May plays a supportive role in helping students to improve their communicative and learning skills through better listening, reading, speaking and writing. She collaborates with colleagues and external instructors to design and deliver courses, seminars and workshops to help students engage and learn effectively.

She completed a professional Diploma to Teach English to Speakers of Other Languages and a Certificate of Professional Studies (Phonetics), both with Distinction, in 2011. She completed her MPP from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2003, which was capped with the WyWy Gold Medal for the best policy analysis exercise paper. She received her MBA from the University of Hull with Distinction in 1999 and her BSc from NUS in 1985.

May has many years of working experience, of which 15 were with the healthcare sector in management and administrative capacities. These included stints as the Deputy Director (Medical Affairs) with the Institute of Mental Health; General Manager of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore; and Administrative Manager with the Singapore General Hospital.