Trials & Tribulations
- Oct 17, 2017
- 3 min read
Being in the final term in the journey to get my fashion degree has led me to look back on what an eventful period it has been. I'm currently working on my graduate project, and it's been quite... hard, I guess. Challenging, but not impossible. A part of me is searching for motivation and see what I have worked to get into this moment right here.
The Divine Intervention
I am not a pure-breed RCHE Singapore student - I spent my first year of diploma in the Sydney college. I only moved because one day, they suddenly cannot enrol international students into their program anymore. Me and my friends were affected, but I was the only one who had to transfer to Singapore because there is no other university with a similar course in Sydney, while my friends (mostly in Graphic Design and Interior Design) found a local alternative.
Tough doesn't even begin to describe it. I had to let go of my comfortable life in Sydney in order to continue my studies. The reality of me taking this path alone didn't make it any easier. I had to adapt to a new school system, new classmates, new troubles. There were terms where I needed to cover up for credit transfers by taking extra subjects. It was actually three times the work I did in Sydney.
Oddly enough, I kept a strong faith that all this must happen for a reason, that there will be a paradise at the end of the path. At some points, faith is the only thing that kept me going. There were a lot of times where I questioned my choices, but my passion made up for it at the end of the day. I was able to mix the more artistic elements that I learned in Sydney with the projects I did here.
2 Shows, 8 People - Now Rise.
I can guarantee that if you ask a Fashion Marketing student from Raffles on the toughest subject they got, they would absolutely answer "Fashion Coordination". Oh, the suffering of event management. Triple that with a small team of 8 and a brief of two shows - one runway and one exhibition. Everyone familiar with my program went "That's nuts."
I admit, I started off really badly. But one by one, each road block was toppled. We found supportive sponsors. We managed to make a good show with our tight budget. The participating designers were cooperative as well. From the discussion of the creative brief, we came up with the name 'Uprising' for the show. Every time I looked back at it, the name was really appropriate for the whole narrative - whether what's seen or behind the scenes. Sure, it was nowhere near perfect - but I learned a great deal from it. And most importantly, all 8 of us survived that storm and moved forward.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work - Right?
This was the biggest challenge throughout my time here. Every assignment is a group project. Naturally, I do work better individually, but that wasn't the case. The case was, MIA students who disappear without putting their parts of the project in. It was very frustrating. In all the cases where this happens, I had to fill in their parts in the last minute.
One of my friends who saw me constantly doing this actually said, "You know what? Good for you, because you will be better at this than they'll ever be." I have to say, she's right. Because of those situations, I became stronger. I worked even faster. I understood the whole project, not just the part that I was asked to do.
So, I had come this far. Mini capsule collection, done. 90 fabric swatches, done. Finance exam and textiles exam on the same day, done. Three fashion events, done. Diploma's final major project, done. Two internships in the media industry, done. I just survived Future Fashion Innovators, which was easily the biggest, most time-consuming assignment I had to do individually. Now, the Boss character I need to beat is Future Fashion Project.
I don't want to lose the game at this point. Here goes nothing.
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