Five USP students on our Double Degree Programme with the School of International Liberal Studies (SILS), Waseda University have just graduated top of the class and received recognition for their academic achievements.

They are:

Shannon Seah Yu Kit (Physics + USP, Class of 2017)

Goh Pei Ying (Political Science + USP, Class of 2017)

Eugene Yao Deng Gui (Philosophy + USP, Class of 2017)

Natalie Kuan Shihui (Political Science + USP, Class of 2017)

Lan Yingjie (Life Sciences & English Language + USP, Class of 2017)

Held on 17 September 2016, the Waseda University SILS Graduation Ceremony saw Shannon, Pei Ying and Eugene being conferred the First Valedictorian, Second Valedictorian and Outstanding Achiever respectively, being the top three in SILS. Natalie graduated fourth in the cohort while Yingjie received Excellent Senior Thesis recognition for his thesis.

As the Valedictorian for the SILS graduating cohort, Shannon gave a speech entirely in Japanese at the ceremony. Here is a translation of part of his speech, “…experiencing a culture and language different from Singapore where I was born and raised has expanded my outlook and sense of the world. By experiencing and understanding a different ‘world’, we have all grown as individuals. This is something we have all benefited from Waseda, and that we can be proud of as SILS graduates, whether we went to Waseda as our study abroad (exchange university) destination, or went on study abroad (exchange) from Waseda University.”

With the completion of their fifth (at Waseda) and final year of undergraduate studies, we wish them all the very best in their next phase of life. We will see them at the NUS Commencement next July!