IMPACT 0109: TUITION THROUGH TIKTOK

Koh Boon Ki, 23, is a recent graduate from the National University of Singapore with a degree in pharmacy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she found herself on TikTok, having created private video content for her friends and family.

She saw TikTok as a platform to spread positivity through her comedy skits, eventually venturing into giving advice. She also helps students who are struggling with school work and who have no access to help by tutoring them after interacting with them through her livestream, ‘Ask Me Anything’ sessions.

She shares some lessons that she has picked up on her journey.

Being a pharmacy student while creating content, I often find that time is very precious. Having to juggle school and TikTok definitely required a level of organisation in my time. Because we only have 24 hours in a day, I like to make sure that I am being productive with my time.

One way I do this is by occasionally playing online lectures at twice the speed because I find that I can focus better for one hour as compared to two. This allows me to clear more content and creates time for me to do the things I enjoy, such as filming more TikToks!

With 18 hours of lectures to watch every week, being fast and focused ensures that I am not only freeing up my time but also being excellent in my studies, constantly being up to date with the lectures, on task for all my assignments and making sure that I am a contributing member of all my group projects.

With the extra time freed up, I get to enjoy other things like content creation on TikTok which usually starts with some ideation, thinking about what I want to create before filming a ton of drafts and picking the best to post!

There will always be people with differing opinions about you, be it offline or online. On occasion, people would comment on my content with hate comments like calling me ‘cringey’ and being overly critical about my content. Not every critique is true, nor are they given with your best intentions in mind.

Be selective in taking criticism and continue down your path. When reading the comments, I like to review each one and see if there is any truth in them, if they are even somewhat true, I try to improve on that in the future but if the comments are not constructive in any way, I would just ignore them.

One quote  that has helped me on my journey is this: “Don’t take criticism from someone you won’t take advice from.” My family, friends and my TikTok community are some of the sources of the advice that I live my life by.

When doing something you love and have passion in, you will find it more enjoyable and fulfilling. As some people would say: If you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life.

Sometimes, content creation might get tough with mindblocks and the negative comments people leave behind. But what keeps me going is my love for creating these videos and the people around me that remind me who I create the content for.

Connect with people whom you can bounce off ideas with! I connected with a few fellow content creators on TikTok late last year and have built several wonderful friendships. We share ideas and support each other in relatable struggles, like dealing with hate comments and it feels good to have people who can relate to these problems and offer their advice.

In this area, having another mind and set of eyes to help me review my content and push me to be better is definitely something I’m grateful for.

Never having done official acting work and joining L’mao Kafe, a collaborative content creation team with a cast of veteran actors was intimidating. It turned out to be a fruitful experience, as I was able to commune and learn with these actors who were like mentors to me.

Overtime, this experience has taught me how to immerse myself in a character, which is something I would not have picked up as quickly if I was learning it alone. There are many opportunities all around! You have to be open to new opportunities and be willing to get out of your comfort zone. Go for that audition, meet new people and constantly grow!

This article was published on Aug 19, 2021