Kylie Oh

The highlight of your student life at SMU so far

Staying at Prinsep Street Residences (PSR)! I was staying in an apartment with 9 other girls for the whole academic year of 2021. My apartment mates were mostly international students, who came from countries like South Korea, Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Malaysia. It was a new experience for me to have lived with so many peers from different walks of lives. It was really fun to hear stories of my apartment mates back in their home country as we shared about our cultures. I had many fond memories of us participating in various exciting activities hosted by PSR, such as “Lo Hei” during Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day gift exchange, Easter Egg Hunt and many more. Outside of PSR events, we also took the initiative to celebrate one another’s birthdays and even hosted hotpot sessions to bond over the good food.  

What is your favourite food to get on campus?

Acai from Onalu! 

What is the one thing you wish more people knew about SMU? 

Lessons are designed to be really engaging! Beneath our campus is an underpass, with many amenities and facilities, that links almost all the different schools together! 

Please share about any community service projects/trips that you have taken part in SMU, and why those are meaningful to you. 

One Overseas Community Service Project (OCSP) which I have participated in was Project Smile Manila XI. We worked with our beneficiary, CRIBS Foundation in Manila, Philippines, to facilitate in providing rehabilitation service through the New Beginnings (NB) programme for female minors who have previous experienced sexual or domestic abuse.  

This project was held virtually over 2 weeks last Winter. During the planning stages of the OCSP, we had to propose different activities according to various themes such as Building Rapport, Health and Fitness, and Arts & Crafts. My programme team worked on themes centred around Women Empowerment and Career Building. We had a women empowerment talk with the girls whereby we shared stories of inspirational Filipino women and gave advice on building a stronger self-esteem. Additionally, we conducted goal-setting activities and career talks with the girls. It was very heartwarming to hear the aspirations of the girls. Many of them wanted to enter the healthcare and education industry to help make a positive impact on others’ lives in the future.