Nisha BHATNAGAR

Student of Macquarie University, Australia
Exchange to Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

The following quote inspired me to enroll in an overseas exchange program; “Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone.”– Wendell Berry

Although I have always been a keen traveler and have extensively travelled with my family; I wanted to experience the challenge of travelling alone and making decisions on my own.

Macquarie University presented such an opportunity with the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Awards; to spend semester 1 2014, at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) rated as Asia’s leading university. I thought of taking this opportunity to experience overseas university life as well as take advantage to travel and learn about the various cultures Singapore had to have offer.

Attending NTU was fascinating, the campus was huge and seemed like a mini Singapore itself. At NTU I made several local and international friends. I was surprised that there were over 640 exchange students from other countries such as Canada, Germany, and Finland.

During my exchange I thought it would be advantageous to learn Mandarin and was fun to learn, especially since a lot of other exchange students were also learning Mandarin.

During the holidays I travelled with other students to iconic places such as Ha Long Bay and Ha Noi in Vietnam, Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia and participated in various adventurous activities such as scuba diving, cycling across the city, riding on elephants in a natural reserve in Thailand.

What I loved about studying in Singapore was that there was always something to do, whether it was exploring the city itself or traveling to other countries on the weekends. I would encourage more students to go on exchange to Singapore. The experiences and the people you meet, make Singapore a great destination to do an exchange abroad.

Singapore is a melting pot of various cultures such as Chinese, Indian and Malaysian.

Singapore itself has so many diverse and unique places to visit such as Little India, China town, Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay to name a few. Singapore’s safe, efficient and cheap transport made it easier to explore and get to and from
places.

I am grateful for the Cheung Kong Group's scholarship program, as it goes a long way to improve international understanding and gain a positive lifetime experience.

The Singapore exchange program had such a positive impact on my life, I made life long friends from all over the world and improved my selfconfidence, facing challenges independently.

I would like to propose to scholarships recipients to assist in charity initiatives such as providing educational and learning opportunities to the young people in the developing countries of Asia; as I believe this will help improve peace, international relations and trade.

To conclude; here is a quote from a truly inspiring statesman; “It always seems impossible until its done” – Nelson Mandela

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