CEO’s say great things about you, so do the schools you attended, so do teachers and readers and co-workers around you. Many dream of this. Some actually live it.
How does this happen? Read more.
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| Sophie's parents, aunt and Sophie |
Recently you have received some great recognition for your exemplary efforts. Can you talk about your UWC and University recognitions?
When anybody asks me what meant the most to me at my university, I always say that the experience of being a Resident Advisor for 3 years is what has pushed me to become who I am today. It made me grow as a person, it taught me about responsibility and making tough choices, and it taught me about how to manage my own life. I learnt skills and lessons that one can only learn being a RA for 3 entire years. It was not easy by any means - I did miss out on certain aspects of college life, but I feel that what I have gained most definitely outweighs anything I missed.
So you can imagine my shock when I won one of the awards at the Resident Staff banquet (which happens at the end of every academic year). I never once expected to win anything, but I not only received a Jefferson Cup for my 3 years of service to my university, and chords to wear at graduation, but I was also the first-ever recipient of the Gregory J. Canty Memorial award for showing traits of “fairness, humility, and being caring”. After everything I have been through at my university as an RA, it means more than I can ever explain to anybody.
That was in May 2013. Since graduating in May, I’ve been lucky enough to have many people who believe in me.
It all started off once I had moved back to Singapore at the end of May (after graduating). An Associate Dean from the Office of the Dean of Students at my university contacted me and asked me if I would be “willing to be showcased” as my University’s “Exemplary Davis Scholar” in the annual Davis Foundation report. Of course, I was honoured, and so I replied with a short blurb about what I was up to now. That was the first recognition.
Next, came an invitation from my high school, UWCSEA to speak on a panel for the high schoolers’ “career day”. Little did I know, I would be the only woman representing my gender, and that I would also be on a panel beside a bunch of CEOs, Presidents of corporations, and Directors. Talk about intimidating. However, I went up to the podium with some simple advice that I will share here because I think it is relevant for people of all ages:
1. Get involved; don’t be afraid.
2. Take the initiative; work hard and be confident of yourself and your abilities.
3. Be polite and kind to everybody; first impressions matter.
One of my fellow panellists even came to me at the end and said “brilliant advice, I couldn’t have said it better myself”. I was elated when all the panel members agreed with my advice – it meant I was doing something right! The best part of being on this panel was not this man giving me affirmation, but the look on my teachers’ faces. I had invited some of my old teachers to come and see me speak - and the smiles they had on their faces when they watched me in front of them was something I will never forget. I like to think they were proud of me, standing in front of them, 4 years after graduating from UWC. Aside from speaking that day, I have also become a “mentor” for UWCSEA students.
Last but not least, in January 2014, I received an e-mail from a writer who pens all the feature articles for the annual report of the Davis UWC Scholars Program. He told me that the foundation was highlighting a number of “outstanding Davis UWC Scholar alumni”, and he was tasked with writing a few “Grads in Action” features. It seems that their CEO had chosen me to be one of the subjects of these pieces. I can honestly tell you that after my initial shock, I was jumping around in excitement. The issue of the report will be out later this year in May, so I look forward to reading that.
This recognition has definitely taken a lot of hard work, but let me be the first to say that I have been surprised time after time as I receive all of this. There are so many people who are more deserving of all this recognition, and I can easily say I would not have made it to where I am without support and help from people like you, Parke, as well as my Professors, teachers, friends and most of all, my parents. I hope I continue to make everybody proud, especially Shelby Davis (without his generosity I never would have had the chance to achieve anything), and of course, I hope that Kurt Hahn would be proud of me too. :-)
After you graduated you returned to Singapore. What has it been like to return home? How has it changed and how have you changed?
