How I complete my NTU degree without taking a loan

Sharing a piece of my past which moulded me into who I am today.

Since young, I didn’t have enough. I always have to “earn” to get what I want… My first job was 14 years old at secondary school bookstore during year end holiday. And if I didn’t remember wrongly, it was $10/day(5-6 hours?) + free lunch… Now that I think back, I felt like I got cheated 😂😂

But the money was enough for me to do “fun” activities! Going for meals at McDonald’s, buying small items and hanging out with friends at bowling… Cos I was really so poor that even $5 McDonald’s student meal was a luxury for me.

Anyway, I have since adopted the mindset where I could earn if I want something, instead of asking from my mum.

As I grew older, I have worked for various jobs, banquet waitress, Starbucks barista, admin etc… all of them were between after Secondary School - before University period.

When I was in JC1, I discovered a high paying job where I don’t have to work for many hours, but still getting paid decently to sustain my daily necessities.

Background story: I argued with my mum and stopped taking money from her since mid-JC1.

So the high paying job was ✨TUTORING✨

From mid-JC1 to end-JC2, I was giving group tuition at a small tuition centre, paying me $24/hr, $192/month (4 weeks)! And I survived my JC life with that amount paying for everything - transportation, food, school materials, entertainment (barely any) etc…

After I graduated from JC before going into University, I went into earning mode where I would earn $3K/month by doing:

- office admin job (Mon-Fri) $7/hr

- tuitions (evenings & weekends) $25-$35/hr

- Starbucks (whenever I’m free) barista $6+/hr

Because I knew I wouldn’t be taking on study loan for my University, I had to earn & save as much as possible.

When University starts, I was only giving tuitions as it gave me the highest hourly rate. At my peak, I was giving 11 lessons per week.

I was focusing on giving secondary school tuitions as they pay higher than primary school tuitions while syllabus was still manageable for me.

I think I progressed into JC maths after afterwards as I could earn higher hourly rate but teaching JC maths will require some preparations for me (as it was tougher).

Sharing the rates based on my experience:

Secondary School subjects

Undergrad $35-$45/hr

Post-grad $50-$55/hr

JC subjects

Post-grad $65-$75/hr

I only take on students who could pay higher rates and I could get them due to my years of experience & degree (I study maths).

And with this tutoring, I could pay my University fees and not taking up a loan! It felt so good as I don’t have to pay for a debt after graduation (though I took up a small loan to go for overseas exchange).

After graduation, I continued with tutoring as it gave me good money. I have around 3-5 lessons per week, and they were during weekday evenings / weekends! My then-job allowed me as no-OT was required. For weekends, I would pack 3 lessons back to back just so I could enjoy evenings still!

Though I am no longer giving tuitions now as my income grew & no longer have to rely tuitions (I stopped since my main job gave me the same or higher hourly rate as tuition), I will miss those 10 years of tutoring 🥲

Hope this post inspires & motivates you. Nothing is impossible as long as you have the determination 💪🏻

#storytime #RealTalk