Student Success Stories

2017 Tay Eng Soon Health Sciences Award winner, Evangeline Tan, is passionate about nursing and hopes to be a clinical educator.

Evangeline Tan confesses she was wowed when she first got sight of the nursing training facilities at NYP. Then, she was a secondary three student and visiting  the poly as part of the annual Open House in 2013.

After speaking with lecturers, she was inspired and knew she wanted a career that would allow her to meet people and touch lives. Little did she know that one of the many lives she would eventually touch would be her own grandmother’s. 

Evangeline’s decision to take up nursing was initially met with opposition from most of her extended family. Some even made disparaging comments about whether she did well for her O levels (for the record she did perfectly fine and could have had her pick of courses).  However, when her grandmother suffered a heart failure in 2016, her family saw her professionalism shine through. They relied on her sound advice on how best to care for the elderly lady. They were impressed and are now grateful for her nursing education.  Evangeline never doubted her own decision, despite the naysayers. In fact, her clinical attachments had constantly affirmed her choice.  

She shares: “Whether in Singapore or overseas, I enjoyed the same sense of fulfilment when I saw my patients getting better. In particular, I am very thankful to be given the opportunity to undergo a four-week hospital clinical attachment in Stuttgart, Germany. It gave me great fulfilment as I worked alongside members of the interdisciplinary team from various nationalities, and I saw my patients recover. I also learnt that the patients in Germany are given more autonomy and they are often encouraged to take responsibility for their own health. ”

The young woman clinched the 2017 Tay Eng Soon Health Sciences Award, given to the best nursing graduate of the cohort. Inspiring and caring NYP lecturers, Evangeline feels, played a crucial role in her doing well academically. She singles out Ms Chua Geok Suan as her favourite lecturer: “Ms Chua is very approachable and dedicated, she always extends help to students even after school hours or weekends. I’m grateful to her guidance and for all that she has done. She gives us every opportunity to practise our skills in class so that students can learn from one another. Her dedication and care for students motivated me to learn and be like her.”

Evangeline says with a smile: “An Open House visit to NYP’s School of Health Sciences has indeed opened up the possibilities of nursing as a career for me. If we turn back time, NYP’s Diploma in Nursing would still be my first choice.

The remarkable young woman is currently learning sign language because she’s volunteering with the Singapore Association for the Deaf, and she to better communicate better with her charges. She is also an active volunteer with Youth Corps Singapore and participates in community service events for different beneficiary groups and special needs communities. 

With a Ministry of Health Holdings (MOHH) scholarship, Evangeline is headed to the UK, where she will be pursuing a nursing degree at the prestigious King’s College London!

Because We Can