a work in progress

What is USP?

This question popped up in my head not for no reason. I ask this because from anecdotal evidence, there have been misunderstandings about what USP is, and what USP students do. Individuals, both friends and strangers, often ask, ‘what is USP’, and ‘what do they do’, and they often do so with a few assumptions; that USP students have a scholarship; that USP students are genuises; that we are ‘atas’ and elitist, and various other claims.

I can’t address all these various claims comprehensively, and besides, I am not in the best position to explain what USP is. Why is that so? Simply because there is just so much diversity in USP. A single label, other than the ‘membership in USP’, cannot encompass the entire set of people who pass through the programme. Again, as a reminder, the standard disclaimer of un-representation must be mentioned here. I write for myself, and even if most of the things mentioned are agreeable to most, there will still be dissensions. I can only again, write for myself, based on my personal experiences thus far in the programme.

I come back to USP again - just what is? According to the vision and mission as plucked out from the website, it is:

Our Vision
To be a talent programme that produces graduates who lead in forging new insights and mindsets across disciplines and cultures.
Our Mission
To provide a unique undergraduate experience for highly talented students to realise their full potential.
To attain our Vision and Mission, we aim to:
1. Attract and develop a diverse range of talented individuals who demonstrate the potential to be leaders in intellectual, economic, cultural or social spheres in Singapore and the world.
2. Build and nurture a close-knit and vibrant community of scholars (comprising faculty, students and alumni) that is committed to excellence in their diverse interests.
3. Enable this community of scholars to be connected to the global network of scholars, through dialogues and strategic collaborations.
4. Continuously innovate to provide an enriching and globally-oriented educational programme, aimed at stretching the students’ intellectual, leadership, and personal capacities.
5. Provide students with the best of the world through tie-ups with world-leading innovative educational programmes.

I guess the vision and mission statement says a lot, but then again, doesn’t really say much. For one, the vision and mission does not reflect the emphasis on inter-disciplinary inquiry of USP. For another, statements like these can’t really seem to bring out the quality of experience of students who have been through the programme. For example, what exactly does ‘close-knit and vibrant community of scholars’ mean? And how does that square with the overall academic/intellectual focus of the programme? And for those who are end-driven, what is the outcome of the programme - what do ‘I’ get out of it after I graduate?

I can’t answer the last question that I raised, simply because I have not graduated. As for the others; again I can only answer for myself.

The experience of being in USP is one that cannot be simply described in the words or the descriptions of the module codes, nor the CVs of the instructors that form the faculty or of the administrative staff. Neither can the experience be described in the countless photos and videos and prose describing and capturing the moments of great fun. Nor the Facebook posts nor the voices of the seniors reminiscing of the moments came and past. All of that together, can only provide the barest of glimpses into what USP ‘is’.

From my perspective, USP seems to be addressing the question: what happens if you put 200+ bright, motivated students together, in a programme where ideas are flying around every second? Here, I want to qualify ‘bright’, of which intellectual capability is just one component. There is of course, the more intangible qualities of curiosity, independence, the ability to make tangential connections, etc,. There is a serious attempt to look at ideas from the perspectives of different disciplines - the philosophy and biological aspects of evolution; the mathematics of social sciences; the use of computing in the various disciplines - all of these are taught, and more. The intellectual aspects of the programme, combined with the community, makes for a potent combination in sparking connections in the minds of those who choose to participate actively.

If I may dare claim, there are a few qualities that seem to be a common thread that keeps surfacing. One of these is this plain curiosity, of wanting to know more, and going beyond the material that is given. This curiosity also manifests itself in wanting to learn more about the other disciplines, no matter how distant from one’s own. The other quality, although more enforced, is this commitment towards clarity and criticality of thought. When debating, USP students are nearly always going straight for the undeclared assumptions and implications of any statement. The two qualities, though obviously varying amongst USP students nonetheless serve as bases for a common understanding of what the experience in USP is about.

In more indirect ways, the experience of USP challenges the orthodoxy of education in Singapore, and this is where the differences between USP and non-USP students become the basis of the various claims and labels that have been put on USP.

What is this orthodoxy? The orthodoxy seems to include several points, one of which is the acceptance of the highly competitive society, where one should get distinctions at all costs, if not suffer the consequences of poor job prospects. This hyper-competitiveness leads to the tyranny of the normal curve, where the average moves towards the B/B+ region, where the student body verges towards a dog-eat-dog world. These negativities, are no doubt nearly inevitable, and I am no idealist in claiming that these negativities can be eliminated.

USP goes against the attitude above. Curiosity and openness to new ideas are emphasized, and an exploratory attitude welcomed. In other words, USP challenges the orthodoxy of the education-economy link, and challenges too, the minds that go through the entire experience.

To those who have chosen decisively the area of their studies and future vocation, I guess that something like USP will not be able to meet their expectations, simply because the USP experience is meant to do certain things, and not other things. The keywords mentioned above - curiosity, exploratory attitude, openness - do not apply equally well to everyone. There will be people with a single-mindedness towards their field of studies - could be anywhere from the sciences to the engineers to the philosophers to the economists - and that is completely justified. USP is not an entirely open institution - no institution can be completely open to anyone. There will be parameters and requirements that individuals have to meet in order to gain entry and membership. What can change, is how the institution chooses to interact with other institutions and other groups. USP will be a perfect fit for people with certain dispositions, but a puzzle for others, and even an abomination for others still.

I am sure that a single piece of writing like this cannot make sense of the USP experience. After all, this is one author among many possible authors, and everyone has a different voice, different things to say. This, however, has been my piece, and I hope to some people, they can decide better for them whether USP is a good fit. I can’t promise anything, but the trend has been that, for those who choose to take active ownership of their education, and choose to participate in the numerous opportunities available, the time at USP will be a rewarding one. While the statement is true for any institution in general, it is especially true for the context of USP. The sheer density and quality of the intellectual exchanges; the numerous opportunities for leadership, initiative and exposure - all of these provides a compelling experience for an undergraduate who aspires to make a mark for themselves in their own lives, and maybe, for society and the world.

For the single-minded, pragmatic scholar, the immediate rewards of USP will not be so obvious. One cannot so easily make the linkage between breadth, critically and openness to an immediate job prospect compared to say, the knowledge of the civil engineer or the training of the statistician. One cannot immediately know where the jobs are in what sector - for the student in USP, the skill profile matches the requirements of many other jobs. I might go out on a stick and claim that there is an USP-edge here, that the skills acquired through the course of study at USP provides the graduate with additional skills that add value to the existing skill acquired through the major. The USP-engineer could potentially see connections than the non-USP engineer, and so on… Yet these skills are the intangibles - can’t be graded, can’t be quantified, with only the CAP being a proxy as to how well the person has acquired these skills.