In light of International Friendship Day, we chatted with a pair of PS ladies in their early twenties. We asked them to share more on their friendship that had lasted almost their whole lives.
Interviewed by Aaron Ezekiel, Edited by Jacelyn Teng
Photography by Paradigm Shift Label
Hi Hosanna and Hannah! Please introduce yourselves.
Hello! I’m Hannah and I am currently a full-time student at SUSS studying Early Childhood.
Hi! I’m Hosanna and I’m a Psychology Major in SUSS!
Why did you choose to do psychology and early childhood among all the other options?
Hannah: Initially, I was very interested in the tourism industry, so I considered taking it for my diploma. However, as we got closer to O’ Levels, I started reading up on other courses and sought advice from others. Then, it dawned on me that I’ve been really good with young children, especially since I took care of my younger siblings and young children of relatives and friends. My mother used to tell people that I was the “little helper” at home. I would say that I have a heart to nurture the next generation and what better way than to start from the basics! That’s why I chose to be an early childhood teacher.
Hosanna: I’ve always been interested in understanding how people think, and the reasons behind their behaviours, so I guess psychology was the most natural option to go for! Then at 16, I discovered that I had a talent for it and wanted to pursue a career in bringing reconciliation to relationships. That helped solidify my resolve to study psychology in university, with the hopes of eventually becoming a psychologist in the area of marriage and family therapy.
Hannah is wearing The Flat White and
Hosanna is wearing Dignity, Freedom and Honor
What does “community” mean to you?
Hannah: Personally, community matters a lot to me. It consists of a constant group of friends, where we not only enjoy life together, but get to do life together. We celebrate together in good times, and in the not so good times, we help and support one another.
Hosanna: I think that a community is a safe place where people can be themselves without fear of judgment. It is also a place where we can speak corrections into each other’s lives, so that we can all grow together to become the best versions of ourselves and hit the mark for our lives!
Tell us more about your friendship!
Hannah: It has been so long since we became friends, probably in 2000 or 2001. We were so little back then. Hosanna’s parents were my parent’s cell leaders, so we would meet every Friday at her house for cell group. I guess the friendship grew when I started staying over at her place after cell group, from Friday till Sunday church services where I would reunite with my family again. It was so frequent that it felt like an every weekend affair until she moved to the East (I was and still am in the North)!
Looking back, I don’t think we were very close or were in constant contact during our primary school to secondary school days. We only slowly started re-kindling our friendship again in our later teens. Apart from our childhood memories and experiences together, I feel that we have similar beliefs, and we agree on similar things despite having different hobbies and talents. Maintaining this friendship definitely required both of us to put in the time and effort for it to work out until now. Wow, it's been 20 years!!
20 years is a really long time! Almost your whole lives. Hosanna, when did you go, “wow, she’s a keeper and I want to do life with this friend!”
Hosanna: Hannah has always been a part of my life as she mentioned earlier. I guess the moment when I realised that I wanted to go through life with her was during the period when we sort of lost touch with each other during our primary school to secondary school days. I was going through a really tough experience, and I felt very lonely. At that time, the one person who kept showing up was Hannah, even though we weren’t the closest then. 20 years of friendship came from the commitment to keep showing up in each other’s lives and to step out of our comfort zones for each other - I guess we both decided that our friendship was worth that effort! Hannah is also always the most encouraging in my decisions even when it's pretty wild and unconventional. She's my Sista and my partner in crazy!
Aww... How about you, Hannah? What key role does Hosanna play in your life?
Hannah: She reads up on a lot of things that she is interested in, she has a lot of knowledge and good advice to give. Most of the times when we meet, we catch up on things that are happening in our lives, and we talk about them. We also give our thoughts on the struggles or dilemmas we face in relationships or issues we have. Between the two of us, I think she’s the more logical one as she gives practical tips that I can actually use. She has a place in my life when it comes to decision making!
What would you do together if you had unlimited resources in the world?
Hannah: We have this childhood dream to build our own dream houses beside each other and I think it still exist!
Hosanna: Uh huh!! Since Hannah already answered that, then I’ll say to travel and film travel vlogs together.
What a dream! Living next to your best friend and traveling the world with her! So.. What was the most exciting thing that happened lately?
Hosanna: Definitely Hannah’s engagement in March!! My honest feelings throughout the preparation and on the day itself is in one word – FINALLY!!
Hannah and I have been talking about our future weddings for as long as I could remember. Now it’s finally coming closer to being a reality for her and I couldn’t be happier!! I was super honoured that her Fiancé trusted me to document the entire engagement and help out with the designs for props he used for the proposal. Now I’m just excited to help with the wedding planning and all the bridesmaid duties! I got you, sis!
That's sooo sweet. Describe each other in 3 words!
Hannah: Outgoing, Resilient, Conscientious
Hosanna: Dependable, Caring, Supportive
Thank you for sharing your friendship with us! Hannah, we wish you all the best for your wedding prep! We think you've got a solid support in Hosanna! Happy International best friends day, you ladies!