On The Mark

Introduce yourself!
Hi, I’m Christine. I’m studying Psychology in the National University of Singapore (NUS) now in year one, and I just picked up archery. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to learn, but I never really had the opportunity to since very little places offer it, so when I saw that this was a CCA in NUS, I was like “Okay, I’m going to try it.”

Cool! So would you say you’re a very sporty person?
I think no, but because of my family, I am. In my family, everyone does a sport, so if I’m not doing one too, I feel kind of left out (laughs).

Oh, wow! So we take it you’ve been doing sports since you were young?
Yeah, I was doing taekwondo for a few years, but I just stopped because I reached black belt level and it was a bit difficult to go up from there, so I thought I’d just chill and then decided to change and try something new. I also did badminton for a really, really short time, but not much after that.

Impressive! Apart from sports, what other hobbies do you have?
Oh, I really like art. I took it as a subject in JC and secondary school, but no longer in university, so now it’s more of a hobby than it is a subject to learn, which I think is honestly better for me because it doesn’t feel as academic so it’s more fun and I don’t get burned out as easily.

That’s true, it’s sad when the pressure to perform well at our hobbies takes away the joy of actually doing it. What medium of art do you prefer?
I really like just making things. In fact, one of the rings I’m wearing is a shrinky dink plastic creation, but it’s a failed piece. It was supposed to be for one of my friends, but because it didn’t really work, it’s mine now (laughs). Apart from that, I used to paint a lot. I have multiple paintings in my room now, because when I have an idea, I’ll try and put it out into the world.

Is there a particular artist that you look up to, or any form of media you’ve consumed lately that inspires you?
For artists, not really. I guess Monet is really nice. I really like his work because people can appreciate it universally—it’s not so abstract that people get confused.

As for media I’ve consumed, this is a very difficult question for me because I’m a very obsessive person, so this changes very frequently (laughs). Currently it’s The Hunger Games because of the new movie that’s coming out, Sunrise on the Reaping. I’ve been listening to the same audiobook every night to sleep, but because I fall asleep five minutes into the thing, the next morning I’ll wake up and resume listening at the exact same spot, so that’s what’s been happening recently (laughs). And once one book is over, I go on to the next and the next, because there are so many books in the series, so it’s great for me, and for my sleep especially (laughs)!

It’s a lullaby for you at this point!
Yeah, and I’ve been enjoying it from a very young age because it was something that my mum introduced to me. We used to go on road trips frequently so we would just play the audiobooks in the car and dissect each scene down to the point where I now enjoy listening to other people break down each scene and the characters because I want to know what they think and if it’s different from how we think.

Aww what a sweet memory! So who’s your favourite character in the series?
Is it too basic to say Katniss (laughs)? And now that I’m taking up archery, I’m like “Yes, I’m living the dream”!