An Incomplete Q&A of my time in NUS CHS (Y1)

I certainly did not plan on being the inaugural cohort of any college, but here I am. The announcement of NUS CHS (Longform: National University of Singapore, College of Humanities and Sciences) was met with much animosity from many people including myself. I cannot recall the number of times I openly declared in the public chat that I was done with the whole institution and at multiple points throughout my freshman year, I was extremely close to leaving the university for greener pastures. I even applied to various universities in the USA and the UK, and got into drama schools abroad.

However, in the end, after a surprisingly decent year here, my opinion of CHS has certainly changed for the better. I recently held an AMA on Reddit and fielded questions from incoming CHS freshmen. 

Here is a selection of my answers, taken straight from Reddit and edited for clarity and brevity:

1. Senior here! What made you interested in doing a double major with Pol Sci. 

I've always been interested in politics, but I fell in love with acting in JC and wanted to pursue it professionally. So in the end, since CHS makes it quite easy to pursue a double major, I decided to give it a shot. The way I planned my modules for year 2, at the end of my 4th semester if I decide that I've had enough of political science I can just downgrade to a minor. But for now, I'm happy to try for the double major with political science.

As for why political science, I'm very interested in non profit management, political theory as well as international relations. I thought that learning about those things would not only enhance my university experience, but also complement my artistic practice in theatre since I would learn more about the business and government side of things. Having a place to think critically about human behavior and how it affects systems and structures is important no matter which field I enter, which really makes PS very appealing to me.

A/N: I have since decided to downgrade my 2nd major in Political Science to a minor because I wanted to do a 2nd minor in German Language Studies. This may change in future semesters depending on my evolving interests.

2. Can I ask why you picked Theatre Studies?

Oh I love this question. Where to start.

From the moment I discovered that NUS offers this thing called Theatre Studies back in 2018 when I was a Sec 4 fetus, I was hooked. I was so intrigued by the idea of being part of something small and new and different from everyone that I began researching about everything. I'd say I was obsessed, because at some point I was even reading course documents just to find out what happens in each class week by week. As a kid who hasn't even cleared the A Levels.

At the same time, I was developing an interest in theatre. I have loved filmmaking since I was 14 and I dreamed of directing my own films, but when I was 17 it finally clicked - I like acting more. And when I found out about Broadway musicals at the ripe old age of JC2 (during the first circuit breaker in fact), that sealed the deal for me. I wanted to act professionally.

At first no one took me seriously because I did not have experience or any noticeable talent (3 years later, I just want to say that talent is a myth). But I had persistence, a crazy amount of drive and passion. I started reading up, training on my own, auditioning, and eventually going for classes in theatre to build up my skills. I put serious effort in improving and aimed for nothing less than perfection. Honestly I could burn through 5 hours just to get one scene or song right, and that kind of dedication helped me to progress quite fast. So it was with this kind of unrelenting energy that I decided, I'm going to use TS as a training ground to accelerate my training as an actor. 

When I entered TS, I found that I was still way behind people who have done theatre in SOTA or A Levels. I didn't get a place in NUS Stage (drama club) although I got all the way to the finals. I continued training in local studios like Sing'Theatre and finally, I got my first lead role in a short film. I then proceeded to secure a place in a London drama school and another short film in early March. However for financial reasons I have decided to stay at NUS and to finish my degree in theatre studies.

TS has some incredibly cool courses and I can spend forever talking about them. In which other university course do you get to climb onto the stage and dance and move? The exposure module alone will have you doing scenework, trying ballroom dance, exploring your own movements, and rehearsing for two acting showcases (each one worth 20% of your grade by the way). Trust the process, it's not arbitrary. The professor does not look for perfection, he looks for effort and the amount of thought put into the performance.

In TS, there are courses where you explore how Star Wars have become a global phenomenon. There are courses where you learn how movement on stage is the center of all things that an actor does. There is a course where you learn how to project your voice and use it across different theatrical and conventional styles while learning about the anatomy of your vocal cords. There are courses where you conceptualize a feature film from start to finish and defend your creative choices from your eagle eyed coursemates. At the end of your course candidature you will act in a public performance attended by local arts critics and journalists.

For those interested in theatre education and applied theatre, there are courses that teach you about the political, therapeutic and educational uses of theatre. It doesn't stop there because based on what the seniors say, NUS TS will organize a trip to Taiwan for applied theatre students so that they can plan a theatre experience together with their end users, the Taiwanese farmers. There is also a scriptwriting module taught by Haresh Sharma (yes THE Haresh Sharma) himself.
In the 30 year history of TS, our alumni includes Janice Koh (Crazy Rich Asians Felicity Young, NMP for the Arts), Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts, cameo in Spiderman Far From Home, BAFTA Nominee 2022), Chong Tze Chien (known as one of Singapore's best and brightest playwrights), Nelson Chia and Mia Chee (co-founders of Nine Years Theatre Singapore). Graduates have also gone to work in Bytedance (yes tiktok), the Singapore Chinese Dance Theatre, Channel NewsAsia, and my current tutor in DTK1234 was from Theatre Studies. TS graduates are rare, but we punch way above our weight in terms of leadership and global representation. 

