As part of our new blog series, we have compiled some testimonials from students about their experiences studying abroad and with the Global Mobility Office. The testimonials are sorted by region and cover a wide range of subjects, departments, and universities in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania.

National University of Singapore – Singapore (Part 2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student: Hanna 
Subject: Psychology

Hanna applied to NUS with the desire to experience education outside of Europe and has now found herself enjoying a wide variety of modules that few universities outside of Southeast Asia cover.  

 

She praised NUS’ academics greatly, saying the lecturers were highly passionate about their subjects, that the modules were “really, really good”, and that the range of modules on offer to her, including Malay studies, Arabic, Gender Studies and Islam, and South Asia in Singapore have let her experience academia outside of Psychology – her subject at King’s. She was definitely happy with doing a year-long exchange, and noted it was much easier than she thought it would be to adjust to living in Singapore. 

 

Hanna also noted that the variety of orientation events, society meetings, and campus nature of the university was a major plus, as it let her easily get involved in NUS and its culture. In fact, there were some things, such as Tchoukball Society, which she had never even heard of before going to NUS, and she was impressed by the variety of cultural, religious, and interest societies available on campus. Some of her accommodation hallmates even took a volunteering trip to the Himalayas! The campus felt alive in her experience and always had something exciting going on that she could visit, whether a food court or a small business stall run by students, or various employer events and career festivals. 

 

Outside of university, Hanna has so far visited Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, and encourages students to take advantage of Singapore’s location and “travel, travel, travel” as much as possible. Before she leaves Singapore, once her assignments are complete, she plans to use the next holiday period to visit Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan, and further explore Singapore. 

As part of our new blog series, we have compiled some testimonials from students about their experiences studying abroad and with the Global Mobility Office. The testimonials are sorted by region and cover a wide range of subjects, departments, and universities in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania.

National University of Singapore – Singapore (Part 1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student: Alina 
Subject: History

Alina was keen to study abroad from the moment she started her second year, recognising the opportunity this would give her to get out of her bubble in the UK. This led her halfway across the world, and she found herself spending the second semester of her second year at the National University of Singapore, as she saw this as a unique opportunity to live and study outside of Europe.

She recognised quickly that NUS’ wide offering of modules let her study new subjects that weren’t available back at KCL – alongside two History-related modules, she was able to take a course about ‘Food in Japan’ and on ’Bollywood Cinema’. She chose her history courses with the hope that she could learn about European and Asian History from an Asian perspective, and particularly enjoyed her more interdisciplinary ‘War on Civilians’ module, which incorporated elements of law and international relations into history. The Food in Japan module frequently had guest lecturers fly in from Japan, involved food tasting and article writing assignments, and explored the history of Japanese food and its connections with other Asian nations in great depth.
 

Outside of her classes, Alina was an active member of NUS’ Netball society and encourages students to get involved in the variety of interest groups available on campus and take advantage of being in Singapore! During her time off, apart from travelling to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan, Alina recommends going to the Mandai Wildlife Reserve’s Night Safari, taking part in local celebrations, whether Lunar New Year or Eid, seeing the famous SuperTree Grove in person, attending Singapore’s many art exhibitions, temples, and beaches, and of course sampling the variety of food available in Singapore, which she says was a highlight. 

 

Her experience was made better by her accommodation, which she described as providing plenty of opportunities to make friends with locals and tours of the campus for new students, complete with accommodation-wide dinners. 

 

In short, studying abroad in Singapore was a rewarding and exciting experience that she recommends to anyone interested in the region, and hopes to reassure everyone that both the academic and social environments are highly enjoyable, and that studying abroad, whether for a semester or year, is a unique, highly enjoyable way to see more of the world and get outside of your bubble.