like I didn’t study as much as I wanted.
Léa: Not much, just work for the tutorials.
Jeniece: I studied probably around twice a week, and for at least three days in a row during midterms and finals. My grades didn't count, so I was okay with just passing.
Do you recognise any of them?
Q:What was the best and worst thing about NUS?
Yi: The best thing is that you guys have Gong Cha on campus! The worst is the HILLS OMG SO MANY STAIRS! Also RC4 is like 3 continents from anything else on campus…
Leslie: I loved the college and the diversity of international students and the candour of the local students. The worst thing is probably the obsession with grades.
Léa: The campus life was really good. But the air con in the lecture theatres was really too cold!
Jeniece: I liked the flexibility of classes and the small class sizes. But the atmosphere was too competitive and it was impossible to find a good study space on campus
Q: What was your favourite local food?
Yi: I LIKE CHENDOL!!!!!! AND OYSTER OMELETTE
OH AND I LIKE PRATA AND NAAN AND ALL THE INDIAN STUFF YUMMY AND ALL THE SEAFOODS YUM PRAWNING PRAWNS YUM
Leslie: Chicken rice, there’s nothing special about it but I enjoyed it.
Léa: Dumplings and fried rice
Jeniece: I really enjoyed chili crab! It was like nothing I’ve ever tried.
Q: One regret from coming to Singapore for exchange?
Yi: If I had to regret something it would be not going somewhere with a different language.
Leslie: My only regret is not staying longer!
Léa: One semester was not enough!
Jeniece: Not venturing off campus sooner! I could have experienced more of Singapore if had explored more.
Q: Would you do it all over again? Everyone: YES!
Now that you have heard from some of the exchange students, maybe you could get to know them in person next semester. Or have you already had some funny interactions with these exchangers? Let us know at thebulletcampus@gmail.com!
