"Scary" neighbour made her want to be social worker
August 19, 2013 - 1:23am
By: Linette Heng
TNP PHOTO: GARY GOH
A conversation with her withdrawn neighbour helped Michelle Vong, then in Secondary 3, decide that she wanted to be a social worker.
Now 17, Michelle used to be scared of her then-40-year-old neighbour, who was diagnosed with depression. But after speaking to her, she felt the woman wasn't so scary after all.
Michelle is now a first-year social sciences student at Nanyang Polytechnic, specialising in social work. She also won a scholarship to do her diploma.
However, Michelle, who scored six point for L1B4 and eight points for L1R5 for her O Levels, had to convince her family that choosing the poly route instead of junior college to do social work was the right move.
"Most of my Secondary friends are in JC and it will probably be the easier route to get into university," she said.
“But after poly, I would have the hands-on skills that JC students wouldn’t have. Even if I didn’t get into university, I would still have the skills and I can still be a social worker."
Read the full report in The New Paper on Monday (Aug 19).
