A Year Since Graduating

Exactly one year ago I finally graduated from my Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Waikato. It’s funny how time goes by so fast because it felt like just yesterday that it had happened. Nonetheless, this is what I had written on my social media on the 3rd of May 2019:

Alhamdulillah. I would like to say thank you to my family and friends for their love and support, especially to my parents. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to achieve what I have today. I was able to finish my Bachelor of Social Sciences Degree with a Major in Psychology and a Minor in Social Policy in two and a half years instead of three. These past couple of years have been challenging as while I was studying, I would also be traveling overseas, working full time and I even participated in Miss Universe New Zealand. With self-love, hard work, and trust in God as well as yourself, I believe that you can achieve anything and everything that you want to do. It’s never too late or too early, it’s always the right time for the right things and you always have everything that you need and you are worthy and you are capable of anything and everything. Now that I have finally graduated, it feels like my life is about to begin. And I am so excited and optimistic to see where God will take me. ❤️

It may seem like I always post graduation photos on my Instagram but it was an occasion that was of significance to me. I am the first in my family to have achieved a higher education- graduating might be normal for some but may not be for others. Ultimately, it was the single most important boundary that I wanted to break for myself and also for my parents. 

Growing up, unlike my brothers, I didn’t have any toys to play with. Instead, my parents gave me books to read and write which had instilled my passion to always learn and study. By coming to New Zealand at the age of five, and not knowing any English, I was at a disadvantage at first but I quickly learned the language through poetry.

To this day I always crave to learn something new. It’s cliche but knowledge really does give you power. It gives you the power to explore and think critically, to form your own opinion, to spread ideas, and to apply it to everyday life. 

During high school, I used to be the ‘nerdy’ or ‘overachieving’ student who was so engrossed to excel in history and the sciences as well as getting poetry published or advocating for human rights which, alhamdulillah, helped me secure some scholarships. While in high school we were constantly asked what we wanted to do when we leave school. In my case, my dream was to always help people so I thought that pursuing Medicine and treating people would be a good option. 

In 2016, I did my first semester at Otago University at Dunedin in the South Island in the hopes of becoming a doctor. However, life can put you through so many circumstances and tests that sometimes the best thing for you to do is to start all over again. 

Starting all over again can seem like a scary thing. Sometimes you can feel like a failure, especially when you didn’t meet your expectations or you just don’t know what to do next. And that’s how I felt when I decided to return back home to the North Island. Although I felt stuck, not doing or studying anything wasn’t an option. In the end, I wanted to understand why I felt or thought the way I did and I wanted to help those feeling the same way. That was when I decided to study Psychology at the University of Waikato. 

I started studying in B Semester 2016 and I completed my degree in two and a half years by the end of B Semester 2018. Not only was I taking extra papers but I also traveled overseas and worked full time, started an Amnesty International Human Rights group, and even competed in Miss Universe New Zealand. It wasn’t easy but I knew that I was more than capable of finishing my degree earlier and that everything would be worth it. 

Nonetheless, now I understand that everything happens for a reason and that we never truly fail or get rejected, we only get redirected to something even better or we come out even stronger. 

Alhamdulillah, since completing my degree I have worked at two different organisations that were aligned to my values and I was able to apply what I had studied. I worked at a mental health organisation in New Zealand and while I was in Malaysia, I worked at a women empowerment organisation. In between working at the two organisations, I traveled around South East Asia, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia as I wanted to learn more about my mother tongue languages, Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia, and to also spend time with my family. I also did something that I had always wanted to do but never really had the chance while in New Zealand, to attend as many Islamic classes that I could. I was also given the time to read as much as I could. 

Therefore, in the year after I graduated, I continued to learn as much as I could. Not only did I learn more about the ‘real world’ (life experiences after school/university) I learned a lot more about myself. I became more aware of what I wanted and I understood just how resilient and confident I could be in times of adversity or pressure. I realised that I am able to do more and contribute more and at a rather young age, I have the potential within me that is still untapped. Whatever it is, I am still exploring by challenging myself to new experiences and opportunities. 

In a world of social media, we need to remind ourselves that each and every one of us has everything that we ever needed to achieve anything without having to compete or compare ourselves. Try not to compare ourselves with others because your time will come as we all bloom differently. We also need to remember that this universe is full of abundance. This world is full of knowledge to learn and opportunities to grasp. 

In a time of a pandemic I feel for those that aren’t able to graduate in the traditional/physical graduation and I also feel for those that have graduated and are still looking for a job and for those that just lost their job due to unprecedented times. It’s a difficult time for everyone and we are still trying to figure out what the new normal will be. But from this, I hope we can learn to be a bit more grateful and a bit more kind to ourselves, our family, friends, and community. I hope that we also learn to be compassionate about the needs of others who are less fortunate and to reach out when we can. 

If there is anything that I have learned in the past year is that life is a journey of constant learning.

All in all, I am still optimistic and hopeful about everything as it will be a new beginning or normal for all of us.