This is a reflection piece by Residential Life Marcom Intern – Lee Wanyong. She was tagged to the Humans of PGPR page from August to Dec 2018.
As a Psychology major, my world crumbled a little when I realised that I was not going to pursue my Masters and hence, will not be able to be a psychologist ever in my life. It took me a while to get over this fact and at the end of it, I decided that I had to work towards another career and editorial seemed like the obvious way to go since I have always been passionate about writing. It gives me satisfaction to be able to convey my intangible feelings into concrete sentences that can make a difference to not just one, but thousands or even millions of people who happen to chance upon it. Words to me, hold immense power to impact and to change many people and things in our world. So, if I can’t be a psychologist to help people directly, making use of the internet to share information and knowledge sounds like a pretty good deal too!
I first started with an editorial internship which opened my eyes to so many other things in the writing world. From SEO to the importance of keywords and all the different variations of sentence structures that can bring an idea across more succinctly and effectively; the more I learned, the more intrigued I felt. I was sure that this is the path that I would like as my career, especially when I hear feedbacks about how interesting my article is and how they benefited from my sharing.
When my internship ended and I had to return to NUS for my final semester, I felt a huge void in my life and I constantly caught myself trying to think of more things to write about, even if I had nowhere to share them. That’s when I saw the email from Residential Life, recruiting a social media marcom intern and it sounded exactly like something that I was interested in. I get to talk to people from different backgrounds and find out more about things that I would never have been aware of as I live in my little bubble. What’s more, I get to share it with many others who may find their stories motivating or extremely relatable in a trying time.
It was nerve wrecking during the first few interviews as I’m not used to meeting people ‘offline’ but I was pleasantly surprised by how easygoing and friendly everybody was. I made it a point to interview students who were not from Singapore as I have always been curious about what foreigners feel about this little country that we live in. More often than not, I hear praises about how amazing a school NUS is and how Singapore’s culture is so lovely as it serves as a melting pot for people of different backgrounds. It definitely made me realise how much I have been taking all these for granted just because I get to enjoy these comforts on a daily basis, that I forget to be thankful for it. Little reminders from others about our beautiful country makes me remember that this peace and security that we get to enjoy here is not the norm in the rest of the world and we should stop to appreciate all the things that we have, instead of complaining about the things we don’t.
I think some of the most memorable interviews I had, revolve around people who shared about things close to their heart. They were so excited to share about the things they love and it was a pleasure watching their eyes light up as they talk about them to me. In these few months, I have learned about the struggles of being a lawyer, the wrath of a feminist and the longing of a student thousands of miles away from home, just to name a few. There are so many more things that I have yet to learn and these interviews are just the tip of the iceberg. I am thankful for this opportunity to meet people from all across the world. Their knowledge, their smiles and their stories have made my final semester in NUS extremely meaningful and memorable.
