I almost became a dentist. One small “yes” changed what I could see.

I almost became a dentist.
Not because I wanted it — but because it sounded like the “right” path.

Then I said yes to one small opportunity.
And it opened a world I didn’t even know I was looking for.

This isn’t a “drop everything and start a company” story.
It’s a story about exploring before you settle — because you never know what you’ll find until you step into it.

TL;DR — Why you should read this (20 seconds)

If you feel unsure about your direction, here’s the takeaway:

• You can explore without committing to being a founder
  
   
• One low-stakes “yes” can unlock high-impact experiences
  
   
• University is the rare time when curiosity is cheap and regret is expensive
  
   

I was curious… until I got “serious”

As a kid, I asked questions constantly. When I first learned about climate change, I immediately started brainstorming ways to fix it. I’d wrestle with problems in my head for weeks. Creating something of my own just… appealed to me.

But like many students, I followed the conventional route.

My mother dreamed of me becoming a doctor or dentist. So for the first twenty years of my life, I focused on grades and checkboxes. The dreamer in me took a backseat to the dutiful student.

A door I almost didn’t open

During my A Levels, a friend came to me with an idea: start a fitness apparel brand.

It excited me — and I shut it down almost instantly.

“Focus on your studies,” I told myself. And I did.

But I never stopped wondering what would have happened if we actually tried building it.

Then came the moment that forced the truth out of me: my dentistry interview.

When the interviewer asked, “Why do you want to be a dentist?”, I realised I couldn’t give a sincere answer.

It hit me that I’d been walking someone else’s path.
And if I kept going, I’d be betraying myself.

So I changed course to Business Management at SMU — partly because of the programme, but also because SMU’s environment felt like it left room for exploration.

When I got accepted, it felt like alignment. Like I could breathe again.

Looking back, I think I was experiencing something I later learned a name for: inattentional blindness. There’s a famous study where even expert radiologists missed a giant “gorilla” in a scan — not because they were careless, but because they were trained to look for something else. That was me. I was trained to look for the “safe path”… so I couldn’t see the alternatives right in front of me.

The “yes” that changed everything

I had just finished National Service.

Like many, I wasn’t sure what came next.
Part-time job? Internship? Travel?
I wanted to learn — but didn’t know what.

One day, I chatted with a friend’s mom. She mentioned Gabrielle Tan Lay Khim from SMU’s Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE). Days later, I found myself at the Greenhouse.

That conversation changed everything.

Gabrielle introduced me to The Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKYGBPC). I’d never heard of it — but it opened my eyes to startups, innovation, and global entrepreneurship.

Next thing I knew, I was scouting startups under Dr. SZE Tiam-Lin, who ran a mind-opening session on intellectual property. I learned how to evaluate tech startups, got feedback on my ideas, and came away with insights that still shape how I think about innovation. We even connected with a team that later made it to the Grand Finals.

And here’s the funny part:

That fitness apparel idea from years ago?
The seed started growing again — because now I finally had an environment to test it.

The Greenhouse crash course (real-world learning, on fast forward)

Since I had time before university, Gabrielle asked if I’d like to help at the Jay & Marilyn Ng Greenhouse as a Student Community Manager (SCM).

I said yes instantly — without fully knowing what I was stepping into.

And man, it was intense.

I got a crash course in the real world: how to run meetings, communicate professionally, and present on the spot with zero prep time.

But also? I got to:

• Sit in on DueAI Challenge strategy sessions, where I met Dr. Joel Leong — his sharp, precise feedback stuck with me
  
   
• Liaise with Manus AI for workshops (which later became an indispensable research tool for me)
  
   
• Attend Asia Startup Network workshops on community building
  
   
• Meet founders, partners, and changemakers — up close, not from a distance
  
   

Even Yasi Huo introduced me to Asia Private Equity Club @ SMU (APECS) and Protégé Ventures — communities I’m now exploring more deeply.

And I can’t not mention the people who made it meaningful:

• My fellow SCMs — Deepika, Sreeja, Eunice — always showing up
  
   
• The one-of-a-kind Valence Sim, whose support (and personality) made the intensity survivable
  
   
• And Nicodemus — my fellow SCM and friend since secondary school. We’ve seen the best and worst of each other: struggling through challenges, supporting each other through events, meeting new people, clearing buffets, and thriving in new environments. This journey was far more memorable with Nic around.
  
   

All this in just 3 months.

Here’s what surprised me: it wasn’t “star talent” that made the difference. It was the environment and the team habits around me. There’s research showing that group performance isn’t about the IQ of the smartest person — teams develop patterns for working together, and those patterns are what make them consistently strong. That’s what the Greenhouse gave me: better patterns, faster feedback, and people who pulled me into action.

LKYGBPC finals week: the turning point

By the time the LKYGBPC grand finals arrived, everything clicked.

As a Protégé Ventures ambassador, I attended VC office hours and learned directly from VC partners like Von Leong (co-founder of Purpose Venture Capital) about what investors actually look for.

I met founders building serious tech, like:

• Wang Xi (ChipEvo) — leveraging AI/ML to transform chip design
  
   
• Jan-Georg Rosenboom (Macrocycle Technologies) — upcycling end-of-life plastics into virgin-grade PET and polyesters
  
   

I moderated a Category Judging Panel alongside some of the sharpest minds in venture and industry. I joined the Student VC Symposium and exchanged insights with peers like Caleb Chu (Nova Studio).

And at some point during that week, I realised:

This wasn’t about whether I would “become a founder.”

It was about becoming the kind of person who can spot opportunities, learn fast, and build confidence through real experiences.

The real power isn’t entrepreneurship. It’s optionality.

The fitness apparel brand my friend and I once shelved has finally launched. It’s early days — but this time I’m not watching from the sidelines. I’m building it with my own hands.

Looking back, everything started with one decision: to say yes before I felt ready.

Yes to LKYGBPC.
Yes to the Greenhouse.
Yes to revisiting an old idea.

Each “yes” expanded my world — not because I magically became fearless, but because I gained community: mentors, peers, builders, and the ecosystem that accelerates you.

And here’s the point I wish someone told me earlier:

You don’t have to know your “final answer” in university.
You just need to keep exploring long enough to find what’s real for you.

A simple framework that explains why this worked

There’s a helpful way to describe what changed for me. Saying yes upgraded three things at once:

1. Attention — what I noticed (and what I stopped ignoring)
   
    
2. Resources — who and what I now had access to (people, tools, rooms, conversations)
   
    
3. Reasoning — how I thought about my own options (less “one path,” more “many paths”)
   
    

Once your world gets bigger, your choices get better.

Try this 10-minute move (even if you’re not a founder)

You don’t need a five-year plan. Start with a small, low-stakes experiment:

• List 3 “resources” you already have: a skill, an interest, a contact, an experience
  
   
• Tell one person who’s building something at SMU: “Here’s what I’m good at — where can I help for 2–3 weeks?”
  
   
• Make the implicit explicit: what you can offer, how you work best, what you want to learn
  
   

That’s how optionality starts.

And if you’re where I was — unsure, curious, stuck — take the meeting. Make the call. Say yes to what scares you.

You never know where it’ll take you.

Links (for readers)

Relive LKYGBPC top moments: https://lkygbpc.smu.edu.sg/

Join as a Student Community Manager (SCM): https://iie.smu.edu.sg/contact

Explore student organisations (Protégé Ventures, APECS, etc.): https://iie.smu.edu.sg/student-clubs

Upcoming startup events at the Greenhouse: https://iie.smu.edu.sg/greenhouse/events