Renee Lim – Class of 2024

Renee Lim (23-U1) was a Humanities Scholar, a student councillor who always stepped up to serve and helmed publicity efforts for OH EUNOIA!, and a an avid photographer for @ejcmedia. Most importantly, Renee was a beacon to her peers and stood tall amidst setbacks, 

“My first two years in EJ were iconic and so, so colourful. EJ gave me countless opportunities to discover myself, make mistakes in a somewhat sheltered environment, and to be bold. I worked hard, and played even harder, making lifelong memories and friends along the way. It was a fever dream.

When I was struck with a health ordeal in 2023 in my graduating year, I was forced to defer my A-Levels to 2024. Devastating as it was to an 18-year-old, it was a challenge I had to work through. I never thought that I was strong nor resilient, as I knew there was no way around it, only a way through it. Even in the onslaught of disease, I remember a junior once told me he admired how I could be so positive while going through something so trying. It was then that I made a decision to be purposefully happy every day. 

The most defining moment in my EJ journey was my graduation with the Class of 2023. At that point, I knew I was only graduating with my friends in name. And so I cried, possibly harder than anyone else, because of how much my illness had taken from me, and how that ceremony represented a sense of loss. The tears were bittersweet but happy nonetheless. Seeing my batchmates for the last time, I felt a sense of comfort and peace, because I knew that even if I had to face the gruelling J2 year all over again, I already had an amazing one to look back on, one I could not ask more of. 

This is followed by my second graduation a year later, free of the chains that held me down, with the Class of 2024. There were tears once again, but now of pure gratitude and relief. When I looked at the faces of my new friends, I felt triumphant and blessed this time.

I am extremely grateful that I had strong systems of support in EJ, school leaders who accommodated my new needs, teachers who cared about my recovery and friends who stood by me. They have taught me that you are stronger than you think. This last year in EJ was vastly different from the previous two years I experienced, and a far cry away from what I expected of a typical JC journey. But what remained constant, and even became more apparent, was that EJ was a place I could always come home to.”