Tan Yan Chi: Steady Growth, Shared Success

For Tan Yan Chi, receiving the TCS Gold Medal is a quiet but meaningful affirmation – not just of academic excellence, but of the relationships, resilience, and collaborative spirit that defined her time at NTU.

“This recognition is a testament to the dedication, perseverance and hard work I have invested throughout my four years,” she shares.

Her first year brought doubts – several modules proved challenging, and she questioned her place in the field. “It felt like everyone around me understood things faster,” she recalls. “I began to wonder if I could keep up.”

But what made the difference was not just effort. It was the support of friends who believed in her, and the willingness to grow alongside them. “The friends I made supported me in strengthening my weaker subjects, and I did my best to help them in return.”

“Being in a tight-knit community where everyone wanted to help one another made a huge difference,” she says. “It wasn’t about competing. It was about learning together.” Study sessions in the library, late-night debugging calls, and shared meals after tough exams became part of the rhythm of university life – grounding her with both motivation and belonging.

As she progressed through the programme, she became more confident in her capabilities and began mentoring juniors, paying forward the support she once received. That spirit of mutual encouragement, giving and receiving help, became a defining part of her learning journey and shaped how she approached group work, research, and peer collaboration.

One of her most meaningful experiences was a final-year capstone project focused on applying machine learning to solve real-world data challenges. “It pushed me to think critically and problem-solve as a team. We faced plenty of setbacks, but learning how to navigate them together was the most valuable part.”

Now, as she moves forward, Yan Chi carries with her a simple but powerful lesson: that success is not a solo pursuit, and growth is richer when shared. "I used to think I had to figure everything out on my own," she reflects. "But I’ve come to see that learning with others, and supporting each other, is what truly helped me thrive."