Written by Karl Gan and Kritika Lohumi, SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business
Pilot: The First Episode
So we emerge from Bras Basah MRT station, and right away, we are blown away by the number of people. There’s no question that the SMU concourse is more crowded than it has ever been before! Everyone here is clearly having a blast interacting.
The SMU underground concourse was buzzing with activity.
Here’s what you can expect at the Faculty booths area of the open house: Every booth offers the opportunity to mingle with Professors from the respective schools as well as talk to existing students so that you can get the inside scoop on the degree programmes. Feel free to ask them specific questions about double degrees, majors and career prospects for each of the degrees offered at SMU. At the Law booth, you can even strike up a casual conversation with the Dean and benefit from the rich insights he has to offer—no pressure!
We even caught a glimpse of the President of SMU, Professor Arnoud De Meyer (far right)!
And… besides additional brochures about the Accountancy Degree, the School of Accountancy booth is giving away this really nifty post-it holder with a thin metal appendage attached to it. At first we wondered what it could be (seatbelt cutter?) but we realised it was in fact, a LETTER OPENER. Nifty!
Interested in the Social Sciences? Be sure to pick up the extra Information Package the School of Social Sciences is offering at their booth so that you can make an informed decision about your future. The booths along the concourse are truly a great source of information about the various programmes offered at SMU.
Episode 2
As we walk around the concourse, all of the student helpers are eager to help us—to give us information, and hand us free stuff. After two hours, just halfway through our exploration of Open House 2014, we found that we had amassed a large collection of goodies!
Look at all the SWAG at SMU Open house 2014! A breakdown of this photo follows!
SWAG for Free: Stuff We All Got for Free
- School Information and Brochures: Pick up the undergraduate prospectus with information on overseas exchanges, internships, summer study trips, career data and scholarship details. There is information on each of our six schools available in one booklet, so this is definitely the one-stop guide to get!
- Cool Bag for your Swag: Need a hand with all your brochures and information guides? There’s a free canvas bag being distributed around that you can grab to store all your awesome SMU merch.
- Balloon: ‘Nuff said.
- Publications: The official SMU’s student publication, the Blue and Gold, is free and offers a unique student perspective into what the SMU experience is about, such as CCA features and in-depth coverage on the different clubs and societies, as well as their achievements.
- Personalised Memories: Near the end of the concourse, you’ll find a green screen where you can take fun personalized photos with your friends and family! Here you can pick up a variety of props, such as cardboard graduation gowns, catchy taglines and get to pose for photos which will later photoshopped onto the background of your choice!
- Fuel Through the Day: Feeling sluggish? Need a pick-me-up? There’s a free Nescafé booth near Pastamania offering a variety of hot and iced caffeinated concoctions. Also, look out for the gorgeous Red Bull girls walking around giving away free cans of normal and sugar-free Red Bull! There’s also free bottles of water available at some of the information booths, so be sure to pick up these drinks to keep up your energy!
- Mix and Match: So you’re feeling peckish? Look out for the kacang puteh giveaways! Kacang Puteh is a mixture of peanuts, prawn crackers and chickpeas. There are two booths giving away this local delicacy, one at the entrance of Bras Basah MRT opposite STA Travel and the other at the SMUX (SMU eXtremists) CCA booth near Pastamania. The booth opposite STA Travel is giving away unique snack boxes with a cool SMU design, while the SMUX booth is giving away orange cones with their CCA information. Get some before they run out!
Tame your growling tummy with free kachang puteh!
Season Finale
As we are already SMU students, we choose not to attend any of the admissions talks in the auditoriums (the seats should be reserved for visitors, after all) , instead opting to walk around and talk with people on the ground. We meet Sylvester and his father, who are there to see what SMU can offer him in terms of his desire for a diverse education.
Sylvester and his dad at SMU Open House 2014!
Speaking of diversity, we end our exploration of SMU Open House 2014 at the Student Life CCA booths, starting from the space next to Pastamania, all the way down to the School of Accountancy/Law. There are over 130 student-initiated clubs in SMU, ranging from tough sports for adrenaline junkies such as SMU dragonboat, to cultural clubs such as SMU Indian Cultural Society, to networking-related clubs such as SMU Marketing Club.
All of the clubs and societies were on hand to tell visitors all about themselves!
There was even a live performance space set up by SMU Broadcast and Entertainment, next to Koufu, the food court, so you can enjoy some live performances from SMU Guitarissimo and SMU Eurythmix while you have your lunch! We stopped to watch some great shows.
One of the many student performances during SMU Open House 2014!
On top of that, there is also a great information booth by SMUSA, where you can find out more about executive positions in the school student leadership body, if you’re the type who likes to effect change and make the university a better and more conducive environment to live, play, work and study in!
All in all, a great time was had at SMU Open House 2014! It’s still open tomorrow, 2nd March, so do drop by and see for yourself what’s in store at Singapore Management University! Here’s a quick video that gives a quick glimpse into what you can expect!
