161566The National University of Singapore is huge. I think after two years of college at Northwestern University I was used to a campus where the tip of the campus and the lowest point of the campus could be reached in 20 minutes walking. And the closest CTA station was only 4-5 minutes away (here, the closest subway station is a 20 minute walk). Stepping foot on this campus was definitely a shock. My dorm (University Town) is on a campus of its own (to give a frame of reference, University Town is probably as big as the entire Evanston campus- boasting several dorms each about 17 stories high, a gym, an infinity pool, 5 different dining halls, nail and hair salons, grocery stores and shops in case you’re in the mood for Pizza hut over school food). To get to my classes, I have a 15 minutes walk to the bus stop followed by another 15 minutes bus ride to get to a whole other campus, which is probably twice as large as the Evanston campus. At NUS, students come in specialized so there are mini campuses within the overarching campuses (for example, Dentistry has its own clusters of buildings, as does Pharmacy, Business, and Computing Sciences). On the first day, trying to get to class, I got lost more than I care to admit. I think the entire freshman year, my walking schedule was from my dorm in Willard to Tech. I don’t believe I actually ever had class anywhere else. Luckily, the professors here are more than understanding of the massive size of the campus. Professors here tend to let students out 20-30 minutes early so students can get to their next class and are usually forgiving when students are a few minutes late. Nonetheless though, the campus is gorgeous, with tall tropical trees I’ve never seen in the US and long, winding stairs (it wasn’t until I got here until I realized how flat Northwestern was). I’m definitely expecting that by the time I come home, my legs will be super toned. Additionally, although I’ll always miss the bunnies at Evanston, NUS is home to an incredible diversity of butterflies, geckos, and stray cats. A little further out, there are monkeys in Singapore as well- the little remnant of Singapore’s old rainforest that’s leftover.
That feel when the school’s map kind of looks like a mini island
Waffles & Icecream at the school hawker stall was only $1.40 USD!
