Current Uni: King’s College London
Current Major: BA International Relations
Current year in Uni: 3rd year (final year)
CCAs or similar: Singapore Society, KCL Muay Thai, ASEAN Society, Diplomacy Society, Art Society, TEDx KCL
Other details (minors / accommodation): No minors. I stayed in student halls run by the University of London (Nutford House) in my first year, and in currently, I stay in a flat shared with 2 friends. I’ve been lucky as my rent prices have been relatively cheap (for London), at around 900 pounds per month.
Introduction
Hello, I’m Deanna from 01/19! I was part of the Temasek Humanities Programme, and I took H2 History, Economics and Literature with H1 Mathematics and GP. In TJ, I was also a cast member in the Drama Club, and had participated in several events (SLC Camp, Temasek Titans, Temasek Distinguished Speaker Series, etc.) in J1 before Covid had hit. My JC2 year was affected by Covid, and I had undergone a period of online classes before sitting for my A-levels. I was also from IP, where I was part of the IP Guitar Ensemble!
Going abroad: Reasons and Application
I chose to study overseas for several reasons: My parents, specifically my dad, had encouraged me to apply to the UK for university, and my family has been very supportive of my decision to study abroad. Although I had applied to courses similar to Political Science in NUS, NTU and SMU, I wanted to study International Relations (IR), a course that isn’t offered in local universities. Overall, I had chosen King’s College London, which is highly ranked for IR and War Studies courses under its Department of War Studies.
Somerset House, King’s College London
KCL’s Maughan Library
The application process depends on both qualifying for the grade requirements of your course as well as a short personal statement of about 500 words that displays your academic interest in the course you have decided to study. As for UCAS, you can only apply to 5 courses across various UK universities, and I had narrowed down my interests to Politics and International Relations across my 5 choices. The personal statement (PS) was tricky, but with advice from websites online and much-needed vetting from a teacher, I was able to write an essay that best represented my aptitude and passion for the academic course (the UK is known for academic rigour, so your PS should be largely academic). The UCAS application also requires a reference from a tutor -- for this, you should consult an ex-teacher who knows your work ethic and competence for the particular subject you have chosen to study.
The UCAS deadline for submitting the application with the above requirements is in end-January. I heard back from most of the universities in March and April, and made my decision to go to KCL in May 2021. In the following months, I applied for other UK services online, including healthcare, insurance and banking. I had also experienced a lot of delay from the administration in KCL as they were very slow in providing me with a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number, which was required for my visa application. People usually expect and receive this number from their universities in June-August so that they can apply for their visa, but mine arrived in early September. I had to pay a fee for priority student visa processing from UKVI, and managed to secure my visa before I flew off to London in mid-September. Term usually starts in the last week of September, and I had moved into my student halls just beforehand.
My room was very tiny… it was a lot nicer after I’d decorated and assembled more furniture
When I just arrived
It felt jarring in my first week, and this feeling hadn’t gone away for at least a few more weeks until I settled into a routine (typically just going to classes in the morning, studying, going for Muay Thai, and meeting friends, for weekdays). It felt weird to be surrounded by complete strangers, with no friends accompanying me to university in London. Nonetheless, my dad had followed me to London for a week to help me with moving in, with building cupboards to store my things and with shopping for new furniture, and it was nice to explore London with him. The culture shock was also jarring, because London is extremely multicultural and also not very safe, and I was quite overwhelmed by how different it is to Singapore. As for lessons, the first week is always introductory, where we just went around introducing ourselves and the countries we’re all from. During this time, I spent many hours worrying over the pages and pages of readings I had to do to prepare for lessons, calling my parents and even my teachers back home asking them for advice for studying abroad, and my friends back home who had already spent weeks in uni by the end of September.
In my first year, I made friends mainly through King’s events. My department had organised a freshers’ event for us to mingle, and attending those events had helped me to meet others in my course -- it was nice as we had participated in an amazing race around London’s landmarks. Fresher’s Week (the first week of uni) is usually jampacked with nightlife events, clubbing, bar-hopping, balls, CCA fairs and get-togethers organised by various departments (with free food and alcohol…), so there are plenty of opportunities to meet new people from all over the world. I still felt homesick then, and for many months after, but it was during those events that I met the friends and coursemates I still hold close today. More importantly, I was acquainted with Singaporeans through the KCL Singapore Society, which had organised an orientation in Singapore, and other informal gatherings in London. My accommodation building had also planned some events from time to time in our common room, and over the 9 months I stayed there, I had attended many fun gatherings including Sushi Night, a boat party, Christmas party and coffee Sundays (with proper coffee machines and free flow snacks!) and talked to people I’d never spoken to who lived in the same complex. I still didn’t feel like I truly connected with anyone though; my friendships were mostly situational (coursemates, dining hall dinner friends, etc.). After a while of getting used to these differences, I came to accept that this circumstance was okay and that these friendships were still extremely important for me, even though schooling and living with different groups of people meant that these friends often weren’t consistent across all aspects of my life. All these adjustments were life lessons I had to grasp over a long time, and it was definitely confusing and disorienting in the beginning and at many points in time throughout my first year.
