Recognising long-serving Student Associates at Yale-NUS College

During their studies at Yale-NUS College, students can apply to become a Student Associate (SA) at various College departments such as the Writers’ Centre, Student Affairs Office, and the Buttery amongst others. These positions allow students to earn an income while also giving them valuable work experience and training opportunities. Some have even demonstrated long-term commitment to their SA position by working in the same department for three to four years, almost their entire time at the College!

Dinesh Sukumar (Class of 2024) had been a Research and Content Development SA with the Writers’ Centre since his second year. He worked on developing materials to support the team, such as a suite of writing workshops to support the Common Curriculum. Notably, he assisted former Director of the Writers’ Centre Tait Bergstrom to conduct a research project on the adaptation of the Centre in light of Yale-NUS’ closure in 2025. “We ensured the Writer’s Centre had different scales of programmes, such as one-to-one tutoring and large seminars, with different levels of customisability. This prepared the Centre to pivot towards serving a far larger and more diverse student-customer base,” Dinesh explained. He was even given the opportunity to share these findings at the International Writing Centre Associate Conference in Baltimore in 2023.

“Knowing that I was going into education eventually, I wanted to gain experience in different educational functions beyond just student-facing teaching,” Dinesh shared. The opportunity to develop curricula and engage in educational research fit well with his desires. “I stayed with the Writers’ Centre because I saw that my work had a tangible impact on my peers,” he added.

The Centre experienced significant changes over the course of Dinesh’s time with the team as they transitioned to serve the entire National University of Singapore (NUS) community. “Our workshops had to be substantially amended to cater to so many different forms of writing and different types of writers with different levels of engagement,” he explained.

Even though he has graduated, he still cherishes his former SA role. “The banter during tutor lunches will always remain a key memory for me,” he added.

Over the past three years, Siddharth Mohan Roy (Class of 2025) has helped the Office of Alumni Affairs and Strategic Events (AASE) to organise over 20 public events and publish seven newsletters. An SA in two capacities, he is both an Events Engagement Ambassador and a writer for the College’s alumni newsletter, Wingspan.

He initially volunteered as a temporary member to help the team during a reunion event. He enjoyed the experience so much that he decided to join permanently. “The social aspect of the work, meeting a variety of people from panellists to alumni, and the opportunity to develop my presentations skills were significant motivators,” he explained.

Siddharth is thankful for the AASE team and attributes them to making his long service with the department continually enjoyable. “The team – Aly, Cole, Freya, and Adlin — are some of the nicest and most supportive people I’ve worked with. They care about individual well-being and ensure no one feels overburdened,” he shared. His most memorable moments are during the event set-ups. He shared, “Despite the physical labour, the camaraderie and conversations make it enjoyable.”

His time at AASE is also marked by a growth in the alumni newsletter. “It has become more purposeful over time, focusing on diverse stories that showcase our alumni globally,” he said. He plans to continue with his SA role and has many ideas and ways to connect with the Yale-NUS alumni community. “Contributing to the larger community through public-facing events felt very fulfilling,” he added.

Rachel Handoko (Class of 2025) and Channelle Chua (Class of 2024) have been cooking up a storm as Cendana Buttery SAs since their first year at the College. “I went to Yale-NUS knowing that I wanted to be part of the Buttery. Cooking has always been my love language and being able to cook for the school community is my way of connecting with people,” Rachel shared. She served as the Buttery Manager, doing most of the administrative work required to run the weekly openings, while Channelle served as the Buttery Manager when Rachel was on her semester abroad.

In their years at the Cendana Buttery, the two also organised special food nights with steak, fresh pasta, and ramen. “The Buttery is so special. There is so much adrenaline when you are in between orders and the whole team is just having fun cooking and serving orders,” Rachel said. Channelle added that it was a great way for her to keep up her hobby of baking.

In recent years, a smaller team was prioritised which enabled the team to become closer. “I have also become less cautious about trying to prepare new special foods and tried going out of my comfort zone to man the savoury food live stations,” Channelle said.

“I can say that our Buttery SAs have grown a lot as cooks and can all make delicious food. My work is now increasingly about allowing their cooking skills to shine,” Rachel shared, looking forward to her final year working there.