Last Sunday, I sent MFA this email:
Dear Miss Suhaila Yahya,
Greetings!
I am Korinna Gacal Espinosa, one of the recipients of the Singapore Scholarship from the Philippines of the year 2003 cohort.
I would like to seek advice before applying for NUS Overseas Colleges. I am an incoming Civil Engineering Year 3 student in NUS, and I am interested in applying for the aforementioned programme, whereby participants would do a one-year internship at a start-up company overseas and study part-time at one of the partner universities. The programme is financially neutral, which means students selected for the programme continue to pay regular tuition fees to NUS for the duration of the NOC programme.
If I am selected, I foresee that I would have to do an extra semester or so in order to complete the requirements needed for graduation. As such, I would like to clarify whether my scholarship is still applicable for the extra semesters I would be taking to complete my degree requirements. If my scholarship is tenable for only a maximum of 5 years (1 year bridging course + 4 years of undergraduate course), may I inquire of other options for financial assistance to cover my expenses to complete my undergraduate studies?
Below is the link for more information regarding the NOC programme:
http://www.overseas.nus.edu.sg/NOC/index.htm
Thank you very much for your time and I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Korinna Gacal Espinosa
U048673R
Civil Engineering Year 3 (incoming)
National University of Singapore
and got this reply yesterday:
Dear Korinna Gacal Espinosa,
I refer to your email of 23 July 2006.
We had study your request, and we regret to inform you that under the Terms of the Scholarship, we will not be able to pay for your extra semester. While you are welcome to self-fund for the extra semester, we would like to inform you that Singapore Scholars are not allowed to take any loans or tuition grants that bonds you to work in Singapore.
Regards,
Suhaila Yahya (Miss)
Assistant Technical Cooperation Officer
Technical Cooperation Directorate
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Singapore
DID: (65) 6379-8462
Fax: (65) 6479-3357
After much soul-searching and weighing my alternatives, I have decided that for now it's best to pursue other things instead of going for NOC. It's good to have lofty dreams, but in realizing them one has to get real. Right now I don't have the resources to fork out an additional US$500/month apart from the allowance they give interns, and of course I have to take into account the university fees for the extra semesters I would be taking to complete my graduation requirements if I'd really leave for NOC for a year. Before, I was thinking of going for a tuition grant or MOE loan or whatever, but upon clarifying with MFA I can't go for loans with bonds. And I don't know of any loan without a bond.
Anyway, it's okay. I am still better off now because I took the necessary first steps for NOC supposedly. Even if my destination has changed, I am still on this journey. I have been to places, done worthwhile things, and had memorable experiences that still made my life richer nevertheless.
No, I am not sorry that I'm not going. It may have been a really wonderful opportunity, but I have to accept that it's not for me. I know I have set it as my goal, and initially I was embarrassed that I won't be able to achieve it. But instead of branding myself a failure, I put on my rose-colored glasses and looked at the situation in another perspective.
I have not scrapped my goal altogether, I am just revising it to be attuned to the changing times and circumstances. I would still be able to get my Technopreneurship Minor even if I stay in NUS. I want to be able to graduate on time, and I want to be serious in this internet marketing business that I found along the way in my supposedly NOC journey. This has been keeping me busy lately, because there is a learning curve that I have to conquer, among other things, if I want to succeed.
Looking forward to a brand new semester. I hope I get all the modules that I placed a bid for. =)
Dear Miss Suhaila Yahya,
Greetings!
I am Korinna Gacal Espinosa, one of the recipients of the Singapore Scholarship from the Philippines of the year 2003 cohort.
I would like to seek advice before applying for NUS Overseas Colleges. I am an incoming Civil Engineering Year 3 student in NUS, and I am interested in applying for the aforementioned programme, whereby participants would do a one-year internship at a start-up company overseas and study part-time at one of the partner universities. The programme is financially neutral, which means students selected for the programme continue to pay regular tuition fees to NUS for the duration of the NOC programme.
If I am selected, I foresee that I would have to do an extra semester or so in order to complete the requirements needed for graduation. As such, I would like to clarify whether my scholarship is still applicable for the extra semesters I would be taking to complete my degree requirements. If my scholarship is tenable for only a maximum of 5 years (1 year bridging course + 4 years of undergraduate course), may I inquire of other options for financial assistance to cover my expenses to complete my undergraduate studies?
Below is the link for more information regarding the NOC programme:
http://www.overseas.nus.edu.sg/NOC/index.htm
Thank you very much for your time and I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Korinna Gacal Espinosa
U048673R
Civil Engineering Year 3 (incoming)
National University of Singapore
and got this reply yesterday:
Dear Korinna Gacal Espinosa,
I refer to your email of 23 July 2006.
We had study your request, and we regret to inform you that under the Terms of the Scholarship, we will not be able to pay for your extra semester. While you are welcome to self-fund for the extra semester, we would like to inform you that Singapore Scholars are not allowed to take any loans or tuition grants that bonds you to work in Singapore.
Regards,
Suhaila Yahya (Miss)
Assistant Technical Cooperation Officer
Technical Cooperation Directorate
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Singapore
DID: (65) 6379-8462
Fax: (65) 6479-3357
After much soul-searching and weighing my alternatives, I have decided that for now it's best to pursue other things instead of going for NOC. It's good to have lofty dreams, but in realizing them one has to get real. Right now I don't have the resources to fork out an additional US$500/month apart from the allowance they give interns, and of course I have to take into account the university fees for the extra semesters I would be taking to complete my graduation requirements if I'd really leave for NOC for a year. Before, I was thinking of going for a tuition grant or MOE loan or whatever, but upon clarifying with MFA I can't go for loans with bonds. And I don't know of any loan without a bond.
Anyway, it's okay. I am still better off now because I took the necessary first steps for NOC supposedly. Even if my destination has changed, I am still on this journey. I have been to places, done worthwhile things, and had memorable experiences that still made my life richer nevertheless.
No, I am not sorry that I'm not going. It may have been a really wonderful opportunity, but I have to accept that it's not for me. I know I have set it as my goal, and initially I was embarrassed that I won't be able to achieve it. But instead of branding myself a failure, I put on my rose-colored glasses and looked at the situation in another perspective.
I have not scrapped my goal altogether, I am just revising it to be attuned to the changing times and circumstances. I would still be able to get my Technopreneurship Minor even if I stay in NUS. I want to be able to graduate on time, and I want to be serious in this internet marketing business that I found along the way in my supposedly NOC journey. This has been keeping me busy lately, because there is a learning curve that I have to conquer, among other things, if I want to succeed.
Looking forward to a brand new semester. I hope I get all the modules that I placed a bid for. =)
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