This is the person you randomly sat next to in your first-ever tutorial. “Hey,” they said, and things just picked up from there.

Before long, you cease to exist as individuals.

You’ll be joined at the hip – sometimes literally when on the campus shuttle – and people will ask, with genuine concern in their voices, if they spot either one of you in school without the other, whether everything is okay.

The two of you get a disgustingly sweet couple name that you’ll roll your eyes at in public but secretly love and use unironically. And a few of your classmates will definitely try to ship you as an OTP.

This person will see you through the ups and downs of university life, and beyond that as you brave the new world of work and adulthood. Despite all the changes, they’ll remain a constant in your life.

This person is everywhere, knows everyone, and can link you up with anyone. They’re at all networking events and, like a butterfly flitting from flower to flower, often around the corner when you least expect it.

If you need to find someone, or have an in to the hottest party in town, the social butterfly is only a quick DM away.

You sometimes get exhausted looking at their social media accounts, because you can’t figure out how it’s humanly possible to know so many people.

Their Instagram stories are so numerous, they don’t show as a series of lines at the top of your screen but appear as dots instead.

You wonder how they find time to study, but realise they’ll have no problem charming their way into internships and job offers.

NTU is many a foreign student’s top choice for exchange, and who can blame them? Spending a semester or two at one of the world’s most beautiful campuses is a definite plus.

This is the pal you’ll gladly share your favourite hawker fare with, teach Singapore slang to, and bring to spots only true-blue locals know about.

They’ll use “lah” with unintended comic effect when they speak, but at least they try. The Singapore imprint will be so strong they’ll order Tiger beer in their home country.

Forget Instagram and TikTok – LinkedIn is this person’s social media of choice, which you’ll be asked to connect through within five minutes of meeting. If they have a TikTok account, it’s all about the hustle and the seven things all successful people do.

You don’t think this person knows the word sleep.

During the semester, they’re juggling five classes with two part-time internships, building a startup, and being President of three clubs.

While you were at the gym or hanging out at cafes, they’ve somehow racked up nine internships in four years. You suspect their blood is 90% caffeine at this point.

This is the prof you mistake for another undergrad when they walk into class, until their laptop settles in full view of everyone and you realise this is a fully functional academic and your teacher.

Somehow, this prof is able to hold regular office hours, mentor three PhD students and reply to your panicked 11.59pm email three seconds later when your assignment isn’t uploading.

You sign up for every one of their classes because you’ll learn both the intricacies of your academic major and valuable life lessons along the way.

You wonder if it’s even legal for a professor to be this cool – surely, as a matter of fairness, academic genius must be balanced out with social awkwardness. But no – the cool prof is also funny and warm, and has an impressive “fan club”.

They will guide you like a parental figure, give career advice, and mentor you as you attempt to exist as best you can in the 21st century.

You’ll feel bad asking them to write a last-minute reference letter for a job interview or Master’s application, but they’ll be so nice about it you start believing in the goodness of humanity once again.