SBIZ Festival Day: Kicking off 2025 with Encouragement and Aspirations

On 22nd January 2025, the SBIZ Festival Day brought together SBIZ students from various programmes to network with each other, providing an opportunity for the students to  connect, reflect, and prepare for an amazing year ahead in 2025.  

The Festival Day commenced with a welcome address from Associate Professor Marcus Lee, Vice Dean of the School of Business, who emphasised the significance of mental well-being and support systems as success extends beyond their grades.  

This idea resonated with our student leaders from the Accountancy Interest Group (SAIG), Business Analytics Interest Group (BAIG), Marketing Interest Group (MKTIG), Supply Chain Management Interest Group (SCMIG), and 1SUSS. While discussing their past activities in 2024 and the exciting events they have planned for 2025, the student leaders expressed a shared aspiration to enhance collaborations and strengthen connections among students from various disciplines. Some of these recent and upcoming activities include the ‘Analytics Innovation Forum 2024’ presented by BAIG, the ’15th Annual International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management’ supported by SCMIG, and ‘Building Bridges: A Conversation with the Dean of Students’ organised by 1SUSS. 

The sharing has excited participating students for the upcoming events. 

"It was nice to see both staff and students interested in these events and network. I personally got to know my accountancy seniors and have insights into SAIG from their sharing!"         

– Eswariya, Year 1 Accountancy student  

The second part of the Festival Day is a team activity facilitated by colleagues from C-three (Counselling & Life Coaching). An anonymous poll showed that friendships and personal time/rest were the key strengths that supported the students in their journey at SUSS despite concerns about their studies and careers. In tandem with the poll results, C-three organised students into teams and tasked them with crafting a ‘transportation’ and presenting how their ‘transportation’ will bring their teams safely through their journey in 2025.

Many imaginative creations were crafted with enthusiasm: a vehicle that can drive, float, and fly, a moving castle, a time machine, and a jet pack are just a few examples. These ‘transportation’ vehicles symbolise students’ resilience and coping strategies when confronted with challenges:

“My favourite activity was by C-three, where we did art therapy, creating a transportation vehicle to get ourselves through 2025. My team did a recreation of an amphibious vehicle capable of traversing land or water, symbolising the need to be flexible and adaptable in facing challenges and to stay afloat no matter the obstacle presented.”  

– Reagan Tan, Year 2 Business Analytics student  

As the SBIZ festival day concluded, students shared their main takeaways:

"The SBIZ Festival Day was very engaging, and we felt that we bonded together! One thing for sure about our takeaway is that it's a very important opportunity to bring people from diverse backgrounds, faculty, and disciplines together."  

– Cherlene Y3, Ian Y2, Jovin Y1, Ashika, Y1 Marketing students

Here is to a vibrant and successful journey with SBIZ in 2025!