Rachel Sing-Ee Tan

My love for Barre Base started at the peak of my stress about 6 months ago. Tracy introduced me to this body and mind wellness studio, and thankfully, the fees are within my means.  Not long after my initial month, 'the six weeks challenge' competition was held. I felt encouraged to take the challenge of attending as many classes as I can. My decision was due to the need to manage my stress of drafting a full thesis before Christmas. I committed myself to 10 classes per week to keep myself from falling apart. While I was fortunate to win the challenge, which was a bonus, it was Barre that actually helped me to stay afloat during that intense period.  Barre Base classes unwound my constantly engaged mind, which could result in unproductive writing. On weekdays, I usually go to classes at 6pm so that I forced myself to stop working into late hours. If there were morning or noon classes, I would try to attend because I had a good reason to move away from the de

25 February 2019, Monday was a big day because I submitted my thesis. My big day was very special due to four events. I was 1) accompanied by some colleagues and cohorts of my department, the Higher Education Development Centre (HEDC), and friends; 2) well-received by the Graduate Research School (GRS); 3) congratulated by the Vice Chancellor ; and 4) the first PhD student to ring the historic bell in 2019.  First, the HEDC postgraduate coordinator, Vivienne Anderson, kindly invited colleagues, cohorts and friends to walk with me to the submission office. She sees accompanying PhD students to hand in the thesis as a celebration of their accomplishment. I was very blessed that some colleagues and cohort took the time to accompany me. The collegial support shown by this international family, who comes from Samoa, Fiji, Iran, South Africa, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and Canada,  made the day amazing for me. Next, the GRS was well-organised in their submission proce