So yeah, this is my #whyTS.

3. Thanks for the detailed response! Love seeing someone be passionate about their interests! just curious, were you from nyjc cause of the hashtag HAHA

Nope hahhahaa I'm from EJ and we have our own hashtag too

4. Hi do you feel that the organisation of CHS is quite messy considering it's so new? I've heard from some seniors that some modules havent even been planned yet. Also do you find the chs common curriculum modules useful? Some seniors told me that the downside of CHS is taking "useless" modules but ofc i want to get as many opinions as possible. Thanks OP :)

It definitely had teething issues at first, and I won't lie, I was not happy about it! As one of the people who aggressively signed and shared the petition to take CHS offline #nomoretopdown, I hated hated hated CHS to the core and I even applied to drama school in the UK to get out of here. That was September 2021.

Today... I don't know what changed, but gradually, I think it hit me that everything I learned in each module is genuinely useful and thought-provoking. I came into CHS thinking that some modules like HSI1000 are going to be useless to my theatre actor-ness (no tell me, why would an actor need science? Write a play about science??). CHS gave me the biggest sike ever when I wrote in my final reflection that the SCIENCE module taught me how to refine my acting technique and improve my experimentation and practice so that I get better and more controlled results. Yeah. Trust me. As the biggest skeptic about CHS that I know of, I now trust the folks behind the curriculum. They mean business and every person, regardless of how out of the way your major or industry is, will have something to learn from the core curriculum.

5. Hello! What does your typical week look like? I want to find out if I can have a part time job during uni (that’s ~20hrs/week) without losing my sanity :D

Hi there! For me, with some hacks around my time, I totally have time to

• go out with my family every weekend
• hang out with friends
• sleep late at night
• pick up a few writing and tutoring projects
• act/audition/go for theatre classes

all while doing uni. It's really chill. Actual lessons might take up maybe 6-8 hours of your time in total per week. The rest depends on how reading heavy or exam based your module is. Coursework based modules tend to focus on skills rather than content, so you have more time to do stuff like a part time job.

6. Hii. Do u think I can appeal into CHS? I got 76.5rp but I placed it as my second choice :((((

Hi there! I believe that you should really call admissions and ask. They are very helpful and I'm sure they will give you a better answer than I can.

Last year my friend got 77.5rp and put it as her first choice, she got in and is now a double major.

For your rp, honestly the 2.5rp will help a lot. If I were you I'd make the call tomorrow or as soon as possible because you want the best fighting chance to appeal for CHS. I really hope they at least offer you an ABA place.

7. I heard the general mods are very time consuming. Could you elaborate more about the type of work in the respective general mods?

In my opinion:

HSS1000 - easiest general module
- Every 2 weeks one MCQ quiz, total of 6, marks based on best 5. 50% of the module. There are like 5 questions each.
- Class participation, 15%
- Writing reflections every 2 weeks on Microsoft Teams (like, what I learned in the last 2 weeks, here's something interesting I read about), 15%
- Group presentation on a topic like terrorism, gaokao, universal basic income, 20%

DTK1234 - most tedious module
- Performance in each tutorial and workshop, how detailed your reflection and thinking process is etc, 40%
- Individual Learning Assignment, the BANE of my life, 45%. They take anywhere from 1-6 hours to do.
- Final Segment (make a video talking about the whole module and reflections), 15%

EDIT: Yes you're allowed to discuss answers for the quiz. It's open book.

EDIT 2: Ok DTK1234 is like this, but it's also the most valuable module I've ever had the pleasure of doing. I am currently designing a new startup and my workflow is based on what I learned from this mod so... yes ITS IMPORTANT OKAY DONT SLACK

8. Hi, can i ask how difficult it is to apply for double major (is it very competitive) and is it very difficult to apply for hall? I want to experience hall life at least once but I don’t think i’m that much of a high achiever.

Double major - There is no competition. Anyone can apply and be granted a double major.
Hall - Open to anyone, competition based on how active you were in CCA.

9. Are there any compulsory internship credits for NUS CHS?

None that I know of unless you major in CNM.

10. Hello! Wanna ask if you have any experience applying for programs such as USP? How was it & will it be taxing especially if I'm reading direct Y2 architecture & offered the NUS Merit scholarship?

I applied for the USP and did not get in. They really want very high caliber students who have a passion for interdisciplinary pursuits, so if you go for it, be prepared to work a lot harder than a typical CDE/CHS student.