Undergraduate Sarah Cheng, 20, may seem like any other student at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
But the fresh-faced psychology major, who is a straight-A student, has been through much more than most of her contemporaries.
She got married at age 18 and is the mother of a two-year-old girl.
She sat for her A-level exams when she was three months pregnant and scored six distinctions.
Her story is one of the 10 tales of teenagers in the upcoming musical, It's My Life!. She is also starring in the two- hour production, which will play at the University Cultural Centre Theatre from Thursday.
Touted as a musical for teens by teens, the production includes stories about sheltered teenagers and those who have gone through some hard knocks in life.
There is a teen who survives her parents' bitter divorce, a delinquent made good and a resilient youngster who puts himself through school.
Accompanying these narratives are songs composed by Bang Wenfu, with contributions from Dave Tan, the lead vocalist of popular local band Electrico, and singer Corinne May.
The production is the brainchild of theatre couple Tan Kheng Hua, 45, and Lim Yu-Beng, 43; Tan's brother Ju Meng, 44, an architect and set designer; and their long-time friend Valerie Lim, 45, a housewife.
The four were interested in a musical for teenagers as all of them are parents of young children, says Lim Yu-Beng.
'The intention is to give voice to Singapore youth,' says the father of a 10-year-old girl, Shi-An. 'We never want our children to go away from us. We want to go through things with them, and make sure that there is acceptance and respect for them.'
Last year, they auditioned more than 350 teenagers aged between 15 and 19 to look for actors. Eventually 11 performers, who had interesting stories and could sing and act, were selected.
The first phase was spent listening to the teenagers' stories. After improvisation, acting, singing and movement workshops, a storyline, based loosely on these stories, was born. One performer dropped out along the way because he had to enlist in national service.
The musical's plot mirrors real life. In it, the characters are actors who have been selected to star in a musical about teens. The plot flits between the rehearsal room and their lives.
The vignettes that tumble out are diverse. Aside from Sarah's teenage pregnancy, there is also the story of how Conan Choong, 18, lives away from his parents and puts himself through school by tutoring primary school students.
The Malaysian boy came to Singapore when he was 11 to stay with an aunt. But after she went back to Malaysia, he stayed on because 'I was settled down here and I wanted to complete my education', says the Tampines Junior College student.
The process of turning life into art has been challenging for some.
Sarah says: 'Every time I do it, the pain of that period will come up. It was an emotionally crazy period, having to take exams, having to get married and then moving on.'
The journey of the musical has helped her accept her past more and to be more open about it. She says: 'I used to be afraid of being judged - I wanted others to judge me based on myself and my talents, not just the fact that I am a mother.
'Increasingly, I've become less conscious about what other people think of me. I'm confident about the decision that I've made and I have to live with it, not them.'
The actors Life! interviewed also say they had been enriched by the experience and have forged strong friendships.
The youngest participant, Movin Nyanasengeran, 16, calls the experience an eye-opener.
The NUS High School student says: 'I've led quite a sheltered life. I feel very privileged that people are willing to share their stories with me.'
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