“I just graduated from junior college (JC) a few months ago. I don’t even know how I survived JC to be honest; it was hell for me. I thought it was the ‘safe route’. I didn’t want to pursue a polytechnic diploma only to end up hating the course I chose for three years.

Ironically, it took me three years to graduate from JC. I had to repeat my first year because I was pretty bad at my studies. I was more of an arts student, so I really struggled with economics mostly. I’d actually cry before every paper; it was that bad.

Still, no regrets. I made so many friends whom I’m still in contact with. I was also very involved in many extracurricular activities. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Malay Culture Society. I got to act, dance and sing, even though I can’t really sing.

After graduation, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I thought of getting a job, and that was when I came across The Black Hole Group Instagram page. They run several cafés and a shophouse hostel, and even though I wasn’t interested in tourism or hospitality, I emailed them to inquire about career opportunities.

I started interning a day after my interview with the founders. Coming from a JC background, it was a culture shock working here initially. The bosses allow you to do whatever you want; you’re the one who has to be proactive.

In the past four months, I’ve hosted influencers, assisted with food styling and photography, and even went to Laneway to do a video. The Black Hole Group was part of the festival, so I had to document everything. It was interesting! I’d have never imagined myself attending a music festival before that.

No, I’m still not sure about what I want to do after this; I’m still figuring things out. Being in Singapore, I’ve always thought that you need to graduate from a university and then get a job that’s relevant to what you studied, but this internship has made me more open-minded.

My first assignment here was to interview all the full-timers for their profiles on the website. That’s when I learnt that one of them went from studying fashion design to doing accounting here, and that the co-founder graduated with a psychology degree but now he’s a businessman handling F&B.

I’ve learnt to not pressure myself too much. Just live my life and go with the flow and see what lies ahead of me. My 2017 goal was to try as many things as possible, and I believe I’m getting to do that through my internship.” – Syafiqah, 20

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