My name is Nihaal Manaf and I am currently serving my National Service. I managed to secure a spot in a local university in Singapore, which I am looking forward to very much.
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In my high school years, I took part in many extracurriculars. I co-founded the video editing team, captain of the junior basketball team and was also the president of the chess club. I would often perform musical pieces for our school's annual broadway production.
I finished my IB studies with a modest score and secured a spot in National University of Singapore to study Computer Science with a minor in Entrepreneurship. In NUS, I hope to get into the NUS overseas college program where I'd get to intern in startups around the world!
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I am very proud of my IB scores and IGCSE scores as I put a lot of work and time into it and it was no easy feat.
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There was a time when I was failing in my studies, often bordering F, and a couple of times even scoring an F. Thanks to my parents’ intervention and my determination to shake off my newly found identity as an academic failure, I was able to turn the tables around of my academic prowess. I feel that I have a few thoughts to offer to those who find themselves in a similar place as I was.
My NS journey was filled with ups and downs - starting with many downs... During my BRT, I could barely pass my IPPT and staying optimistic was difficult. However, as I progressed in my training, I met more interesting people and together, we managed to climb the ranks and finally finish the Rota Commander Course.
After my training, I was posted to train recruits as a Platoon Commander of Charlie Coy, where I got to train around 50 recruits every intake.
