AlumNUS | April - June 2011
From our students
NUSSU Council Learns Best Practices from the States by Goh Yi Xin Adeline & Tan Zhi Zhong Eugene
Michelle (2nd from right), with His Excellency, President S R Nathan and fellow SEP schoolmates.
22
23 Michelle, in front of the Elysée Palace.
Paris by Michelle Boo Wee Siew (Year 3 Life Sciences student) This was a wonderful opportunity for a student in the French Language Preparation Programme (LPP) like me, as it meant having the chance to increase my competency in the language in a completely new learning environment. Nearly every corner of Paris was breathtaking. From my bedroom window, I could see the Sacré Cœur basilica sitting upon a hill, greeting me from far. My partner university was the top university in France – Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI). As an exchange student, I had the privilege to attend most of the interesting cross-department modules, like Palaeontology practical sessions in the Earth Sciences department where I got to examine real fossils of microorganisms, vertebrates and invertebrates. Besides classes, I also joined a Parisian inter-university choir and attended weekly rehearsals in a richly-decorated wooden amphitheatre in the famed Sorbonne University. We performed in an old classic refectory with great acoustics. During my stay, I was privileged enough to visit the Elysée Palace, the official residence of the President of the French Republic, and open once a year to the public during European Heritage Day. Another up-close “presidential” experience was an invitation to a reception by the Singapore Embassy in Paris. During a stopover in Paris, His Excellency, President S R Nathan met Singaporeans residing there and I was honoured to join the soirée. It was an amazing experience to be immersed in a totally different culture.
Harvard University was one of the American universities the NUSSU delegates visited.
It was with trepidation and excitement that 15 of us delegates from NUS’ Student Union (NUSSU), embarked on our annual council trip – this time to the United States for 10 days from the 31 December 2010. After an 18-hour flight, we disembarked from the plane in a daze. New York had just experienced a blizzard that very week, blanketing the city in almost two feet-deep of snow. New to the elements, it took us a while to acclimatise despite our thick winter clothing. Yet in spite of the bitter cold, we knew we were in the US on a mission - to bring NUSSU to the next level.
We visited the Student Unions of Harvard University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Connecticut and Columbia University in a bid to draw new inspiration and ideas. One of these is the observation that American universities often hold retreats among their student body and committee chairpersons – a practice which NUSSU can adopt for the NUSSU EXCO and NUSSU Committees to foster bonding and communication. However, what made the trip extra meaningful was our interaction with some of the NUS alumni who were in the US at
that time. For example, Mr Robin Low, Chairman of the NUS Boston Alumni Chapter, talked about his working experiences, his lecturing stint at the Harvard Business School, as well as his passion in improving the livelihood of people. It attested to the fact that close ties to the alma mater can be fostered even across miles and oceans. At the end of the trip, we were impatient to return to Singapore to realise the plans we had conceived. The trip also refreshed our commitment to serve the student community.