I have to say that I was not very ready to go abroad - no matter how much I had prepared logistically for the journey, packing almost everything in my room, settling as many banking and accommodation issues as I could etc, nothing really prepared me for the nights I spent alone, and especially for the 7-hour time difference between Singapore and London, which meant that nights alone were extremely lonely. It’s often not something that people speak about when going abroad, and I had to deal with this loneliness and problem of not exactly fitting in with the different friend groups in my accommodation. It was hard, and it took me many months to adjust - and it’s okay to take a while. I think it was particularly difficult because I’d spent 6 years in the same school, in TJ, and then I had to readjust to life in society with the pandemic restrictions in 2021, whilst I’d lived with a tight nuclear family all my life - so going to London and having to be an independent adult all of a sudden had really hit hard. It was harder during winter, which is when daylight savings extends the time difference between London and Singapore to 8 hours, making calls back home even less convenient. The sun also sets at 4PM at its earliest - many people get seasonal depression during this time; it’s really just difficult for everyone. It doesn’t even snow in London… so it’s just depressing gloomy cold weather for days on end sometimes. You really need to lean on friends to tide through the end of the year together. London does have an amazing vibe during Christmas though!
Schooling in London
The academics in my first year were relatively easy, having learnt economics and the history of the Cold War in JC - this made the transition a lot easier as I had less new content to pick up. What was tricky in the beginning was adjusting to the different style of studying in the UK system, which is more interest-based and independent than the rigour of JC. I had to read 2-3 chapters per module every week, and I had 4 modules, so I really had to handle my time management well and split readings and notes with friends. Overall, adjusting to a routine really helps, planning in CCA time and hobbies as well as studies and class time. The lectures-and-seminar style of the UK system meant that we had to consolidate everything we learnt from readings and lectures prior to the seminar, so we could discuss them in seminars. Speaking up was daunting at first because of how vocal everyone else was, but practice over time had helped, and listening closely to the barrage of opinions also helped me dispel a little of the impostor syndrome I’d felt in the beginning, or feelings of not being good enough as I was quieter than the rest (because sometimes, the empty vessels make the most noise).
I had individual presentations, essays and exams as assessments, and they went well, because I was used to making and substantiating arguments as well as doing the research required, from my JC education. In my second year, the difficulty had definitely spiked and I was struggling in some weeks to grasp the concepts taught. However, I was also studying modules I was genuinely interested in and had chosen, such as Statecraft and Diplomacy, Foreign Policy Analysis, and I also took up beginner Spanish with KCL’s language centre. In hindsight, this level of interest really helped me as I looked forward more to classes and discussions, and was naturally more driven to do well in the various assignments. Another thing is that many people often work part-time, tutoring or doing other society-related extracurricular work whilst studying, or attending big events such as the London International Model UN or other MUN events abroad in Paris, etc. during term time, sometimes even interning whilst schooling. People are quite focused on building their CVs, and it can be intimidating at times to know that studies are only a small part of your coursemates’ lives whilst they may be taking up a big part of yours (and that was the case for me). But it’s okay too to just stay focused on your studies because it’s not expected that you overload on or even participate at all in extracurriculars; people are just very passionate, and I’m often more in awe of my classmates than peer pressured to do the same.
