CLARENCE AND CLESTER CHER

Never Stop Believing

Question: Why did you join MI?

Clester: Our journey in Millennia Institute was a remarkable and unforgettable one. We joined MI even though we qualified for junior college. As it was difficult to keep our focus during lessons, our parents and both of us concurred that the classroom-based system in MI would work better for both of us. We also appreciated the longer preparation time that we had for the A-Levels.

Question: What was your A-level journey like?

Clarence: We were in the Commerce stream, studying Mathematics, Management of Business and Economics. At the beginning of year 1, we had a challenging time coping with the new environment. For me, Mathematics was a subject I had always been struggling with and Management of Business was a new subject. Economics was also challenging even though I did the subject at ‘O’ level. I found it hard to cope with my studies at first, especially in PU2 when I did badly for my mid-year examinations. That was my wake-up call. I did not despair or give up. I promised myself to persevere and to work really hard to enter an autonomous university in Singapore. Eventually, I did well enough in the End-of-the-Year Exam to get promoted to PU3. In PU3, I continued to stay resilient despite scoring only average grades for my subjects. As ‘A’ levels drew nearer, I felt anxious and was worried that I would not be able to realise my dream of studying Business at the NUS. Being determined to achieve my goal, I sacrificed most of my free time to study. I did a lot of practice and finished all the questions in the revision packages.

Clester: We also started to seek the help of our teachers to clarify our doubts. The teachers were very approachable and accessible, giving us consultations and slowing down during lessons to explain concepts in greater details. We also had many other supportive people throughout our MI journey, particularly our parents, classmates and friends. We are very grateful to all of them for giving us guidance and help. We made the right choice to have joined MI because we definitely have benefitted from the Institute’s programmes. Thank you MI for this journey and for moulding us into more resilient and disciplined individuals.

Question: What advice do you have for your juniors?

Clarence: We would like to tell all our juniors: There is no substitute for hard work. Always try harder. Never give up. Never stop believing.