Surya — Suxin — Chay
We wanted to share the amazing stories and motivations behind the alumni who gave to the #SUTD25KCHALLENGE.
New week, new stories!
Be part of the campaign!
Surya:
I walked into Singapore 5 years ago, moving away from familiar surroundings for the first time, the comforts of home. Everything around me was new.
At SUTD, the education I received is pretty much secondary. What I found was a series of wonderful experiences surrounded and supported by a group of amazing individuals. Good ones and bad ones, happy ones and sad ones. We learned conduct by breaking it, responsibility after abdicating it, too often screwing up our sleep cycles along the way (Thank you 3 am Macs 😁).
So yeah, I might have walked into Singapore 5 years ago feeling very alone. But at SUTD I found a family. Can’t have an excuse for not donating, can I? 🤷🏽♂ What’s yours?
Suxin:
It decided to give back to SUTD because it was my first pay, so I wanted to make it count! I feel thankful to the education and experience that SUTD has provided me with! Looking back, although SUTD life isnt easy, it was really fulfilling and interesting! I am really thankful for the friends I made and the dedicated professors who taught us. Apart from giving back to SUTD as a form of appreciation, I felt that this fund could be used to provide even more opportunities to the future SUTD students!
GLP experience was quite an impactful experience for me as I got to build an electric boat from scratch with friends from other pillars! It was a truly amaaaaaaazing experience! :D
My favourite past time is watching the the beautiful sunset from building 2! The sky is really beautiful in the evenings! It just takes my mind off all the worries and workloads.
A part of SUTD which greatly resonated with me was definitely the student initiatives! I think it is really nice that like minded individuals gather to organise initiatives to improve the culture and make the school a more vibrant place! :D
My only regret is not finding more time (somehow) and taking part in more fifth row activities!
Chay:
Why I gave back…
SUTD gave me a scholarship, sponsored my exchange to MIT and gave me a degree which helped me land my first job. I’m happy with this opportunity to give back.
I also want this campaign to succeed, so that the alumni as a whole will have ownership over something significant. That will be a major step towards building a strong alumni community, which I want to be a part of.
An experience which greatly shaped me…
Joining Root was a huge eye opener. It played an interesting role of a middleman between the management and students and it was enlightening to uncover the differing goals and hidden constraints of each party. I learnt that there are motives behind every decision, and it is necessary to empathise with these motives before differences can be resolved.
My favourite past time…
I enjoy chatting with people and collecting stories. SUTD is a small university; stories from different people are interconnected in unexpected ways, and it is especially fascinating when the same stories are told from different perspectives. Like Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow
An SUTD spirit which greatly resonated with me…
Don’t say bojio. Sharing is commonplace in SUTD, but it’s less common in the outside world. When I started working, I started to appreciate the value of being generous with time and resources, as doing so creates a positive environment for all. I hope that DSBJ becomes the one unofficial core value that permeates every aspect of student life in SUTD.
And that’s a wrap! Click the link below to…
