Class of 2023 – Vol 3

Elysa Wu (22-E2)

Amidst the stress of academic pursuits and other expectations, Elysa's journey of resilience and growth provides inspiration and points to the power of gratitude.

What is one struggle that you faced, and how did you overcome it?

One struggle I faced consistently throughout my JC journey was my battle with anxiety. I have always been very hard on myself, striving to achieve stellar grades that could live up to my own expectations. In my own eyes, failure was not an option; my best was to give a 110+% effort, nothing less.

Overcoming anxiety is a life-long journey I have yet to overcome. Nevertheless, I can say that I am now better able to cope with it. I learnt that building connections with people is vital. Reaching out to my closest friends in EJ as well as to my teachers really helped me persevere to the end. I learnt to be courageous: firstly to be honest with myself, to share my struggles and to seek help. Not only was I able to receive care and support from the people around me, but I was also able to acknowledge what I was going through and process my feelings in a healthy manner.

Moreover, I learnt the importance of understanding, accepting and loving myself. For example, I know when to tell myself that I have done enough studying for the day and it is time to rest; I would remind myself that I’m not defined by my grades; and I would seek out friends who can accept me for who I am. These were some self-care steps I practised to better manage my emotions as a worrywart.

What is one experience, feeling or idea from your time in Eunoia you are grateful for?

I would always keep with me a sense of appreciation and gratitude towards my EJ teachers and friends who had shown such love and care to me, especially during my lowest moments.

I am grateful that my EJ teachers care more about who I am than what I can achieve. My form teacher, Mr Ng Boon Hong, had never failed to reach out and check in on me. He supported and believed in me. I also want to thank my co-form teacher, Mr Kelvin Teo, who set aside time to chat with me one-to-one, to advise and counsel me, imparting his practical wisdom.

Moreover, I am also grateful that I found true friends in EJ who sincerely cared about my well-being. They did not judge me when I shared with them my personal struggles but respected me and stood up for me all the time. They were there to listen to my deepest worries and helped bear my burdens.

The greatest lesson I took away from my time in Eunoia is gratitude.

What would you like to say to the Class of 2023 and your juniors?

To my fellow batchmates: all the best for your university endeavours and future career! May you treasure all the wonderful memories you have made in EJ and be able to apply the lessons you have learnt to whatever you decide to do in future. I hope that all of you will achieve the goals you desire, continue to mature as individuals, and be a positive influence to those around you.

To my juniors, JC life may be the toughest period of your educational journey, but hard work, discipline and resilience are key values that can guide you through. As long as you stay consistent and focused in all your subjects, prioritising time to rest when needed, I am confident that you will be able to carve out a unique, enriching EJ experience for yourself, and ultimately graduate as a much stronger and more confident individual.

Daniel Ong (22-O1)

Daniel was a dedicated student of the Eunoia Humanities Programme, a member of the Student Council and also received the President’s Scout Award. He shares some of his highlights of his time in Eunoia and advice for current Eunoians.

Who were your great sources of motivation? How did you manage to balance your commitments?

Without a doubt, the community of friends and family that I had in Eunoia played a big role in keeping me going. Everywhere I turned, be it in Council, class or Scouts, I had an incredibly supportive community that believed in me even in times when I did not believe in myself.

Another of my greatest motivators was really my younger self. In my character and morals, attitude towards challenges, effort in school and elsewhere, and the kind of friend and leader I was, I wanted to be someone that little Daniel would be proud of. This motivated me to put in my best effort and truly learn and grow to become a better person.

I made sure to manage my time well, and the first stem was deciding what was important to me. After that, putting in that time and effort into what I cared about while cutting back from things that were not as significant came more naturally. It truly is all about prioritising and learning how to say ‘No, thank you’!

What is one experience, feeling or idea from your time in Eunoia you are grateful for?

I am definitely grateful for the autonomy that I was entrusted with as a leader. I came into Student Council expecting more rigid and formal operating procedures. When I realised how much our teachers trusted us and gave us the independence to make important decisions, it made me more invested in my projects, motivating me to put in my very best.

Of course, there were mistakes made along the way - but these setbacks taught me humility and allowed me to grow to become a better leader. My teachers stood by me all the time, supporting me to transform missteps into stepping stones towards achievements. I am thus thankful for the teachers who never gave up on me, who instead continued to have faith and genuinely cared for me every step of the way.

What would you like to say to the Class of 2023 and your juniors?

