I joined 7 clubs. Here's what happened

by Adhip Koshy

When I started my master’s at NTU last year, my plan was just to study hard. What I didn’t expect was to spend the next 12 months bouncing between events and responsibilities that helped me grow into the person I am today.

At one point, I genuinely forgot which club meeting I was attending because my calendar became a blur of welfare planning, speaker coordination, committee discussions and event prep. What started as a simple attempt to “put myself out there” somehow turned into one of the most transformative parts of my NTU experience.

Here’s what I learnt from all of it.

1. The people matter more than the club

When choosing a club, spend less time worrying about how it adds to your portfolio and more time paying attention to the people around the table. It’s those relationships that you’ll remember and grow from.

I joined the NTU Graduate Students’ Association welfare committee looking for an easy way to get involved. What I found instead was a community that enjoyed hikes at Mandai and board game nights. The activities were not the point; they were just reasons to bring people together.

Hiking at Mandai with the NTU Graduate Students’ Association welfare committee.

TEDxNTU was another surprise. I joined primarily to support the podcast team, but soon got involved in logistics, procurement and more.

Working alongside peers coordinating speakers for an audience of over 1,000 people turned out to be one of the most exhilarating collaborative experiences I had all year. That energy was contagious.

2. You learn more about yourself than you expect

Being thrown into situations that demanded something specific of me sharpened my self-awareness.

At the Da Vinci 3D Printing and RoboMasters Society, I took on a role organising workshops on AutoCAD, 3D modelling and more. It required me to manage various moving pieces, and keep things on track even when plans kept changing. I discovered that I was actually quite comfortable in that kind of organised chaos. I freeze a bit when things go sideways, but having reliable people and consistent support is all that it takes to break through and succeed.

Workshop day at the Da Vinci 3D Printing and RoboMasters Society.

My time at NTU Model United Nations gave me a different revelation. As I worked to bring in students from different backgrounds for a conference, I realised that my instinct is to build relationships first, and ask for things second. Cold outreach made me uncomfortable, but that discomfort proved useful, showing me where I needed to grow.

Bonding with the NTU Model United Nations team.

Writing for HEY! added yet another layer of reflection. Writing about student life forced me to think carefully about how I frame experience and whether I was actually saying something worth reading. It turns out journalism is one of the more humbling extracurricular activities available. I can’t recommend it enough.

3. Postgrads belong here too

There is a quiet assumption among many postgraduate students that CCAs are essentially undergraduate territory. That wasn’t my experience at all.

At the Debate Squad, I found myself preparing for intervarsity tournaments alongside students at very different stages of their studies. The mental health arm of the Welfare Services Club felt less like a student group and more like a shared commitment. The volunteer work involved organising activities and engagement sessions for vulnerable communities in partnership with the Institute of Mental Health, and your contribution mattered far more than what year of study you were in.

4. Depth comes from commitment, not fewer pursuits

Across every club I joined, I made a choice to take on real responsibility rather than be a passive member. In AIESEC, this meant stepping into an outward-facing role as a point of contact for students interested in volunteering around the world, often sharing about things I was still learning about.

Connecting with potential student volunteers at an AIESEC outreach booth.

My advice: Say yes broadly to start, then invest deeply in the ones where you feel something drawing you back. You’ll know which ones those are after the first month.

If I had stuck to my original plan, I would have a clean transcript and a much thinner understanding of who I am. NTU’s campus life does not announce itself. You have to walk through the door to find out what’s on the other side.

And that door is usually worth opening.