Life on Campus at The National University of Singapore
By Florence Slade, National University of Singapore, Singapore
When friends and family ask me to describe NUS, the first words that come to mind are exciting, different and welcoming. With over 2,000 exchange students alongside local students, there’s a brilliant mix of people from all over the world, meaning endless opportunities to make new friends.
Read more: Life on Campus at The National University of SingaporeI live in University Town, the newer part of campus, and was immediately struck by its convenience, cleanliness and community atmosphere, all designed with students in mind.
My home is Residential College 4 (RC4), at the northern edge of campus. Within a five-minute walk I have a corner shop, lecture theatres, libraries, coffee shops, food centres, restaurants and bus stops linking me to the rest of campus and Singapore. Every RC has a meal plan, making everyday life even easier, with a wide range of food, from local Singaporean favourites to Western and vegetarian options. The RCs are clean, with bright common areas, tidy kitchens and facilities cleaned twice a week, helping me feel at home from day one.
Surprisingly, campus is liveliest in the evenings, when students gather for dinner, game nights and late study sessions in the many open-air spaces. University Town is more than somewhere to study; it’s a little community where local and exchange students are united by the same mix of excitement and nervousness that comes with being an NUS student.
The community feel continues across the five RCs, reminding me of the house systems in many UK secondary schools. Students wear their college t-shirts with pride, a reminder that you’re never far from a friendly face. Each RC has a curriculum built around a theme (exchange students needn’t take part); RC4’s centres on systems thinking and entrepreneurship. Every year the five colleges compete in the inter-college games, a fantastic chance to represent your college and meet new people. Once a semester each RC hosts a black-tie formal, where the common spaces are transformed for an evening of good food and music. This semester’s Odyssey theme made it a highlight with my friends from RC4.
On a smaller scale, each RC is divided into five to seven houses of around 150 students, spread across three or four floors. I’m in Aquila house, and house socials have been one of the best ways to make new friends. Every house has a student leader to turn to with questions or concerns, and events run all semester, from ice cream nights to group study sessions with shared food orders. You also share washing machines and a kitchen, so bumping into familiar faces while your laundry spins or dinner cooks turns neighbours into friends.
What has stood out to me in my first couple of months at NUS is how friendly everyone is, from a quick hello in the lift to an invitation to game night. The student body values its community and goes out of its way to include everyone, which, for an exchange student, makes all the difference.
