From SPIRE to the Nobel Prize Ceremony

Written by: Yee Lin (Class of 2019)

One of the absolute highlights of my time in NJC is without a doubt the research programme in the college. Looking back on my 5 year long research journey, while it was undeniably an exhausting enterprise, it was also incredibly self-fulfilling.

Most people tend to think that getting into research means that you must have stellar performances in the sciences or math, and that what you get out of it is just lab skills and scientific knowledge, but I beg to differ. While my grades were consistently decent for math and sciences, I was never at the top of my class. Rather than hard skills, my biggest takeaways from research were actually the soft skills I picked up along the way instead. Research has allowed me to overcome my shyness and made me a more confident and eloquent communicator. I learnt to be more emotionally resilient, resourceful and a better critical thinker.

However, my initial journey into the field of research wasn’t exactly a smooth one.

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How I Got into Research

When I embarked on my first research project back in JH2 under NJ’s flagship SPIRE program, I was initially stumped by the unfamiliar subject. As someone who was only used to studying from textbooks and doing pen-and-paper tests, the idea of starting a research project felt foreign yet exciting to the 14-year old me. I still vividly recall how motivated I was to do well in the project after my mentor jokingly mentioned that we had the potential to turn this into an actual money generating business if the project succeeded (which I had naively believed in then...).

The feeling of excitement that I had at the beginning very soon turned into frustration and stress.

While doing literature review and scanning through countless research papers loaded with jargons and terminologies that seemed to be written in some sort of strange alien language, I felt overwhelmed by the workload. I remember printing and reading through dozens of papers on biodegradable plastics (which was the topic of my project back then), repeatedly highlighting words that looked important (at least they looked important to me…), but not processing what I read. This continued on for several weeks, and the more I read, the more I didn’t understand and the more stressed out I got. Over time, I felt as if I was slowly descending into tunnel vision.

When conducting experiments in the laboratory, the combination of my butter fingers and my nerves in the unfamiliar environment pretty much guaranteed that I was going to break more than just a few of the glassware. (I can’t be the only one who secretly hid the glassware with small cracks back in Sigma Lab right..? Hahaha, don’t tell the lab technician!) To avoid becoming a greater hindrance to my team members, I ended up resigning to my incompetence and taking on the role as the “manual labourer” in the team. My biggest contribution was probably volunteering to wash the glassware before and after our experiments. I felt frustrated and guilty that I couldn’t contribute more to the project.

Even during research presentations, as someone soft-spoken who would never be heard speaking out during lessons, I fumbled and stuttered a great deal through my memorised speech, becoming the obvious weak link in my group. By the end of that project, I remember openly declaring to my teammates that I was definitely not cut out to be a researcher in the future.

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Transitioning to ESTAR and H3 Research

In spite of my open declaration, to tell the truth, I didn’t want to end my research journey with such regrets. I was pretty fond of the sciences, and I liked the idea of inventing a never-seen-before product that could benefit others, despite my evident lack of talent for research.

I decided to give research another shot and do better for my subsequent attempt. This would go on to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made thus far.

My second try went a lot better than the first one, I was actually processing some of the information from the research papers, my lab skills improved, and most importantly, I broke less glassware hahaha. I certainly improved a lot, but that doesn’t mean my second project was smooth sailing either. Just like before, I went through the same cycle of confusion and frustration, spent way too much time stressing over words I didn’t understand, made mistakes and fumbled my way through experiments and presentations. But with every failure I encountered, I grew just a little, and slowly I became better and better at what I was doing.

I started to realise that with research, the more you understand, the more questions you have. There was simply no way I could understand 100% of what I am doing, and that was something I took a long time to come to terms with.

Read research papers. Do experiments. Fail. Repeat experiments. Write reports. Do up posters and present. Slowly but surely, I got hooked to this repetitive cycle that was filled with as many thrilling moments as the boring and frustrating ones. One thing led to another, and by the end of my 5-year research journey, I had taken on H3 research and completed a total of 4 projects with 4 different local institutes.

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Going International

Some of my fondest memories from my research journey were from the times I got to present my project overseas. I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to represent the school at the International Students Science Fair (ISSF) in Korea, as well as Singapore at both the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) as well as the Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar (SIYSS), where I had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend the Nobel Prize Ceremony in 2019.

It touched me to see how science could transcend barriers of geography, language, race, and religion. What I remembered most fondly wasn’t the scientific discourse or presentations, but rather the after-parties where all the participants could let their hair down and have a great time together. (There’s a secret after-party following the Nobel Prize Ceremony too called the Nobel Night Cap that extends far into the night! I was lucky enough to catch a few of the Nobel Laureates grooving on the dance floor after the Nobel Dinner, it’s definitely a sight I’ll never forget!) It was heartening to see other fellow young scientists dancing and singing in unison to the lyrics of EDM pop music under the bright flashing disco lights, and for those magical few minutes, it didn’t matter whether you were a good or awkward dancer, what language you spoke, or if you were from Singapore, the United States, Israel or China, everyone was just down to have a good time together.

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My Takeaways from Research

Though the beginning was tough, I don’t regret my decision to continue pursuing research back in NJ. Research has taught me to be a better decision-maker, to maintain my clarity of thought, and how to accept constructive criticism and make it a catalyst for improvement and growth. Research has made me who I am as a person today.

It took a lot of courage and strength back then to admit my flaws, face them, and work to become better. The journey thus far was by no means an easy one. It was a turbulent emotional rollercoaster, filled with plenty of tears of frustration, as well as cheers of joy.

But at the end of every rainstorm comes rainbows and sunshine. Being able to represent the college and stand proudly at competitions to present what I had painstakingly researched meant everything to me. Passion is contagious, and a clear indication that I had successfully communicated my passion for my project was the smile that would spread across the faces of my listeners after my presentation. (I still remember one of the judges saying that I had “sparkles in my eyes” when I was presenting, his 4 words mean the world to me even until today.)

Though I started my journey in research on the wrong foot as the “Destroyer of Labs” (to this day the lab technician is still chasing me down for clogging one of the sinks in sigma lab...oops XD), I’ve come to love this field of study. It was through research that I got to know some of my closest friends and teachers which made my NJ experience one I’ll cherish deeply. My past experiences have shaped my passion for research, motivating me to pursue this field as my career in the future.

Disclaimer:

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in this post are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the school’s.