Schools

Cinnaminson High School Scholar's Classroom Was in Singapore for a Week

Steven Udotong spent a week in Singapore as part of the Yale Young Global Scholars-Singapore Program.

Cinnaminson, NJ -- Steve Udotong may not yet be a junior at Cinnaminson High School, but he recently had an educational experience many people go their whole lives without experiencing.

Udotong, 15, went to Singapore for a week as part of the 2016 YYGS-Singapore Program.

The Yale Young Global Scholars-Singapore Program (YYGS-Singapore) ran from May 30-June 5, and offered outstanding high school students from around the world the chance to make a meaningful impact as young leaders.

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They learned from distinguished Yale and Yale-NUS faculty, Yale and Yale-NUS students, and practitioners, while experiencing residential life at the Yale-NUS College in Singapore.

Applications came in from 35 countries, but there was only a 10 percent acceptance rate, Udotong said. Up to 200 people participated, according to the program’s website.

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Udotong, whose parents came to America from Nigeria, met students from Alaska and Hawaii, but also from countries such as India and South Africa.

The program was offered to students in 9th-11th grades for the first time, and Udotong learned about different subjects, including international affairs and biomedical engineering.

“We had different skills workshops,” Udotong said. “We had to write a 500-word essay, and a group project that we had to present on the last day.”

The project asked the group of students to help a country suffering from a low gross domestic product (GDP) and help it increase its output.

Udotong’s group included students from Kenya, Singapore, and India, as well as Kentucky and North Carolina.

Communication wasn’t a problem because everyone could speak English, but Udotong said he did learn to respect other people’s cultures during his trip.

“I learned not to judge other people, and to not expect them to know the things you know” and vice versa, Udotong said. “I learned to be more open to working together and helping each other out.”

He also learned the food is spicy and the weather is hot in Singapore.

"You're only allowed to have the air conditioning on for eight hours a day," he said.

He was only in his room on campus for two hours, at night, but said students worked up a sweat while walking between classes.

The 500-word essay was in addition to the essays Udotong had to write during the application process.

“We had to write three essays, including a 500-word essay and two 100-word essays that were answers to questions,” Udotong said.

He also had to provide a resume, a transcript and standardized testing results, among other steps.

“It was a lot of work,” Udotong said.

It was all worth it once he got on his airplane, the first he can remember taking. He took a flight out of Philadelphia, with stops in Spain and Qatar before eventually getting to Singapore.

Udotong had heard of Singapore’s strict laws, but learned the extent of it before he got on the plane, when he had to discard his chewing gum.

He said his teacher told him about the American teenager who was caned for vandalism in the 1990’s, and that some drug offenses are punishable by death.

Fortunately, he didn’t come across any trouble in Singapore, and spent most of his time on the university’s campus learning and working on his project.

He went on a brief bus tour of the countryside, and said a field trip was offered, but he elected not to sign up.

He said the experience can help him prepare for similar programs in the future. He is currently in the process of applying for a program, and would like to participate in the same program at Princeton University his older brother Emmanuel participated in.

Emmanuel Udotong participated in the Leadership for a Diverse America (LEDA) summer program at Princeton, and just completed his freshman year at the university. Emmanuel helped his younger brother find the program.

Steven Udotong also has two older brothers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a younger brother in fifth grade.

When he returned from Singapore, he said his friends had a ton of questions for him. It was his first big trip abroad, but possibly not his last, and certainly not the end of big learning experiences for the Cinnaminson son of immigrants who is looking to go into a science-based field and to attend a big school like his brothers.

“I’m going to look for more opportunities to better myself,” Steven Udotong promised.

The attached images were provided by Steven Udotong

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