Ms Stephanie Hua
Stories have always had a hold over me. I enjoy the beauty of the English language and all its idiosyncrasies and exploring the thoughts and feelings of characters living in worlds quite unlike ours.
Neil Gaiman captured this spirit in a 2013 lecture for the Reading Agency when he observed,
Prose fiction is something you build up from 26 letters and a handful of punctuation marks, and you, and you alone, using your imagination, create a world and people it and look out through other eyes…You’re being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you’re going to be slightly changed.
Naturally, my favourite subjects as a student were English Language, Literature in English and General Paper. When I engaged with non-fiction, I remained sensitive to the underlying current of narratives and stories. This connection continued when I majored in Communication Studies (Second Upper Honours) at Nanyang Technological University. Through experiences in journalism and in public relations, I learnt how complex events and stories could be presented in clear and simple language.
My love for stories also made me excited about — and open to — what the future brings. We may not know the next course of events in a story, so we embrace that uncertainty and willingly go where the story leads.
As an educator, I’ve been blessed with many opportunities to stretch myself in different directions. After receiving a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Distinction) from the National Institute of Education, I taught General Paper and Project Work at a junior college and later at an integrated programme school. I also looked after students in performing arts and sports co-curricular activities as well as the Students’ Council. Prior to joining Eunoia Junior College, I was part of the teams in the Curriculum Planning and Development Division that oversaw the national curricula for General Paper and Knowledge and Inquiry.
These rich and varied experiences have deepened my passion for my subjects and my gratitude for the people I have been fortunate to meet. They have shaped, and are still shaping, my philosophy towards education. I also developed a more profound appreciation of an “openness to the unbidden” — theologian William F. May’s insight that not everything can be, or should be, under our control. This tempers our hubris and reminds us to embrace the uniqueness of each individual.
As I journey with the college community, I welcome opportunities to listen, to grow, and to create more stories together.