Aisha Shamsudin’s four-year undergraduate journey is one marked by resilience and the will to overcome challenges. From adapting to new environments outside her comfort zone to managing household matters while her mom battled cancer, overcoming financial strains to mental health struggles – Aisha was determined to make the most of her time at NUS, never passing up opportunities that came her way to grow and even support others.

As she enters the working world armed with a Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honours (Distinction) in Communications and New Media (CNM), she is excited to apply herself to the media and communications industry and learn all that she can, in the hopes of contributing back to her community and to causes close to her heart in the future.

Leaning on community in the midst of adversity
When she enrolled at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in August 2020, Aisha opted to stay on campus in a big step towards becoming more independent and moving out of her comfort zone, and became a resident of Ridge View Residential College (RVRC).

Along with the pandemic situation which caused her father to lose his income, and worrying about her mother’s health having just completed chemotherapy treatment, the strain and stress began to take its toll on her mental health at the end of her first year. “I was very emotional and was not motivated to carry out my daily routines for some time. That was when I decided to seek help,” She recounted.

The years before becoming an undergraduate at NUS were not easy for Aisha, especially when her mother, whom she is the closest to, was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer when she was in junior college. This put a strain on her family, especially since her mother was the primary breadwinner.

Despite her best efforts to stay strong, Aisha was eventually diagnosed with Anxiety and Major Depressive Disorder in 2021.

“Learning to manage the condition with medication and better self-awareness and stress management was challenging. My migraines worsened in university, which made focusing on my studies tougher,” she recalled.

That was when Aisha learnt that it was okay to reach out and tap on one of the benefits of staying on campus – the supportive network and community she had around her. In fact, she managed to stay at RVRC for four years – up to her final year – and credits the support from Resident Fellows and friends at RVRC, as well as the Department of CNM, for building up her confidence and resilience.

“They were kind and made time to check in on me to make sure I was doing well. When I needed help, they were always there,” she shared.

She vividly recalls one instance of the show of support. “I was feeling stressed in my final year about juggling tough courses with multiple leadership roles while caring for my dad who had then just suffered a stroke, and I texted CNM Associate Professor Elmie Nekmat one night for advice. He is also a Resident Fellow in RVRC and met me that same night to advise me on how to balance this personal issue with my existing school commitments. That was something I deeply appreciated.”

Aisha also benefitted from a Mendaki Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy, the Higher Education Community Bursary and the NUS Residential College Bursary which helped with her tuition and residential college fees and living expenses, alleviating her family’s financial burden during the pandemic.

A passionate mental health advocate
Motivated by her personal experiences, Aisha joined the RVRC Peer Student Supporters (RVRC PSS) to promote mental well-being and provide a listening ear to RVRC residents. As Chairperson, she organised events to provide safe spaces for connections between residents and professional counsellors from charitable organisations, as well as small group sessions with mental wellness speakers on topics such as mindfulness and stress management. Trained to provide peer support, she also counselled residents in need and those who personally reached out.

A curiosity to understand attitudes towards mental health issues even sparked Aisha’s interest to research on online reactions to digital stories of Singaporeans suffering from mental health issues as the topic of her Honours thesis.

She said, “The work that RVRC PSS does is important as it creates awareness and promotes discussion about a topic that is not talked about enough. If through these efforts, we can help even one person, that’s all that matters.”

A community leader that promotes the understanding of the Malay culture
As a Malay-Muslim, Aisha was keen to enhance community engagement and awareness of her community’s culture and religion on campus.

Together with a close RVRC friend, she spearheaded the organisation of RVRC’s first Ramadan/Hari Raya event in 2023. Titled “Raya with Ridge”, it featured a sharing session on the influence of Malay culture on Hari Raya as well as vibrant cultural performances by NUS Dikir (Malay choral singing), NUS Silat and RVTarian (a traditional Malay dance group from RVRC). The event’s success prompted Aisha to organise it a second time and on a larger scale in RVRC earlier this year.

Aisha said, “RVRC has been very supportive in my growth, encouraging residents like me to embark on passion projects. They are more than happy for you to explore and support any initiatives that you are passionate about if you have the capacity to do so. ‘Raya with Ridge’ is one good example.”

Eager to serve the broader Malay-Muslim student community, she organised “eMpower 2024” – a major collaborative event by the NUS Malay Language Society (PBMUKS) and the NUS Muslim Society (NUSMS) that aimed to prepare Malay and Muslim students for life post-graduation through talks on careers, finance matters, marriage preparation and even the buying of first homes. Another event she led was Jom Ke NUS (Let’s Go to NUS) – an outreach event by PBMUKS for pre-university students to understand what student life is like on campus, where she also initiated a pre-event content series on TikTok and YouTube for outreach.

Ms Sadaf Ansari, RVRC Director of Studies and Senior Lecturer, who journeyed with Aisha through her four years in university, is proud of her. “Aisha inspires through service. She is exemplary among her peers in finding the courage to talk about the complex issue of mental health openly and advocating for more awareness about it. Her display of leadership in initiatives on Malay culture and Islam have also directly contributed to the scaling up of overall cultural and religious awareness in RVRC and NUS.”

A career in the media and communications industry
Aisha has set her sights on a career in media and communications – having grown to particularly enjoy the experience of applying the communications knowledge and skills she learnt as a CNM student while leading the many events she has done on campus.

“I’m keen to learn new skills in the industry as I plan to become a communications strategist,” she enthuses. “I want to gain as much experience as possible and I hope to eventually contribute back to my community and even to the mental health cause. This is my plan right now and I’m excited to see what the future brings.”

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This story first appeared in NUSNews on 21 July 2024, as part of a series covering Commencement 2024, and celebrating the achievements of NUS graduates from the Class of 2024.