Stories

By Koh Shin Robbie (26A01A), Michelle Lee (26S07A), and Peh Zhi Ning (25A01B)

As they step into the room, Hannah and Clarissa bring with them a calming aura, one that relaxes everyone, even us nervous Press journalists. Perhaps this has been solidly practised, along with ‘one silent claps’ and all the necessary skills to control primary and secondary schoolers. After all, despite being recent graduates, they’ve already taken on the title of ‘’Cher’.

Meet Hannah Quak Xiao En (24S03A) and Nguyen Ngo Khiet Duyen Clarissa (24S07B), two students of the class of 2024. Despite the inevitably heavy workload they had, they managed to balance academics, leadership, and community service, and consistently set aside time to contribute to the community. 

Hannah was the Secretary-Treasurer of the Interact Club, and led the establishment of Onelnteract, the club’s first online administrative system. Additionally, she was greatly involved in The SignPost Project, which nurtures relationships with tissue peddlers, and also volunteered weekly as a tutor with the Heartware Tuition Programme. 

Clarissa was the Vice-President of the Students’ Council, and co-founded Project Milove, a student-led initiative that aims to support migrant workers. She was also part of the MOE Geography Talent Development Programme, and was selected to take H3 MOE-NUS Geography. 

While their life in RI was most certainly rich, their experiences in school did not end with their last school bell—rather, they have switched roles, donning a teacher’s lanyard instead of a uniform. Now, Hannah is teaching at Bukit Batok Secondary School, and Clarissa at Springfield Secondary School. For both of them, teaching has been extremely fruitful and meaningful to them. 

Life after A-Levels

Since Hannah’s RI days, she had been torn between pursuing teaching and studying psychology. She describes psychology like a friend she instantly connected with, initially exploring it on her own before diving deeper into the subject. Beyond the deep dive into Psychology books that she read, she found that Psychology played a significant role in relationships and interactions with people, an aspect with which she related particularly from her experiences of volunteering with children. “This was an area I was interested in, and it was meaningful to be the person moving the blocks to the construction site,” she added. Teaching, on the other hand, was like an old friend she had known for years. Her volunteering experiences working with children confirmed her love for helping and working with young people.

Clarissa, meanwhile, knew she would study either Geography or Environmental Studies and hopes to work in the public service afterwards. 

Her interest in Geography began in secondary school, where she realised she would participate actively in class and had a natural deepening of her interest in the subject. From Geography Olympiads, to reading H3 MOE-NUS Geography, and participating in the MOE Geography Talent Development Programme, she found herself inclined towards a more specific focus area—Environmental Studies. She recalls her ECG Counsellor telling her to “Look at the path [she’s] on and see where it takes you, instead of carving your way to your end destination”, and her path led her to studying Geography. 

Their time in RI also played a significant role in how they viewed teaching. “My GP teacher Mr Damien Marie made me a more inquisitive learner,” Clarissa recalls. “GP is a very open subject, and he gave us a lot of space.” For Hannah, it was her CCA, Interact Club, where she discovered her love for working with children. “We were working with kids from primary schools and taught them life lessons and values. I was heavily involved in the programme, and it taught me that this was something I wanted to do.”

Both new teachers recalled their student days in RI fondly. “I miss walking around school, seeing people I know then running up to them! But now that I’m a teacher I can’t do that anymore,” Clarissa says. Her sentiments were shared by Hannah who now works in a Secondary school as the Basketball teacher-in-charge, her secondary school CCA. “I miss seeing the school environment from the other side and having [my] friends in the same school as me”. 

Managing Commitments and Challenges

Most of Clarissa’s time in RI was spent with her CCA, Student Council. As Vice President of Houses, Clarissa’s journey in RI wasn’t always smooth-sailing. She recalled that at times, she risked reaching the point of burn out but didn’t let herself stop. At such times, she relied on the support of her friends and council-mates, moderating her commitments within council while remembering that there are baselines. Hannah too recalls her friends being a major factor that kept her motivated. “I had really good people working with me! Everyone is passionate and would stay back in school to help you with your things, which helps you stay committed”. 

This quote from Clarissa’s Students’ Council teacher from her RI days still stuck with her till now, reminding her that one cannot simply rely on passion, and must have self discipline. Similarly, Hannah remembers that there were days where her passion wasn’t enough to drive her, and instead, knowing that she is responsible for the beneficiaries kept her going. 

Dedication to Community Service

Besides serving as Secretary-Treasurer for Raffles Interact, Hannah also participated in initiatives such as The SignPost Project, a student-led organisation reaching out to tissue peddlers and linking them with social services, as well as the Heartware Tuition Programme, which offered weekly mentoring sessions for primary school students. 

