The residents of Phoenix house in the College of Alice and Peter Tan will feel something a-miss come this December, when their Residential Fellow (RF) spreads his wings and takes flight for a new home.
Associate Professor Greg Petersen, who resides on the 14th floor of the CAPT building with his family, will take on the role of Master at Ridge View Residential College instead. In this post, we talk to him about his time at CAPT and the exciting future ahead.
Can you introduce yourself for our readers – name, faculty, and a fun fact?
My name is Greg Dean Petersen. I’m 50 plus, getting up there in years *laughs*. I was from the United States, been in Singapore since 2005.
I’ve lived in on a farm when I was a kid (in the United States). I like to roller-skate.
My home faculty is the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, and my area of interest is the human relationship with the arts. Some of it has to do with history, a lot of it has to do with cultural studies, a lot of it is involved with value systems. I teach a number of General Education classes (GET/GES/GEH modules) and I also have three classes here in CAPT.
How long have you been a Resident Fellow?
I became an RF in 2013.
Can you share with us why you wanted to become an RF?
This may sound really strange, but it was about work-life balance. I was running the arts programme – so I was mentoring all the start-up arts interest groups in the very first year of this college. Like Guitarpella, and uh we had PIGs (photography interest groups). I was with the students at the very beginning stages. I had all my responsibilities in the conservatory and then I would come here (CAPT) and spend the evenings. I was supposed to get home for an hour or two, but there were a lot of days I wouldn’t even make it home till 10 or 11pm at night. It was not sustainable. So I told the Master: if we’re going to continue with me working in CAPT, then make me an RF! At least then it’s only a commute between buildings and I can slide out, spend some time with family, it makes it easier to spend time with them. It’s been much easier being an RF. So I’ve been here since before the beginning.
Were you always interested in the arts?
Yes. Even when I was a little kid. I have vivid memories of loving the arts. Music, poetry, painting were the big three for me. Music became the default, because I could pick up almost any instrument and learn how to play it in fairly short order. I was primarily a guitar player, then I became a bass player. I played tuba in the school band, played drums before that, learned to play almost every instrument in the school band – just because it was fun to figure out the challenge.
Source: Marcus Ong
What was it like when you first started living here? How did you get to know the students?
A lot of the students knew me before I came in. When I came into Phoenix house, the focus was the students already knew us. They would call me by name, and they would call all of my family members by name. My wife vividly remembers getting into the lift and people would greet her, “oh hi Rebecca!” It was a very welcoming, friendly and positive beginning because the community welcomed us.
What has changed since then?
The major change for me is that I get involved very little. During my first year here, I was very hands on. I was trying to bring a sense of ‘law and order’ because there was a somewhat lackadaisical attitude. Once there was a good tone that was set, and people were exercising a significant amount of self-discipline, it allowed me to step aside and allows the community to be a lot more focus on the kind of community they want to be in a more positive manner.
I’ve had great RAs. When I have strong house heads, strong RAs, I’m just a figurehead. I want it to be by the students, for the students as much as possible.
Describe your typical day in CAPT.
6.20am: wake up
7.30am: down at breakfast with family
8pm: conservatory work
4pm-5pm: exercise with wife
6pm-7pm: dinner with family
After dinner: back to work
9-10: turn in
I understand you stay with your family on campus, how do you manage to get family time amongst so many students?
There’s quite a bit of planning involved and setting aside of time specially. You have to carve out time and you have to do everything possible to hang on to it.
Source: Marcus Ong
If you can share, why are you moving to RVRC?
When the Master position came up, (I thought) I never want to do that, I don’t want to be in an administrative role. I would rather be an RF. We’re only allowed to be an RF for about 7 years.
I had a few colleagues who said, you should become a Master. After wrestling with that thought for a year, my wife and I were having a conversation about would you rather be a Master or go back to being a normal University staff? I thought: I’d much rather be on the ground with the students.
What are you looking forward to about it?
It’s a new challenge. It’s a change and it’s something completely different.
I know some people wonder, since you’ve already in CAPT since before the beginning, does that mean you want to make RVRC become like CAPT? But you can’t make RVRC, CAPT. What the team have done there is a very different ethos than what we have here. So for me it becomes a completely different challenge – becoming a part of something very different.
Any immediate plans?
To get a good feel for who is there. There’s this question of identity and identification – how do you perceive you and how other people perceive you. One of my first questions to figure out, besides all the roles and responsibility, I want to know what kind of identity RVRC has. What does it mean to be a member in the RVRC community?
If you could be a university student again, would you live it any differently? If yes, how so?
No, I wouldn’t. My undergraduate years happened the way they happened for specific reasons. I don’t have any regrets about the choices I made then and I would make it again.
What’s your favourite cuisine or meal in the Dining Hall?
I find myself going for vegetarian during breakfast… and vegetarian too during dinner!
Source: Marcus Ong
