Juggling studies with stardom

It has been about a few months since The Final1 season two has ended and winner Jermaine Leong is back in school to complete her Diploma in Communications Media Management.

Youth.SG had the chance to interview the 17-year-old Temasek Poly student about her nostalgic moments during the singing competition and how she coped with the stresses of the competition.

Even before she first took to the stage, Jermaine had a big hurdle to overcome. She said: “I can perform but I hate auditions.”

After acing her audition, Jermaine had to cope with the stresses from both her studies and the competition in the subsequent six months. “It shouldn’t be two separate things, it’s all part of my life. What I try to do is that I incorporate both together,” said Jermaine.

When asked about comments of her age affecting her performance during the competition, she replied: “Age is just a number; it doesn’t define anything. Instead of seeing it as a weakness, I see it as an advantage because I have so much time to develop and grow. Having my youth now, I will be spending it wisely.”

The first year student added: “It is important not to look at anything as a disadvantage, if you do, it would bring you down. Instead you should turn everything into something good and it would work out.”

During the competition, Jermaine felt tired, but that did not stop her from pushing herself to work hard for her performances.

“I’ll feel very tired because I have school and then I have rehearsals and then vocal practices… But at the end of this journey, I feel very accomplished and thankful for what had happened during the six months and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else,” she said.

Aside from her music, Jermaine loves food a lot, and loves trying different types of food. She also enjoys acting and has been in MediaCorp shows on the local television channel OKTO.

As for other youths her age who are not sure if they should pursue their talents, Jermaine gave some advice: “What’s important is just to do it, if you don’t do it, it would just stay there. A lot of times we are just scared and fearful of what might happen or might not happen.”

Although she is no stranger to criticism, Jermaine still encourages others to step out even if they face harsh critique. She feels that the most important lesson she learnt was to be brave and step out to try, because you never know where it could take you.

She said: “We sometimes allow those comments to come to us, but sometimes we should just go for it. There won’t always be a competition to join, so youths should do videos and put it up on social media platforms… Do not be scared.”