Despite Ms Alice Tham’s work experience, the doors to a promotion seemed closed. Her husband’s enrolment in a master’s programme encouraged the 38-year-old to enrol in a part-time Bachelor of Arts in Business Management (Honours) programme at Northumbria University (NU) in Kaplan Singapore.
“I chose Business Management in NU because of its accreditations — it’s one of only 186 institutions worldwide to achieve the prestigious double AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation for its Business and Accounting programmes,” she said.
Four terms into her studies, Ms Tham discovered she was expecting her first child. The news made her happy but also raised the dilemma of whether she should continue studying. She decided to press on as she did not want to disrupt her academic pursuits.
“I told myself that this would inspire my child to surpass my achievements in the future,” she said.
Juggling part time studies and a full-time job was already taxing, but being pregnant made it even more difficult for Ms Tham to find a balance.
But inspired by the support of her husband and lecturers, she did herself proud when she graduated from NU with first-class honours this year.
Ms Tham was also thankful for the campus environment that made learning such a joy.
“The atmosphere in class was always light-hearted, relaxing and allowed me to de-stress from work. Having knowledgeable lecturers and insightful lessons in a class of fun-loving people made me eager to learn and I always looked forward to classes,” said Ms Tham.
“I also couldn’t have gotten my degree without the help of my lecturers. They were always willing to stay back after class to answer students’ queries for the assignments,” she continued.
Studying business management enabled Ms Tham to see things from different perspectives, sharpened her research skills and gave her a better understanding of how businesses are run. Though she is now focusing on raising her son, she plans to return to work in two to three years.
“Studying has made me more confident when interacting with people at work. Of course, it has also benefitted me personally,” said Ms Tham.
“My degree has equipped me with the skills to adapt to change and made it a lot easier to acquire knowledge beyond the classroom.”
Article by Rebecca Liew, Trudy Kwek and Nicolette Ong
Source: TODAY© Mediacorp Press Limited.