Students deepen their learning in their gap semesters

By Ethel Pang

Yale-NUS students have always displayed an exceptional degree of self-directedness in taking ownership of their learning journey, and for some students, taking a Leave of Absence (LOA) from school is one of the ways to achieve this. Yale-NUS uses a holistic care and advising model to ensure that all students have support systems in place to thrive. When planning their individual learning journeys, students benefit from the advising and mentoring of various advisors on academic issues and career plans.

In this article, we feature three students who have chosen to take a gap semester or year. They share their motivations for making this decision, and how the experience contributed to their personal growth.

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Global Affairs major Anastasiya Varenytsya (Class of 2023) has been living in Berlin, Germany for almost a year, ever since she decided to take a LOA from school after her third year with “a little suitcase and big dreams”.

A workshop Anastasiya was supporting, held in Stuttgart, Germany in November 2021 that sought to create a Global Nighttime Manifesto. Image provided by Anastasiya.

Anastasiya has been working with VibeLab, a nighttime research, advocacy and consultancy organisation based in Berlin, Amsterdam and Sydney. Over the last two years, VibeLab has focused on nightlife-recovery efforts, working with governments and night-time communities to address the challenges faced by the sector during the pandemic. During her internship, Anastasiya has been leading the Global Nighttime Manifesto project, which gathers insights from 120 nightlife creatives in over 55 cities around the world and symbolizes a united commitment towards fostering a safer, more resilient and sustainable night-time.

Her internship was initially based on remote work in Singapore. However, she soon realised that all the movement and activity, not to mention many of people she worked with, were based in Berlin, which is “leading the way for night-time advocacy globally”.

Other than being an avid participant in nightlife activities herself, Anastasiya has also been embarking on research projects that explore this through an academic lens. For her Globalisation on the Ground course with Associate Professor of Social Sciences (Sociology and Public Policy) Anju Mary Paul, she did an ethnographic study on a Singaporean night club with her peer, Bilge Arslan (Class of 2022). Anastasiya also conducted a comparative study on how the Singapore and Berlin techno scenes were reimagining clubbing at the onset of the pandemic as part of the Summer Research Programme (SRP) with Assistant Professor of Humanities (History) Wannes Dupont.

Therefore, both as a way of growing her academic interest and seeking a change in environment, one month into her internship Anastasiya thought to herself, “Maybe I should just go to Berlin!”–– and she did.

In many ways, the move to Berlin seemed like a dream come true. However, she also had to overcome many challenges navigating a place she had no roots in, everything from finances and finding a place to live in to forming a community in the city.

During that period of time, Anastasiya received invaluable support from the Yale-NUS community. She described how friends at Yale-NUS offered her moral support, how some alumni even stepped in to offer her financial assistance and places to stay when she needed it. She also credited Assoc Prof Paul and Asst Prof Dupont who acted as mentors to her.

“The ways in which our community exists beyond the institution speaks to how strong it is. We have this brave, adventurous, trail-blazing spirit. It is not uncommon to hear of a Yale-NUS student going off to start their own thing. You feel excited for them and want to support them––and I am grateful for all the people that have supported my journey as well.”

When Anastasiya returns to Singapore for her final year of college, she plans to pursue her capstone project on night-time governance in Singapore.

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Photo provided by Alex.

For Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) major Alexander Goh (Class of 2022), the one-semester LOA was an opportunity for him to “delve a bit deeper into Singapore”.

Alex said, “Up to that point [in my changemaking journey], I was participating in Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) work, and there was a lot of research and advocacy––but I hadn’t really taken the time to connect with the people that these organisations were serving.”

Alex was already involved in various NGO work and advocating for organisations that focused on migrant worker and labour movements in Singapore, but it was during his semester off school that he was able to engage deeper with different communities in Singapore. This enabled him to steadily build a stronger connection to the people he was serving – an experience he found extremely rewarding.

At the same time, Alex honed his academic research focus by working as a Research Assistant for the Social Inclusion Project (SIP) at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP).

The SIP is a research programme dedicated to analysing the role of public policies in creating opportunities for participation. Alex’s role involved assisting with research that focused on the gig economy. In the course of his research, he interacted with the diverse range of people involved in the gig economy, such as private hire drivers, taxi drivers, writers, artists, and different types of craftsmen.

After being involved in this research project, Alex decided to extend it for his capstone project, which he completed in April this year. His capstone research focused on the experiences of platform workers (such as private hire drivers and delivery riders), and will also fold back into the SIP.

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At the end of her second year, Ning Xinran (Class of 2024) decided to take time off her undergraduate studies to focus on doing art for a year.

Xinran is currently attending art school, and doing a diploma level course at 3dsense Media School. While this seemed a dramatic step for someone who is a Mathematical, Computational and Statistical Sciences (MCS) major, and with no formal training or background in the visual arts, Xinran shared that it simply felt like the “right time” for her to pursue her interest in art, which has been her lifelong yearning. Echoing Anastasiya’s sentiments, Xinran also credits this in large part to the culture at Yale-NUS that emboldened her to take this step.

She shared, “When I first came to Yale-NUS, I thought I was just never able to do art, but the people here changed my mind.” From her suitemate who was serious about doing art simply because she liked it, to friends who pursued visual arts for their capstone projects, Xinran felt the prevailing atmosphere was: “If you want to do it, just go and do it!

And so, in the past nine months that have passed, Xinran has been immersing herself in the world of art for media and the entertainment industry. Her diploma focuses on digital illustration and concept art, where Xinran learns artistic fundamentals, illustration techniques and design principles.

As part of her course work in art school, Xinran created an original character design. Images provided by Xinran.

When thinking about her return to College, Xinran shares that she is keen to explore user design (UX) or service design, though right now she is simply focused on learning.