Resonating with her personal experiences as the daughter of Vietnamese migrants, Clarissa co-founded Project Milove, a community outreach organisation which seeks to support migrant workers of various backgrounds and experiences. 

Let’s hear what they have to say about their experiences!

When asked what service was to her, Clarissa mentioned that it was about finding opportunities for joy to be spread. Reflecting particularly on her experiences in Project Milove, she recalled the looks of joy that the migrant workers had while doing an art jamming activity.

“Recently in the media, we always see the hardships that migrant workers face, but then we subconsciously forget that in being human they also experience joys,” she added, recalling an encounter at Gardens by the Bay, where migrant workers were excitedly nudging their friends into photo frames to have their photos taken.

For Hannah, her experiences mentoring a primary school student came with its own set of struggles. With a rambunctious kid running around, overturning tables and playing with lights, she had begun her journey rather disheartened. From this, however, she experienced a mindset shift thereafter that changed her outlook into service.

“When I first went into service, I thought it was a tower, and that I was helping them build the tower,” she mentioned. “I realised then that I can only bring the bricks there, and it’s up to them to build their own tower. What you give is not intrinsically meaningful. They will decide what is meaningful to them.”

Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone 

To many, the journeys of Clarissa and Hannah may have always seemed smooth-sailing and cozy. What they failed to see, however, were the personal challenges around each corner, and their internal growth along the way.

Delving into the domain of Environmental Studies, Clarissa found herself face to face with her biggest fear—plants. With her work in H3 MOE-NUS Geography involving trips to the Botanic Gardens to work with plants, she would eventually come to terms with this fear, even deepening her love for Geography from the unnerving experience.

Another personal challenge for her was perhaps indecisiveness, having been afraid of making decisions that would end in failure. “I was always thinking that a certain outcome would happen, but a lot of [the learning process] is just trying,” she remarked. “In the JC scenario, it doesn’t really matter. You get better input for the next event, and it’s not that life-ending.” 

Having broken out of her old mentalities, Clarissa became more comfortable in trying new things, beginning with dance. “Even though I’m extremely uncoordinated, I spontaneously decided that I was going to dance,” she shared. “What is the worst that can happen? I look embarrassing. Okay, and? Eventually you become comfortable with the worst case, and the best case is very good.”

For Hannah, her dabble outside of her comfort zone came in the form of public speaking. Despite not having been the most comfortable speaking publicly in secondary school, she would soon find a turn in confidence during her JC experience.

“I would think about how I was really bad at [public speaking], and it would affect the way I did it. However, in JC the opportunities came at a time where I was now okay that I wasn’t good at it, and I learnt to be confident in myself in other things.” With her confidence now anchored, she used the platforms presented to step out of her comfort zone and develop herself in expression.

“I think we all have an idea of how we want to look like and the kind of leader we want to be,” she shares. “I’ve become okay with not being ideal, and being okay with showing your mistakes to other people.” Relating to her experiences teaching, Hannah added that it was the process of embracing failures that helped her grow in becoming a better teacher.

When reflecting on their journeys, both Clarissa and Hannah shared that moments like these, where they had stepped out of their comfort zones, were pivotal in their personal growth—a lesson worth taking away for all of us.

Parting Advice

But after all these years in Raffles, having finally hung up their uniform and retired their school bags, Hannah and Clarissa had some parting words to share with their juniors. For Clarissa, she advises juniors to “pick things that you’re truly passionate about.” Time is, and always will be, limited, and we have to choose things that we want to do most. There may be a trove of opportunities in RI, but it falls on us to choose wisely, to ensure that we do not waste our time or energy on something that we have no passion for. Additionally, Clarissa added that it is normal for your priorities to shift according to the commitments necessary, sharing that “in the school term, I knew my focus would be on SC, and on the holidays my focus was on studying.” 

As for Hannah, her advice is “to pick commitments that you don’t mind spending a lot of time on.” Similar to Clarissa, both of them have tried and experienced many different things, from leadership roles, to volunteer commitments, to H3 subjects. All of these experiences require time, and not all commitments are built equally. For your own sake, it is best to choose commitments that you truly do enjoy, instead of focusing solely on portfolio. After all, as Hannah said, “Even though it might not add anything in terms of portfolio, it’s equally important to grow in ways that people cannot instantly see in you as a student or a candidate.” 

After the interview is over, as we shoulder our bags and step out of the room, there is a strange sense of finality in the air. Upon collecting their results, they would have officially graduated. They walk down the hallways that have cradled them in their tears and in their laughter for the very last time. But even though Hannah and Clarissa are now teachers for a new generation, they will always remain students at heart, that Raffles Institution is proud to call its own.


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