A lecture
Spanish classes were very fun
As for extracurriculars, KCL Muay Thai has been a great place for me to socialise with others who are also interested in the same sport! It was amazing to kickbox with the club and to also represent KCL in a no-contest fight in February 2023 as it allowed me to gain exposure with sparring and fighting without too much pressure. The community has been very supportive and open, and even though I’ve been doing Muay Thai for many years, I had seen how welcoming the community was to beginners just picking up the sport, which was heartwarming. I definitely think that uni is the best place to pick up new activities, sports and arts. KCL’s various politics-related societies have also organised many networking opportunities and talks/conferences with experts, and in my second year, I attended so many of these to hear from people working in different fields, such as in activism, the military, in government and in embassies of various countries situated in London. It was very cool, especially the embassy visits hosted by the Diplomacy Society and ASEAN Society. As for the Singapore Society, I had helped with producing a fully Singaporean-directed and written musical with original music that we held in November 2022; it was a great place to get to know other Singaporeans across different levels and courses. Additionally, many societies organise frequent social events (which we call socials) apart from doing normal society things, and for Muay Thai, I helped to plan a tour abroad to Dénia in Spain in June this year! So you can really find your community through activities and common interests :)
My first muay thai fight, representing KCL
My friends and I attended a talk featuring Fawzia Koofi, the former VP of the Afghan National Assembly, and Ziauddin Yousafzai, Malala Yousafzai’s father and co-founder of the Malala Fund
A conference held by King’s Think Tank earlier this year
The fully Singaporean cast and crew of our musical, “TOMBALEK!: The Musical”
Living in London
The community in London is quite welcoming most of the time; because it is so international and cosmopolitan, it’s hard to find people who are outrightly racist or bigoted in your face, at least in my experience (maybe only when they’re drunk, in a group, or are very old, but normally, people are busy and just mind their own business). Because London is so multifaceted, it’s easy to find like-minded people when you seek them out (eg. sharing the same passions), although it is also easy to feel like you can’t fit in or that you’re just very far from home. It’s at least easier to get around because we can speak English and the city planning is all gridlike (so you can’t really get lost); strangers are friendly if you need help too. A lot of my friends have had a truly international education/life experience though, having transferred between (international) schools and different cities/countries every few years when schooling -- and it’s hard to find people who’ve spent their whole lives in one place, such as myself and many of my Singaporean friends. So it was hard to find someone that could relate to my homesickness :/ after all, it was much easier for my friends from France to fly back home for the weekend.
London is definitely not as safe as Singapore, but it is relatively okay to get around in the day, being well-connected by both the metro and bus, with night buses running 24h too. The most common crimes are pickpocketing or theft; sometimes you do hear of the more violent acts such as the rogue stabbing or mugging incidents, but they are usually rare. Protests are sometimes held across the city for various causes, and major events such as King Charles’ coronation or the death of Queen Elizabeth also see the streets packed even more tightly with people. Nightlife is very lively in many parts of the city, and pubs are often always packed with students and office workers. Strikes are common, especially in unis because of the UK-wide University and College Union that organises planned strikes in certain weeks of the semester in lieu of unequal and insufficient pay for lecturers. There are also transport strikes on certain Tube lines, and rail trains to different cities in the UK, which creates a lot of inconvenience for travelling outside of and within London as those trains don’t run. However, walking is very common and often preferred; the weather is perfect for walking there so I walk a LOT. Occasionally, there are strikes in the healthcare sector and at the airport where certain services are just not provided; you just need to pray that you don’t need those services at those specific times, because honestly bopes.
Crowd at St. James Park during King Charles’ coronation
As for expenses, it really depends on your lifestyle and habits - if you love retail shopping, you might end up spending a lot because of the abundance of international brands in London and from buying stuff on Amazon. If you live far out from campus or Zone 1 (central London), transport is unfortunately expensive, especially the Tube, which is 2.50 pounds per ride. As for me, my weekly expenses aren’t too high, because I don’t really spend much on retail shopping or transport, since I live in Zone 1 (slightly more expensive rent) and just walk to campus everyday. The bulk of my expenses are on groceries, eating out at restaurants maybe 2-3 times a week, and on travelling outside of the UK. That said, it is possible to travel on a budget due to cheap airfares to cities in Europe, so travelling is very attractive… to the extent that it becomes a very frequent hobby for some of my friends ($$$....). Leisure activities are definitely expensive, such as karaoke, going to arcades, going to watch musicals or going to a cat cafe - you could expect to pay upwards of 20 pounds at times, but there’s truly an abundance of fun and novel things to do in London!
Watching ‘Wicked’ the musical
I attended many concerts in London -- they’re quite cheap for small artists!
My advice for juniors:
Know what you want to study and commit to it. Studying in the UK is very self-driven and independent, so you really need the passion for the subject you’ve chosen to do to tide you through the independent study, as it’ll help you maintain discipline as well.
You will get used to living independently over time, with all the responsibilities of being an adult and being unable to rely on friends or parents, but don’t be too hard on yourself emotionally and mentally when the going gets tough. It will pass. You will definitely miss home, but you need to trust that home will always be waiting for you when you get back.
Try to be street-smart, watch your belongings at all times, and think of your safety first.
Seize the moment! You’re not here for long, and the years will pass by very quickly. Make as many friends as you can from all over the world, travel whenever you can, try as many new things as you can, etc. I made a promise to myself to live day by day, and to do something new and for myself every week. This motivated me to dedicate time to explore different parts of London by myself, to spend time alone in the city, to take it in, and to really be immersed in the sights and sounds of living there. Try not to be holed up in the house.
Take your time. Everyone moves at their own pace! You are still young.
Work hard, play harder - Chiong your deadlines, always take those seriously and do your best but enjoy the rest of your time!
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