She made our cover at the height of the Hallyu craze, starring in Living the Dream… Oppan NTU Style, a musical spoof of PSY’s international YouTube hit put together by about 100 NTU students from different clubs and societies.

Nine years later, HEY! cover girl Evangeline See, former NTU ACES cheerleader and Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information graduate, isn’t in South Korea but in New Zealand, where she settled down with her partner in 2018 and restarted her career in marketing.

It was difficult at first, Evangeline said, having to job-hunt in a country where she had no connections or knowledge of the work culture.

“After a temporary contract job, I landed a permanent marketing role in Philip Morris, a Swiss-American multinational. In Singapore, we don’t rely as much on recruitment agencies to find a job, but it is a huge thing here, so I had to learn about that,” she says.

“At work, I had to start from scratch and navigate the work norms and cultures, much of which was new to me. For example, there is less emphasis on hierarchy and more importance on visibility. It’s the norm to challenge your superiors or speak your mind if you don’t believe things are right. This was something I had to get comfortable with.”

Tough as it was, she is thankful that her four years of hall life, team sports and cheerleading in NTU taught her resilience and independence, helping her integrate into the new environment quickly.

“Living in New Zealand turned out to be perfect for a homebody like me. I enjoy the quieter life so I go on plenty of walks in nature with my dog. The breathtaking scenery is just the cherry on top,” she says.

“And when I don’t have to work, I can head to one of New Zealand’s many national parks, which are just a 45-minute drive away, or fly down to the South Island for a road trip. There are still many places to explore even though I’ve been here for three years.”

This story was published in the Oct-Dec 2021 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.