To my batchmates, as we all move to different stages of our lives, I hope that we will be able to look back and reflect on who we were when we first entered Eunoia, and regardless of our grades, we will be able to acknowledge how much we have grown in this time. Be it in friendships, passion or character, we have all gained so much.

To my juniors, I would encourage you to always try, for even in failure there is so much to learn. I too am afraid of failing and wasting effort, but we will never know what we can achieve if we never first try. I did not make it into my secondary school’s Student Council, but I grew from that as a person and leader, eventually succeeding in leadership later on. Our failures can be difficult and scary, but the only way forward is to have hope in a brighter future.

Fang Lingyun (22-U2)

Lingyun throughout her time in Eunoia showed resilience and determination, positively influencing her peers and demonstrating a deep passion for Art.

What is one struggle that you faced, and how did you overcome it?

One struggle that ended up heavily impacting my JC life is my ADHD. I was diagnosed with ADHD at the end of my first year of JC in 2021. It came as a surprise to a lot of people as I have always done quite well in school, coming from the Gifted Education Program and doing decently well academically in both primary and secondary school, but I had been feeling the effects of my condition for a good part of the year, and it was the cause of my eventual retaining.

I maintained a positive attitude about my newly diagnosed neurodivergence, having already suspected the condition and researched it myself beforehand. It was not the end of the world and I was not lesser for it, I simply needed to figure out how to work with it. I spent a long time learning more about the condition and looking for ways that would help me and work with my brain rather than against it, as typical methods for studying and keeping on top of things simply did not work for me no matter how hard I tried. Over the course of the next two years at EJC, I picked up coping mechanisms for myself as well as got support from my friends, family and teachers. I also learnt from my mistakes in my first year, paced myself better and prioritised my mental health more.

In the end, things did not magically become perfect. But I did see noticeable personal growth on my end, as well as a greater understanding and acceptance of myself. I even made it the focus of my A level final project for Art, in the hopes of sharing my experience with others.

What is one experience, feeling or idea from your time in Eunoia you would like to keep with you?

I think one thing I would like to keep from my time in EJ are the relationships I made with my peers from both my first and second cohort, my juniors and my teachers. 

When I first retained one thing I was worried about was losing my friends who were now going to graduate earlier than me, and being able to make new ones because of my situation. But in the end that wasn’t a problem at all. People are kinder than you think and I am so grateful to the people that have supported me and took time to understand me, and that I was not treated differently. I’m thankful for the friendships and memories I’ve made at EJ.

I am also grateful for the support and encouragement of my teachers. Thank you for keeping an open mind and accommodating me, while still encouraging me to do well and improve. I would especially like to thank my art teachers, who encouraged me to put my experiences into my art coursework and share it as a part of me to be proud of and accept. I would also like to thank my co-form teacher for checking up on me to see how I was doing and offering help when I needed it.

What would you like to say to the Class of 2023 and your juniors?

To the Class of 2023: We made it! I’m so proud of us for pushing through these last few years and I wish us all the best for the future.

To my juniors: JC life will be stressful, and the jump from secondary school to junior college can be tough to navigate. It is hard to keep up, especially because JC is a lot more self directed than secondary school. But I promise that it is not the end of the world if you fail a test. Academics is important, but it isn’t everything. Please take care of your mental and physical health. I know it sounds cheesy but as someone who spent way too many late nights desperately trying and failing to keep up with my work in the first year, I found that prioritising my sleep more in my second year helped a lot, both with managing my ADHD symptoms and just my quality of school life.

You also should reach out for help if you need it. I struggled to ask for help because I felt like I could tough it out, and before getting my diagnosis and understanding why exactly I was struggling so much I was perhaps a little embarrassed too. But my teachers have been incredibly understanding and supportive of me. They want their students to pass as much as you do, and they’re willing to help or give you a bit more time if you just ask. If consulting a teacher alone is too scary, arrange a group consult with your friends. As my teacher once told me: “Don’t suffer in silence.”

Lastly, remember to have fun! Yes JC is stressful, but that isn’t all there is to it. There are so many fun events to look forward to at EJC and you should enjoy them! And I mean really enjoy them. I know it’s easy to continue stressing about school even as you take time off, lamenting all the work you still have to do once this is over. But you’re still using energy to worry about all that while to take your supposed “break”. That’s not really resting now is it? Work hard, play hard. Your studies are important but make sure to take time to enjoy these two (or more!) years at EJ.