Final-year undergraduate Chappidi Sri Pranita credits the NTU-University Scholars Programme for shaping her journey of self-discovery and growth. PHOTO: SPH MEDIA

The NTU-University Scholars Programme has given her opportunities to savour new experiences beyond textbooks and grades

When Chappidi Sri Pranita signed up for an astronomy elective, she expected to learn about stars and planets. Instead, she took home a humbling truth about her place in the cosmos.

“I learnt that we are just a speck in this world and our problems are small,” says the final-year accountancy and business undergraduate.

“This taught me that it’s okay to mess up a little. I’ll just pick myself up.”

This inner resilience is just one of many self-discoveries Pranita has made throughout her four years at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

A large part of this growth came from the NTU-University Scholars Programme (NTU-USP), which brings together students from diverse academic fields to foster interdisciplinary exchange.

“When we look at a problem, it’s not just one-dimensional. There are so many different perspectives to consider.”

What the 22-year-old encountered was a journey that would transform her formative years into an adventure of discovering her abilities, passions and possibilities about who she could become.

Learning to look deeper

True understanding requires more than just being open to new ideas, Pranita found. It takes humility to listen and to learn.

One defining experience for her came during a week-long research trip to Ipoh as part of the Travel Overseas Programme for Scholars module, where first-year students get to explore real-world issues in Asean, China and India through an interdisciplinary lens.

During the NTU-USP Travel Overseas Programme for Scholars, Pranita (front row, far right) and fellow scholars from diverse disciplines explored how multigenerational coffee shops in Ipoh have stayed in business over the years. PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHAPPIDI SRI PRANITA

Pranita’s team – which included fellow scholars from psychology, linguistics and economics backgrounds – examined how traditional coffee shops could sustain their businesses with the rise of modern cafes.

While she focused on the financial aspects, her teammates brought up factors she had not considered: the role of cultural heritage and community ties in keeping these businesses alive.

“When we look at a problem, it’s not just one-dimensional. There are so many different perspectives to consider,” she reflects. “You learn to be humble enough to listen to others and respect every fresh perspective brought to the table.”

This mindset proved invaluable in her current role as the president of the NTU-USP Club.

Being the NTU-USP Club’s president taught Pranita valuable leadership skills like empathy, enabling her to support team members through challenges. PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHAPPIDI SRI PRANITA

She has navigated challenging interpersonal dynamics, from addressing complaints about team members to understanding why someone might be struggling with their responsibilities.

“I developed that ability to have difficult conversations,” she says. “My first step is to listen and find out more. I don’t want to go into it assuming anything when I have only heard the story from one person.”

Breaking out of boundaries

Pranita also discovered she had been limiting herself in ways she had not realised. Her first glimpse of this came unexpectedly through the club’s theatre production in her second year.

Even though she was mostly involved in planning the finances of the production, she stepped out of her comfort zone, juggling budgeting and ticketing instead of merely handling corporate spreadsheets and market reports.

During her second year at NTU, Pranita planned the budget for the NTU-USP Club’s theatre production, RE:COLLECT – The Residues of a Life Unlived, held at Goodman Arts Centre. PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHAPPIDI SRI PRANITA

Looking back, she wonders if she could have challenged herself further by taking on a different role, like being part of the stage crew – coordinating stage movements, managing lighting and handling sound design.

“I realised that thinking of myself as just a ‘numbers person’ might have kept me from exploring other sides of myself,” she reflects. “Who knows what joy or fulfilment I might have found if I had taken that leap?”

Pranita would later seize such an opportunity during a semester abroad at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. There, she enrolled in a Telugu class.

“Telugu is my mother tongue, but it was not offered as a subject back in school,” she says.

In Singapore, primary and secondary school students of Indian ethnicity who do not speak Tamil can choose to study one of five available languages: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi or Urdu. Pranita studied Hindi instead.

Pranita (second from left) is thankful for the Telugu-speaking friends she made during her six-month semester abroad at the University of Pennsylvania, who helped her reconnect with her cultural roots. PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHAPPIDI SRI PRANITA

“At Wharton, I got to learn how to read and write in Telugu, and I made many Telegu-speaking friends in the United States whom I still keep in touch with today,” says Pranita.

Through this experience, she uncovered a deeper yearning to connect with her cultural identity. She learnt just how much her cultural roots were a fundamental part of who she is.

“We have so many things in common because we have the same culture even though we live in two very different countries.”

Pranita’s experiences prove that being small in a vast universe means there is limitless potential to grow in unexpected ways.

“Don’t shut off opportunities and lessons just because they are topics you have no interest or talent in,” she says. “Who knows, maybe you will find something that helps you blossom as an individual.”

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