Written by Chloe Delgado & Hetvi
“I didn’t do anything outside of tutorials but study and work, so I missed out on a lot of opportunities in Temasek Polytechnic (TP).”
As a student, Nicolas Chew had to work part-time in order to support himself and his family financially. In addition, he had a dream to study overseas and he knew that he had to put in the work needed in order to maintain his GPA. This meant that he missed out on many fun outings and student life experiences, as compared to his peers. However, his efforts bore fruit as he was offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Earlier this year, Nicolas learnt that he was awarded the Changi Airport Group (CAG) Undergraduate Scholarship (Overseas) to pursue a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Human, Social and Political Sciences at the University at Cambridge.
For the Diploma in Communications & Media Management (CMM) graduate, studying in the University of Cambridge had always been a pipe dream. But the thought of funding his school fees weighed on his mind.
“The price of my school fees (at Cambridge) was basically the price of the flat I’m staying in,” said Nicolas wryly.
During his three years in TP, he worked part-time as a Customer Service Agent at Changi Airport. There, he was introduced to the thriving aviation industry and learnt about the many different organisations and individuals working together to manage the world’s most awarded airport.
He shared that his parents would not be able to support both his and his younger brother’s school fees.
Nicolas said: “At the time, my dad was working part-time as a kitchen helper and my mom was a preschool teacher. With their combined income, they had to pay for my polytechnic school fees, as well as my brother’s, who was in his final year of secondary school. Polytechnic school fees are quite a big difference from secondary school, and I wanted to help alleviate their financial burden.”
For three to four days every week, he would work night shifts, sometimes until midnight, after school. At the same time, he had to complete school assignments and projects.
Said Nicolas: “Sometimes, when (other students who work part-time) don’t want to work, they probably just take fewer shifts. But for people like me who work out of necessity, no matter how tiring it gets, I know I still have to go to work anyway.” The money that he had earned then paid for things he needed for school, like his laptop, as well as daily necessities, such as his bus fare and food.
Despite his late nights at Changi Airport, he became the top student for his diploma, topping his cohort with a GPA of 3.97. He enjoyed modules that involved graphic design and digital media production, which are skills that he still uses today. He plans to use the skills he learnt in CMM to document his time in Cambridge to share with his friends and family in Singapore.
Nicolas also shared that through his videos, he would like to address how elite universities are geared to be more accessible to Junior College (JC) students.
“I also hope to be able to share my experience as a poly student going through the scholarships and elite university system in the hopes of allowing more students outside of JC to realise their dreams of attending these schools too,” he said.
Looking back on his time in CMM, Nicolas appreciates the memories he made and the support he had from his friends and coursemates.
“I was very lucky to have found many friends who were like-minded, pushed me to do my best and accepted my quirks, as they made the CMM journey a fun one,” he added.
However, he regrets not participating in more opportunities in polytechnic, such as volunteering and leadership, because he was always either working or studying.
When asked about what advice he would give his freshman self, he said: “I would tell him to take it easy. No matter how serious things get, take time for yourself to unwind and just be a teenager.”
He also believes that mental health is important and should be made a priority for students as school work can be taxing.
Nicolas also advises other students to not shy away from hard work. He said: “Given all the barriers to entry, I never thought I would be able to overcome them and go to my dream school.”
