After things unravelled at home, she went into survival mode, he made space for others

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. That’s what two ITE students did when individually facing challenging family circumstances.

At 18, Ms Ryka Putri Eva Sabrinna Sabtu was taking her first examinations at Institute of Technological Education (ITE) College Central when her parents kicked her out of her home after her estrangement from her parents came to a head.

With the support of her lecturers, Ms Ryka rented a room and applied for financial aid, which helped to cover her school fees and meals. To pay for other living expenses, she worked 40 hours every week on top of her lessons – serving food, giving out flyers and cleaning toilets.

The 20-year-old graduated from her Higher Nitec course in marine and offshore engineering in February 2025 with a grade point average of 3.957. She now dons the black-and-white seafarers’ uniform at Singapore Polytechnic’s Singapore Maritime Academy, where she is pursuing a diploma in nautical studies.

Meanwhile, her schoolmate Damien Koh Wen Hao, 19, graduated at the top of his Higher Nitec in sport management course at ITE College West.

Now in Nanyang Polytechnic’s common business programme, he started a ground-up initiative in March 2025 with five peers under a youth leadership programme, providing a free, comfortable space for other young people to study and socialise in.

This idea was sparked by his experience in primary school, when the breakdown of his parents’ marriage meant that home was less than conducive for studying.

Ms Ryka and Mr Koh were among nine ITE graduates who received the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Model Student Award on May 22 for their outstanding academic performance and conduct. Here’s how they did it.

‘Work hard, or fall apart’

Since Ms Ryka was 16, she had already been expected to pay for her personal expenses. But in October 2023, her relationship with her family broke down, and she was told to leave home.

What hit her most as she was moving out was leaving behind “hundreds” of books as she did not know where to house them. “That was when I cried,” she said. “I had a full-blown collection that I used my earnings from part-time work for.”

She confided in her lecturer, Ms Li Shuang, about her situation. Within a week, Ms Li found her a rental room that cost $550 a month. With savings from her part-time job and a sum borrowed from her best friend, Ms Ryka was able to pay the deposit, a month’s rent and for moving services. 

After leaving home in December, she took any part-time job she could find to cover her living expenses. During a seven-month stint as a waitress, she worked from 7pm to 3am, then attended lessons from 8am to 5pm the next day on six days a week. Often, she stayed back after school for her commitments as a member of the Community Service Club.

On how she got by on four hours of sleep on a regular weekday, she said: “I think it was the adrenaline of having to pay my rent.”

Every aspect of her life had to be tightly calibrated. Missing a train and being late to a job could mean a deduction from her salary, while submitting an assignment late meant her grades would slip.

“My life was like a chain of consequences that I couldn’t afford to fumble,” she said. “It was either work hard or fall apart.”

The tide turned in 2024 when she applied for and received the Keppel Care Foundation Scholarship, which is awarded to students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have excelled academically and demonstrated strong leadership qualities.

With the cash award of $9,600 covering her living expenses for that year, she could work fewer hours and focus on her studies.

That year, she went on to represent ITE nationally in the prestigious Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors’ Award, a competition that encourages youth to develop creative innovations. She won a Commendation Award for designing a modified hanger that prevents clothes from slipping off poles in bad weather.

She also took part in contests such as ITE’s Student Ideation and Design Competition, where she and her team won first place for designing the best sustainability visitor centre for recycling company MeTech.

Being independent from a young age taught her to be her own safety net and cope with her emotional struggles. “I learnt not to let pain harden me,” she added.

After graduation, she dreams of taking the helm as a chief officer on a ship.

She hopes that students who face similar hardships will continue working hard to achieve their goals. “Keep showing up for yourself. Drag your tired body if you have to,” she said.

At the same time, she reminds others in similar situations to treat themselves with care. “The sun doesn’t ask for perfection to rise – neither should you.”

Paying it forward

Mr Koh was near the end of his primary school years when his parents divorced, which meant he often looked after himself and his twin brother while their father was not at home.

A self-described “socially awkward” student in secondary school, he opened up during his time in ITE, thanks to teachers who saw his potential.

In 2024, his lecturer encouraged him to join the ITE Student Leaders Forum, where he and his schoolmates developed and proposed projects themed around sustainability and inclusion. The forum kicked off his involvement in a series of community projects.

That year, he became the president of ITE College West’s student development programme, ACE Club, where he coordinated volunteering projects such as a Rummikub game competition with seniors at Fei Yue Active Ageing Centre in 2024.

In March 2025, during his first year at NYP, he co-founded Youthful Thinking, which provides young people a free, conducive environment to study and rest, unlike at cafes where they have to buy at least a drink. The project also aims to offer mentorship and companionship to these youths, and has a recreational space for games and movies.

He started this initiative as part of the 10-week Youth Leaders’ Collective programme by the National Community Leadership Institute, which aims to equip young people with the skills and know-how to run their own ground-up initiatives.

From 9pm to 11pm once a week, his team of six – a mix of junior college, polytechnic, and ITE students – met online to draft the proposal that eventually became Youthful Thinking.

After pitching to potential partners, they secured a space for one day at Macpherson Community Club, sourced some stationery and furniture donations through a Telegram channel, and made their ideas a reality.

They held their first “Homework Cafe” with five youth on May 25, where they coached students on their homework and bonded with them through games. 

The team plans to hold these sessions once or twice a month.

“A lot of people say it takes a village to raise a child. In my case, it was the community around me,” Mr Koh said. “To give back that same energy to help that one kid, who might be going through a tough time, means so much to me.”

He hopes other youths who had difficult childhoods realise their potential, and that they are “much more than their labels”.

As for winning the Lee Kuan Yew Model Student Award, he said: “This success is not my success.”

“This success is for fellow ITE students, and for everyone who has ever felt like they are not good enough.”