‘I took every opportunity to broaden my intellectual capacity’

For Year 1 College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS) student Richmond SIN, who is pursuing a Major in Data Science and Analytics, the CHS Common Curriculum has generated awareness of the humanities, a domain which has not been on his intellectual radar so far.

He says, “The modules opened up my view of things beyond data science, such as my immediate community, my neighbourhood and what it means to be human.”

Richmond initially had “doubts and fears on how the CHS curriculum would turn out to be”, but he realised that his concerns were unfounded. Now, he better understands the value and impact of these interdisciplinary modules in an interconnected world focusing on global citizenship.

Thanks to exposure to various Common Curriculum modules, Richmond is also deliberating taking up Asian Studies or Language Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).

Richmond hopes to pursue a career in the healthcare sector, and the versatility of data science and its relevance to many industries was a key deciding factor for him.

As modern businesses are awash with data, virtually every industry is opening up its doors to Big Data and unlocking its power.  And data scientists, who have the skills and knowledge to tease actionable insights out of gigabytes of data, are at the centre of this transformation.

Richmond says, “Data sets can be used to make projections and assist decision makers in making informed choices in various industries.”