More than Grades

Behind every academic result is a young person quietly chasing their dreams, beating the odds, and hoping to make something of themselves. In More than Grades, a monthly series by The Straits Times, we tell the stories of youth who are making waves in school and beyond.

- Elisha Tushara Correspondent

When she was 15, Ms Azaleagrace Teo made the brave decision to confide in a counsellor at her secondary school after suffering almost seven years of abuse from her father.

Within two weeks, she was uprooted from her home, and was subsequently, over the years, moved at least eight times across different care facilities.

These included stays at foster homes, an interim placement and assessment centre, the Institute of Mental Health and the HCSA Dayspring Residential Treatment Centre, a therapeutic group home.

Grappling with ending ties with her family and being relocated so many times took a toll on the young girl's studies. She repeated her Secondary 4 year at Deyi Secondary School, delaying her graduation.

She eventually enrolled at ITE College East in 2021, and found out she had to support herself financially when she was moved to a student hostel in Evans Road. Though only 18 at the time, she had to start paying rent and being self-sufficient.

While still studying, Ms Teo joined a web solutions start-up, where she learnt about web development to create web and mobile apps from scratch, using a no-code platform called Bubble.

"In my first year, I was earning only $500 a month and heavily dependent on short-term sources of financial support to scrape by for rent and food," she said.

Adjusting to her new reality of having to fend for herself, Ms Teo did not take part in any school activities, and spent her free time working and honing her skills in web development.