I have had ups and downs since I have moved back to Singapore. In true “third culture kid” style, I have found it hard to adjust in a place that was my home for 16 years before going to the US for college. It’s funny because I had the same problem at my university - not being able to categorise myself as ‘one type’ of person - I wasn’t really “Singaporean,” like my Singaporean peers who went to local schools, nor was I “Indian” like my peers from India. Moving back, I realise I’m not fully “Singaporean” because of the fact I went to a private school, nor am I a “foreigner” – I’m stuck in the middle. Moving back has meant a lot of change in general. Leaving the US meant leaving a life that I had created behind, saying goodbye (although not forever, I hope) to my friends and people who became my family while I was on my own. However, I guess that being a part of today’s generation means that change and having to adapt to new environments is part and parcel of life.
I have changed, and Singapore has changed both physically, and otherwise - I almost don’t recognise parts of it. Aside from that, in Asia, it is common to be living with your parents, and unlike a lot of my American peers, I have moved home to my parents’ house. That has been interesting, but I think we’re doing well. They treat me like the adult I am, and we have both grown to understand each other’s needs and wants.
One of the things you got involved with was deadcurious.com. Can you describe what this is and maybe give a link or two to some of your contributions?
Dead Curious is an online magazine (www.deadcurious.com), pioneered by 3 of my University’s alumni who have their own start-up based in the US, called Billion Dollar Boy (I interned with them for about 6 months doing digital marketing research when I had first moved back to Singapore).
Our tag line at Dead Curious speaks for itself:
“Living to Discover; Local on a Global Scale. Bringing you the best from around the world in Music, Film, The Arts and More.”
I started off as a writer for them, and am now a Contributing Editor to this magazine. I absolutely love it because it’s such a fantastic outlet for both writing, and sharing photographs that I’ve taken during my travels, or at events I’ve attended. So far, I’ve written a few very different types articles - whether they are reviews for a movie or TV show I’ve watched, or my opinion on the Singapore Night Festival that I attended in 2013. I love writing, and simply put, I love my role at Dead Curious. Here are 2 examples of articles I’ve recently written:
My thoughts on the Singapore Night Festival: http://deadcurious.com/2013/09/19/hometown-hits-singapore-night-festival-2013/
A more comical, relaxed piece where I give my 2 cents on the TV show, ‘2 Broke Girls’: http://deadcurious.com/2013/11/14/20-minutes-2-broke-girls/
You now have a great job. What is it and how did you get it?
Firstly, let me tell you about my job - I am a Business Analyst/Content Strategist at an IT and business incubator/start-up based here, in Singapore. We are currently developing a mobile application (in the mobile advertising industry), called “hikemeup” - I hope that one day soon, you will see it in the US and around the world! If all things work in our favour, we will be launching later this year. As for my specific role, aside from contributing to the actual development of the app, I take care of anything to do with words, which is anything from an e-mail, to PR, to drafting press releases, to writing content for our blog or even the wording in our mobile app! I can honestly say that this is one of the best learning experiences I could have ever imagined having as a fresh graduate.
As for how I got the job - It was actually very difficult moving home after university, more so when I realised that the job market at the time wasn’t very good. I was applying and interviewing for a good 3-4 months (this doesn’t include the 8 months of trying for a job in the States), before I came to the point where I had two options to choose between. Although my story is really not that interesting, I will say though, that I found a learning experience in applying for jobs: we take for granted the role that luck, timing, and our choices make in our day-to-day lives. Sometimes, you just need to listen to your gut feeling. The day I was suppose to finalise and sign my contract with a different company, someone from my current company convinced me to meet with him - and as it turns out, he convinced me to join them instead. It was a very nerve-wracking 24 hours as I tried to make a decision, so I honestly feel lucky that said colleague came through for me with my contract in less than 12 hours! I followed my gut instinct to join the start-up, and I’m very glad I did.
