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Parents’ illnesses spurred Swiss Cottage Sec alumnus to prioritise

SINGAPORE — Her father fell ill when she was in Secondary Three; her mother, a year later.

Swiss Cottage Secondary School student Leow Su Qi f, who collected her results on Friday (Jan 12). Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

Swiss Cottage Secondary School student Leow Su Qi f, who collected her results on Friday (Jan 12). Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — Her father fell ill when she was in Secondary Three; her mother, a year later.

Both events shocked 16-year-old Leow Su Qi, causing her to ponder the meaning of life.

“One time on the bus, I sat down and started to think (about) what my goals in life are… and what are the important things I want to achieve in life,” Su Qi, a Swiss Cottage Secondary School alumnus who received her O Level results for two subjects on Friday (Dec 12).

She scored B3 in Elementary Mathematics and Art.

Su Qi was among the pioneer batch of students on a pilot scheme that allows lower secondary students from the Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) streams to take subjects at a higher academic level.

The trial began in 12 secondary schools in 2014 and was extended this year.

It allows students who scored at least an A for English, mathematics, science or mother tongue in the Primary School Leaving Examination to study the corresponding subjects at the Express level.

About 370 Normal (Academic) students in Su Qi’s cohort took one or more subjects in English, Mathematics, Combined Sciences and Mother Tongue at the Express Level.

“These students’ overall performance in these subjects were comparable to their peers in the O Level cohort,” said the Education Ministry and the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board.

Su Qi recently received her N Level results, scoring A2 for English, Combined Science and Combined Humanities, and a B4 for Mother Tongue.

The teenager said happiness, her friends and family and working towards her dream job were most important to her.

She had “never really liked making schedules”, but her parents’ health conditions – for which she declined to reveal the details – spurred her to prioritise the most important tasks to accomplish each day.

She took charge of her life and juggled her school activities and the household chores, which she divided with her older sister.

Besides her studies, she was also the vice-president of Swiss Cottage Secondary’s student council and a member of the Malay dance group.

In primary school, Su Qi had taken up Chinese Dance as her CCA. When she progressed to secondary school, she chose to join Malay Dance in order to challenge herself to explore other genres of dance and to sharpen her repertoire of skills. She enjoyed and valued such challenges as opportunities for self-improvement.  Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

Outside of a packed schedule, Su Qi found time to catch the occasional movie and play the Sims 4 video game.

“The best feeling you get is when you are able to strike off something on your to-do list,” she said.

Her next goal is to get into Singapore Polytechnic’s interior design course, and she hopes to work in set design.

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