My Experience at NTU

Fresh out of high school and into the new world of university. The nervousness and excitement was overwhelming, especially since this was my first time moving out of the comfort of home, much less moving to a new country. The extreme pace of university life and studies was, however, quick to get me out of my homesickness and fear of the unknown as I began my learrning curve at NTU. Full of "firsts", my four years at university were definitely a time to remember!

Being a freshman at NTU was one of the most memorable times of my life. At the beginning of the new academic year, there is an orientation camp organised by seniors for the freshman. The orientation camp was definitely one of the major "firsts" in my university life as the games and activities were ones I had never seen or experienced before. They were all designed to promote team building and to help us get to know the fellow freshman. Through the orientation camps I met some of my friends in the very first year and maintained a good friendship with them throughout university.

Another "first" I encountered in the very first semester was an encounter with a freeloader. I had never experienced needing to do someone else's work for them and letting them take credit like it was their work. I was confused and angry at the situation but was unable to do anything about it at the time since my grades mattered more than arguing with a teammate. As I progressed to higher years, I became more calm at handling such situations and handled them more maturely and calmly. Although I had never reported anyone for freeloading through the four years, I became better at expressing to them that they need to contribute more to the project. Despite that if they did not do it, I learnt that at the end of the day it is my grades that mattered the most, even if that means doing someone else's work; because I was doing it for me and not for them.

The comparatively carefree times in first year were also memorable seeing how much I missed them in final year. The relatively light load and fewer assignments to balance meant more time to study individually and also have fun. As the years progressed, I found myself spending more time on group projects than individual study which gets pushed towards test and exam season making those periods extremely hectic and stressful.

Second year was the hardest out of the four years. Academically, it was a huge jump from first to second year with a drastic increase in coursework requirements and content difficulty. In my personal life, I had a fallout with a close friend and we completely stopped talking for an entire semester until we decided to bury the hatchet in the second semester of the year. Additionally, I was also very doubtful about my ability to perform well given the sudden increase in complexity and workload. I found the courses challenging which made the situation worse. It was the first time I had faced such a crisis, for want of a better word, because I was always used to the smooth-sailing life of school which continued in first year. This was a "first" for me and I was unable to handle the pressure which I later realised I had put onto myself.

It took me a while to realise that I was overthinking the whole situation and all I needed to do was focus on one task at a time, one day at a time. It was here that I realised the importance of organising my tasks into small achievable goals and setting a list of goals for each day. I began cultivating a habit of noting down deadlines on my calendar and making a to-do list for each day of the week. Despite the occasional change or cheat day, I consistently managed to complete each days tasks which gave me motivation for the next day. This habit stayed with me until the last day of final year and I cannot possibly express how much it has helped me get through the impossibly complicated schedules of university.

Towards the end of second year, the COVID19 pandemic hit and disrupted most of the activities, including exams, of the second semester. There was a sudden cancellation of all exams and the semester ended abruptly just like that. Faced with a very long summer vacation of almost four months, I was lost on what to do since travel was also cancelled and I could not even go back home. During that time, I spent a lot of time with my friends in hall as we ate together, watched movies, played games and had fun despite the pandemic.

The first semester of third year had one of the hardest courses of the computer engineering degree- MDP. The groups were random and the tasks, unfamiliar. At the start of the project I was extremely stressed about how it was going to go since I was as inexperienced as the others who were looking to me for information on building and working with the robot. But because I decided to be honest about my position the group was understanding enough to help out. After that, it was more or less a smooth sailing ride except a few bumps along the way. Somewhere along the way, I realised that I had become much better at handling certain situations in group projects and had become better at working in a team. I also found myself approaching and talking to other people in the lab both to give and take advice on how to proceed with the project. I made one of my closest friends at NTU during the MDP project lab sessions. All this really made me realise how much I had matured through the first two years. I felt like the seniors I looked up to when I was starting out at university!

The second semester of the year was I think the best semester of my university life- the internship semester. Having daily lunches with my fellow interns, working on new projects, enjoying free time on post-work evenings and weekends; everything was so much fun. It was a scheduled lifestyle with the working time being fixed unlike during the semester where there was no schedule at all, just a series of days and nights devoted to keeping deadlines. The workload during the internship was also more or less constant allowing for a much healthier lifestyle than during the study semesters. I enjoyed so much that I was a little sad by the end of it because I had adjusted myself to that lifestyle.

