Before I begin talking about my adventures in Singapore, let me introduce myself and explain how I ended up here.
A bit about me
My name is Navya Gupta and I am studying at University of Toronto – Mississauga. I am doing a major in Computer Science with a double minor in Mathematics and Statistics. I am participating in an Exchange Program through my university and is taking place at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The exchange is going to take place for the month of July. I am enrolled in two courses – Cyber Security and Organizational Behavior and Design.
I was scared initially, no not because of course rather as this was my first time traveling to a different country by myself. I have always been dependent on my parents for everything so it is terrifying to think I would be by myself. However, I am also super excited and unable to wait as I know this would have a positive impact on me. This will provide me with an opportunity to discover myself, learn new things, increase my self-confidence and be more independent.
Applying for the program
The story of how I ended up applying is actually quite funny. I found about the program through an email but did not even bother to look further into it. I believed it would be too expensive and my parents would not allow. After that, the program was long forgotten. Then, one day, I came downstairs to have breakfast. My father told me that I received a letter from my university and the program seems quite interesting. My parents told me look into the program and apply for it. I saw the letter and imagine my surprise, when the letter turned out to be about program I disregarded earlier. From then, after a lot of procrastination and self motivation, I looked at different possible universities, countries and program choices. After a lot of narrowing down, I ended up choosing NTU Singapore as my first option. The reasons being:
- The university had a variety of options for courses.
- They also had courses related to my field of study.
- Singapore is one of the best and safest places in the world.
- Singapore is known as one of the most culturally diverse places in the world.
I applied for the program and completed my requirements. Now, all that is left was, waiting to find out if I got nominated by my home university and accepted by my host university. After a few weeks, I finally received the best news: I GOT IN!
Even after the acceptance, there were a lot of obstacles which came in the way. However, everything worked out in the end and I finally stepped foot in Singapore.
Singapore, here I come… 🙂