Behind the #gram: Euclea Tan of @mochi.studies
She does bullet journaling to make studying less painful.
Her Instagram page is filled with pretty calligraphy notes, aesthetic journal entries and handwritten planners from her bullet journal.
Also known as @mochi.studies on Instagram, 17-year-old Euclea Tan has an impressive following of 53,000 on her ‘studygram’ account.
Although she started bullet journaling to motivate herself to study, her artwork started gaining recognition on Instagram. Several international brands, such as Gaston Luga and Sudio, have reached out to her for sponsorships.
When Youth.SG met Euclea, she shyly welcomed us before leading us to her study room, where she does most of her journaling.
Her desk was filled with notebooks, highlighters and drawers filled with art supplies. We watched as she used brush markers, washi tape and stickers to create a two-page bullet journal entry, which took her 20 minutes to complete.
The soft-spoken youth started bullet journaling when she was 15. Back then, she incorporated her interests in design and drawing in her revision notes to motivate herself and be productive while studying.
Euclea said: “I started recording down my tasks because I have a really, really bad memory.
“Bullet journaling is practical because I don’t need to lug many heavy books to school. It’s more convenient.”
“I made a lot of friends through Instagram. Sometimes, we even meet up to visit craft shops and art museums. I talk more freely online and that translated into my real life.”
She recounted a few interesting interactions with her followers: “I do get weird requests sometimes. Once, someone asked me to send them my notes page by page.”
As her Instagram account started to gain traction on social media, some of her school friends started noticing her artworks.
The Hwa Chong Junior College student said: “A lot of people in school found out about my Instagram account after a while. They don’t treat me differently, but it’s still a little surreal.”
As Euclea usually spends an average of 14 hours a month creating her bullet journal entries, she works hard to balance her school and work commitments.
“I [used to] stay up late to do bullet journaling, and ignore my work. It was hard at first, but I eventually learnt how to prioritise my time,” said Euclea, who posts an average of four entries monthly.
While most of her followers encouraged her hobby, she also had to deal with her fair share of criticisms.
“Some questioned my hobby: ‘What is the point of making your notes so nice… It’s not useful, inefficient,'” she stated matter-of-factly.
However, Euclea still sees herself updating her page as regularly as possible.
“In the past, I was too worried about what others think of my work. Now, I’ve learnt to post purely for my sake,” she said.