Third year really made me feel like I was a senior at NTU and realise that I had come so far from my days in first year. I was better at handling unforeseen situations, less reliant on schedules given by the school and better at planning my own tasks and setting goals to meet in preparation for tests.

I started going out more during the third and final years as I wanted to make up for the time wasted in the COVID19 pandemic. I was excited to try out new restaurants every weekend with my friends, visited the central Singapore area for walks, and enjoyed leaving campus for much needed breaks. I made it a point to leave campus at least once a week, even if only to a nearby mall for dinner. Going out every now and then helped refresh my mind and prepared me to take on the next week's tasks. Taking some time off to explore Singapore really helped enhance my experience at NTU making it more wholesome and complete.

The first semester of final year was heavier than the next but I was determined to make it work. Which I did, and although I didn't get the best grades that semester, I worked on my FYP enough to make the next semester even lighter so I could focus on writing the final report and preparing for final exams and the FYP presentation soon after.

The final semester started out so light, I was concerned whether I was missing something out! I had all the courses under control, I was focussed on my FYP work and achieving small goals here and there and I was also ready with my interim report. However, this bliss only lasted about two months until all the projects started. From there it was a never-ending roller coaster ride.

I had three projects in final semester- Machine Learning, Information Retrieval and FYP. Working on the projects made up most of the rest of the semester, interspersed by DSP lab assignments. I was working with a friend for the two course projects along with our other groupmates so we made sure to divide the tasks such that we could work together. The two of us spent days at The Arc at NTU which is a study space with many rooms where classes are also held sometimes. We would randomly pick a room and set up our laptops and notes and start our project work. Usually, we would go just around lunch time, set up our things, have a quick lunch and work until past midnight. Discussing project codes, finding new references on the internet, watching seniors YouTube video presentations, group meetings on Zoom, we did everything together at The Arc which has become a place that holds many memories for me now. Sometimes, when we were bored or needed a break, we would watch random videos on YouTube, scroll through social media and even dance around the room at night when no one was there! We also got locked out of our room once for staying beyond the closing hour :)

During exam period, we continued to go there to study until 4 or even 5AM with a Starbucks coffee to help us stay awake. Discussing exam paper solutions, sharing notes and simultaneously working on projects was the new normal for us as we spent more time at The Arc than in our rooms for the last 3 months of our university life.

Final exams creeped up too soon like the looming storm we had all forgotten about. I had not written an exam in two years by that point because of the cancellations caused by the COVID19 pandemic. So I was nervous as I had gotten out of that habit of writing the two hour long exams. But once I wrote the first paper, I had more confidence in myself for the next two, and just like that it was over!

I was very nervous about the FYP final presentation so I rehearsed close to 15 times to make sure I had every point in place, every pause decided and every gesture mapped out while also appearing natural and confident. I was amazed to see myself actually having achieved this because I know myself to have an extreme fear of public speaking. I was no longer nervous about the presentation and it occurred to me that practice and confidence really make all the difference. The presentation itself went well despite having overrun on time because of a misunderstanding and at the end of it I was proud for having graduated university!

The last week before I left Singapore was one of the best times I had there. I had one week from the date of the presentation until my flight back home to pack up all my things from the hall room and meet all my friends for a last goodbye. I spent that whole week packing during the day and going out in the evenings. I had so much fun going out with everyone I spent my time in university with, we visited all our favourite spots as well as new places and had an absolute blast.

On the day I left hall, both my hall friends helped me go down with my bags until the cab where we all hugged and said goodbye. It was a bittersweet moment for me because I knew I was done with one chapter of my life but also excited for my year-long break before I head on for my graduate studies.

The moment at the convocation ceremony when my name was called and met with applause, was the proudest moment of my life- I had done it, I had completed one of the most rigorous degrees in the world, I was a Computer Engineer.

The four years at NTU have given me so much more than knowledge- I have gained new friends, connections, many experiences that will guide me in the future, I am more prepared to face change and challenges and most importantly, I have grown and matured as an individual.

NTU has given me a degree acknowledged by the world and so much more. For that, I will be forever grateful to my alma mater.