here's why u should stay in residential colleges!🏨

hello l8dies! 🍋 If you're considering to go NUS but unsure of whether to stay on campus, then read this! ➡️➡️

I’ve seen people sharing about their hostel life and I thought I’d want to share mine too! I stay in a residential college (RC) in NUS and I never once regretted my decision. How it works differently from NUS Halls is that instead of putting yourself under so much stress and taking up multiple CCAs/commitments, you only need to take the modules they offer (different RC offer different modules so you need to see which you like best). No, you are NOT taking up additional modules because these RC modules replaces some of the general modules that everyone has to take in NUS. What’s more is that you have a guaranteed 2 year stay!! So you don’t ever have to panic about getting kicked out for not having enough points!🤭

There’s honestly so MANY reasons why I would literally promote people to stay in RCs but I’m just gonna share a few that sticks out to me:

☆ Loving & inclusive community🥰

I got covid from my faculty’s orientation camp and I couldn’t attend my rc’s orientation camp. I was so afraid that I would be outcasted and lonely because to me, orientation felt like a platform for me to make friends and see who I can vibe with. Honestly, at that point I was so ready to be a loner. But on one of the days, a girl from my og texted me while I was having dinner in my room and asked to video call me like sis…I was in my pajamas… but i said yes anyways. The second time I met them irl…we were watching a movie in the lounge and i sat in between the 2 girls. They were literally holding GRABBING my arms and screaming and leaning on me…I WAS SHOCK LIKE I JUST KNEW YOU YESTERDAY??? yes so tldr my og essentially because my bestest friends in uni. They were the first group of friends I travelled overseas with and we had fun studying and clubbing together too.

☆ Safe space to try out new things🙋🏻‍♀️

One thing I greatly appreciate about my RC is the safe environment to try out new things! In RCs, there is no such thing as “CCAs”, rather we call it interest groups. Basically, you can go to these interest groups whenever you want. Yup, you heard it right. WHENEVER! 🤩 If you’re itching to try out baking, just go! If you’re busy with assignments, it’s ok, you can come back anytime! Because of this system, I got to try out different sports and interesting things like soccer and scare acting 😖! For context, I have NEVER played soccer in my entire life but I got pulled to be the soccer captain for my house during an interneighbourhood game lol…everyone were also super encouraging and supportive! Also, I got to try out choreoing and teaching a dance class too! If it weren't for my friend who dragged me to do it, I would have never tried bc it scares me haha🫣 anyways my friends also supported me and make time in their busy schedules to come for my class (even though they can’t dance🤣)

☆ Fun and interesting modules that pushes you to think deeper💡

For my RC, we are very focused on community engagement, so a lot of the modules that I took were centered around community leadership. My modules involved ALOT of learning journeys to parks and residential areas, reflections for assignments, and sometimes presentations (for the heavier modules). One of my learning journey involved a veggie rescue, where we basically go round shops in Little India to collect vegetables that shop owners want to throw away but are still edible (see the pic with a box of vege)! I enjoy learning the modules in my RC because it's much more tailored to my interests (I don't have to take some coding mod that I don’t like as part of the general pillar). If you’re thinking about staying in an RC next year, I’d say find an RC that offers modules that suits your interest!

☆ Exciting opportunities & experiences!!! 🌤️

I got the chance to go to Makassar, Indonesia, for a month as part of an “internship” (I’ll def do a post on this one because wow it was just a crazy month). At first I thought I was crazy and irrational when I signed up for it because firstly I was going with a group of strangers (we live in the same building, but I just don’t know them), and secondly…for a month?!?! in the wilderness?!?! But yes, I was so scared that I thought I wasn’t gonna make it back to SG alive, but when I came back, I found myself missing the place so much! The entire trip was so eye opening because I got to learn about the people, their culture, their language, their pastimes, and many more! I was so genuinely glad that I got to stumble upon this opportunity through my RC! On a side note, my RC offers many engaging and meaningful opportunities (there’s even one internship to Botswana in May 2024 and I’m looking forward to it) that you can never get outside of an RC.

☆ Brightly lit corridors, chalked doors, and a personal space 💆🏻‍♀️

This is just a given…Personally, the “Welcome back home” message SLAPS. The corridors are also really well lit, even at night (it’s really unlike halls where their corridors are very dimly lit and honestly spooky at night)…and the best part? I get my own personal space! Not saying that halls don’t give you your personal space, but I just felt that living in an RC allows you to have more room for personal time, because people actually respect your space and you don’t really get peer pressured to do things you don’t feel like doing.

#CampusLife #nus #residentialcolleges #friendship #universitylife #MyLemon8Diary