Same Ridge, Different View: An interview with the newest Resident Fellow
Written by Nigel Ong
To most people, she is still a mysterious personality that sometimes appears during WR lessons for the freshmen program. Who is she? How did she get here? We took off on a fateful Wednesday morning *sobs* to chase down this figure and learnt all we can about her. This, is all you need to know about the new Resident Fellow of Strix, Ms. Vyna!
Hi Ms. Vyna! Let’s start off with the quintessential question for every interview ever conducted. How would you describe yourself in terms of character, work ethics or teaching style?
Hi! Year 1s and 2s already took the DISC assessment, so perhaps sharing my DIS profile will help. I’m an “SI” which describes me as an advisor/ counselor. People with this profile are normally more stable and energetic and I guess it pretty accurately describes me especially being an educator!
I do have 3 principles that I strongly believe in which is service, growth and sense of direction. To me, providing service to others is key to achieving growth, because when you put other people in frame, your perspective can really change and that’s where growth arises. But as much as growth is important, it should have a sense of direction be it towards yourself or others. It is important to decide how you want to grow because if you don’t set a goal or a direction for yourself, it is very hard to achieve anything, as is with studies!
I have always been an educator; I started off as an Economics teacher at Innova Junior College. I’m here as a RF and also an educator for the RVRC program. Volunteering is also a big part of my life, both for the community and environment. It’s something I’ve grown to be very passionate about.
“In doing something for others, you’ll always grow.”
Speaking of, how did you find yourself here into RVRC?
To be honest, I wasn’t even looking for a job when this opportunity came upon me. I was enjoying my time as an educator in Singapore Polytechnic and I didn’t really had plans to leave. I only knew about this opportunity when Norman (who I met through a common contact) informed me of it. At that point I was thinking, what’s the harm? It was a pretty interesting opening and so I decided to just try for it for a change of scenery.
How has RV been so far as an RF?
I really like it here! The academic team has been extremely helpful getting me settled in with everything, and the RA’s have also been providing a lot of assistance regarding house matters. I also really love how the residents here are so sincere and chill.
I have only been here for a short while, so all I can say that it really has been a very unique experience to actually stay here and be part of the community. In fact, I actually haven’t even finished unpacking yet, there is almost nothing in the house except the bare essentials *sweats profusely* but yea, living on campus with everybody is definitely one of the charms of this job for me.
Is there anything you hope to build for Strix or any achievements you are looking to make here?
I really believe that the best way I can help is to support the identity that the community wants to carve out for themselves. Ultimately, this is the residents’ community and I feel like they should decide for themselves what kind of culture they want to build. As an RF, I feel like my role is to do my best to help and guide them in whichever ways I can. If the residents have some ideas that they want to carry out for house events and such, I will be more than willing to help and see what we can do because I know that this will be something they want.
As for achievements, I will be helming different workshops this semester mainly about emotional intelligence; understanding yourself and the emotions you go through based on a framework that I actually came up with *laughs and self-pats* which is STEER – Situation, Thought, Emotion, Execution, Results. To put it briefly, every situation conjures up different thoughts and emotions, and it is what you execute with these thoughts and emotions in mind that decides what is the result. It is something that has been a big part of my life and helped a lot which is why I wanted to include this in the lessons and pass it on and possibly help others with it. You can also listen to a podcast series called Thriversity I have put up on iTunes and Spotify, aimed at the RV students to help them thrive in university life.
What has been some milestones in your life thus far?
Career-wise, being an educator is no doubt one of the biggest milestones in my life because this is something I really enjoy doing and I can’t see myself doing anything else. To be able to help students achieve something is what drives me on a day-to-day basis. Especially when some of the students come back and tell me what they have been doing since graduating, knowing that I was part of their journey, that feeling is the best kind of reward there is. Recently, a student wanted to try for a scholarship, and he had some doubts, so he came to ask me if I could help and I was all for it. To desire for something big and bold is really brave and courageous, so I think it is really important to support somebody, anybody whenever they have a goal, they want to reach, to the best of my abilities.
(On this note, Ms. Vyna urges anybody to approach her for help if you need any! Interviews, adulting skills, anything! Just drop her a mail or knock on her door! Not at 1 a.m. though.)
There is definitely another significant milestone in my life which is a little bit more personal. In my 3rd year of university, my dad passed away suddenly and so we were in a turmoil. It was a turning point where I learnt to be independent and what it means to make decisions for myself to chart my own life path. Do I continue with my last year of university, or should I drop out to work, because my mom struggled after my dad’s passing, and our family had no income. Ultimately, I ended up continuing my education because there was an award that could pay for university which meant I wouldn’t need to depend on my mom. I also took up a lot of tuition jobs on the side, which is when I actually started discovering my love for education so yes, this whole thing was one of the biggest, if not, the biggest milestone in my life.
In your bio in the RVRC website, it was mentioned you believe “that students have the power to design their own lives instead of relying on tired formulas that may not work in this era of the 5th Industrial Revolution.” Could you possible elaborate on it further?
Oh wow, I can’t believe someone actually read it *laughs*
*self-pats*
My main point that I want to drive across to students today is that they are living in an age where they do not have to live a ‘templated’ life, if they don’t want to. This was something I never had during my time as a student; everybody was gunning for degrees and positions that proved to pay well and people seldom strayed from these paths because they think they would end up nowhere. But things are so different today, you know. So many paths to success have been created since my time, out of bravery and passion. We no longer live in an era where we have to be defined by norms, and I think that that is a huge opportunity. So just be daring and try new things! You’ll never know it might end up being the best decision of your life.
Any closing thoughts for our residents out there?
I really hope that everybody here uses their experience in RV to grow; to use the opportunities they have here to figure out their life, or maybe just a hobby or interest! There is a whole community here, so you don’t have to do it all alone. Step out of your comfort zone once it a while for new experiences, I promise it will all be worth it. Most importantly, you get to live life to the fullest.
As mentioned, Ms. Vyna welcomes you to drop her a mail at vynasani@nus.edu.sg should you need help with anything! She promised and said that she doesn’t bite unless necessary.
Till then, #ridgeviewblogs
Photo credits: Vyna Sani, Wee Li Shuen