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| Wild elephants in Sri Lanka |
Toward the end of last year, my boss told my team and I that we had to clear our leave before the end of year. “Great, I thought to myself, time to visit a new country!” I roped my parents in, and we decided to go to Sri Lanka (aside from having never been there, we have a very close family friend who lives there). A week later, my family and I found ourselves in Sri Lanka, experiencing wonderful sights (including a handful of World Heritage Sites) and interesting people. My two favourite moments were going for a jeep safari in a national park, and seeing 2 herds of wild elephants (It was one of the most magical sights I had ever seen) and then seeing (as well as eating) avocados the size of my head! Talk about yummy. On average, one was at least 5KG!
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| White rhino |
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| Wild deer in India |
“Being in the real world” - words, for which I had to experience an epiphany before I realised that I was actually in that stage of my life. If you think about it, we treat post-university life, as this esoteric, and foreign stage of our lives, as if our former years are not part of our “real world” experiences. This being said, my epiphany happened when a friend introduced me to one of her colleagues, who asked me, “So, what do you do?”. I actually had to pause for a moment and think. “Gosh,” I thought to myself, “I’m not a student anymore. I’m working - when did this happen?!” I somehow hadn’t made that subconscious transition to “I am working” until I had that conversation with someone who didn’t know me, and saw me as a working professional. It was baffling, exciting, and scary all at once.
Nonetheless, although I’m not making heaps of money, I enjoy being able to be financially independent (to an extent) - there is a thrill about buying a present for your parents or a book you really wanted with your own money, not money they have given you. Also, I enjoy that I don’t have volumes of reading to do, or essays to write every night – being a working professional is great because of the freedom to pursue other passions, and the fact that I don’t have midterms every 3 weeks! This being said, I do miss the type of learning we do at university, but I’ve managed to find a middle ground where I set myself reading related to work to do so I’m constantly learning in my job too. I miss my Professors, my residents (yay Hereford!), sitting by the ruins near the duck pond on Emmet Street – as you can tell, I don’t really miss the aspect of being a student much since I’ve made sure to keep up the “student-like” learning process at my workplace, but I miss the people, the places I saw, and the experiences I had.
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For some people reading about Sophie their reaction might be something approaching fear or intimidation: The “I could never do that” reaction. It’s true she’s done what few of us do. But why has Sophie had such success? She is smart, attended great schools and did well, but so do many students. What has allowed her to rise so quickly are what those in business call ‘soft skills.’ Anyone meeting Sophie will know after a few microseconds that she is warm, kind and full of concern about others.
As an RA (resident assistant—the upper level student who helps new students transition to a university), she provided comfort, advice, and insight. Her recognition by her university indicates she is a leader, but a leader who cares about the welfare of others. She was the first ever recipient of the Greg Canty award, named for an exceptional student and RA who passed away prior to Sophie’s graduation. She embodies his qualities of selflessness and kindness for others.
In large part, Sophie’s grounding in good works comes from her family, but it is also true that the mission of the United World Colleges is to create global citizens committed to positive change on both the micro and macro level. It would be hard for me to think of a better person to serve as a representative of this exceptional group of students from all over the world.
Nothing I have just written should be intimidating to other students. Students can choose to learn skills that transcend grades and scores. It is these skills that will be more important to success in a career and life. Sophie’s actions and words demonstrate this.
I am lucky to have been able to follow Sophie through her educational journey and now out in the world. I hope she will inspire others to involve themselves in service toward others. Sometimes by helping others we help ourselves as much or more in ways that cannot be measured in dollars or data.
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Update: Sophie is a part of a startup that uses "interruptive advertising"? What is this? "Given our team's frustrations at viewing irrelevant and intrusive ads, we thought we'd try to come up with a way to bring people advertising they're interested in viewing, at a time of their choosing. The best part? We reward people for looking at relevant ad content, and for their engagement because they have chosen to engage, and not because they have been forced to."
Find out more here.
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Sophie continues to serve as a role model for student. Just a couple of days ago (22 May 20115) she served as the keynote speaker for the graduating class at her UWC. She continues o inspire others in her work and in her life.
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| Sophie addressing UWC students and families at graduation ceremonies |
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