“Excuse Me, How Do I Get to LT 10?”
Text: Jovita Chua
Newly-matriculated students often face the common problem of losing their way around campus in their first few weeks of school. To address this problem, a group of students from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences came together to set up a directions booth for new students.
The ground-up initiative was based on a simple idea – station a few people at a bench along the AS1 walkway with an eye-catching signboard saying “ask us for directions” and wait for the lost to come a-knocking.
Koh Tiang Peng, a final-year history student, conceived the brainchild for the initiative. Koh, who got lost and was an hour late for his first lecture in his freshman year, said that he thought of the idea when contemplating how the Varsity Christian Fellowship, of which he is a committee member, could be a blessing to the faculty.
“We wanted to fill this need for the freshmen and exchange students who may not be so familiar with getting around Arts yet,” he said. With the hope of becoming the solution to this issue, Koh roped in some of his friends from the fellowship and brought his idea to life.
He said the booth, which operated from 8a.m. to 4p.m. on weekdays of the first and third weeks of the semester, served approximately 15 students a day. One of them was Esther Lee, a 19-year-old freshman.
“You can have a map on hand but it’s always easier and better to have someone point the way for you. One of them (at the booth) actually walked me to my class and I thought that was really nice,” Lee said with a smile.
The freshmen were not the only ones expressing approval. Wilbur Lua, a teaching assistant for Introduction to Economic Analysis, said, “This is great because then students won’t be late trying to find their classes.”
Even though the students helping out at the directions booth were members of the Christian fellowship that Koh belongs to, he was quick to add that there was no element of proselytisation present in this initiative and there was no mention of the fellowship in the directions booth signboard.
The 24-year-old said, “We really just want to make a positive impact in our school community, no added motives or anything like that.”
Tags: breaking news
Newly-matriculated students often face the common problem of losing their way around campus in their first few weeks of school. To address this problem, a group of students from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences came together to set up a directions booth for new students.
The ground-up initiative was based on a simple idea – station a few people at a bench along the AS1 walkway with an eye-catching signboard saying “ask us for directions” and wait for the lost to come a-knocking.
Koh Tiang Peng, a final-year history student, conceived the brainchild for the initiative. Koh, who got lost and was an hour late for his first lecture in his freshman year, said that he thought of the idea when contemplating how the Varsity Christian Fellowship, of which he is a committee member, could be a blessing to the faculty.
“We wanted to fill this need for the freshmen and exchange students who may not be so familiar with getting around Arts yet,” he said. With the hope of becoming the solution to this issue, Koh roped in some of his friends from the fellowship and brought his idea to life.
He said the booth, which operated from 8a.m. to 4p.m. on weekdays of the first and third weeks of the semester, served approximately 15 students a day. One of them was Esther Lee, a 19-year-old freshman.
“You can have a map on hand but it’s always easier and better to have someone point the way for you. One of them (at the booth) actually walked me to my class and I thought that was really nice,” Lee said with a smile.
The freshmen were not the only ones expressing approval. Wilbur Lua, a teaching assistant for Introduction to Economic Analysis, said, “This is great because then students won’t be late trying to find their classes.”
Even though the students helping out at the directions booth were members of the Christian fellowship that Koh belongs to, he was quick to add that there was no element of proselytisation present in this initiative and there was no mention of the fellowship in the directions booth signboard.
The 24-year-old said, “We really just want to make a positive impact in our school community, no added motives or anything like that.”
Tags: breaking news