My growing years in UKM

One of my subject English for Engineering wants me to write a simple essay about my growth in UKM. well i just simply crap a little. too much to say la..

The moment I stepped into the university I know that my life will never be the same. Being a person who loves to explore the world and believe in making changes, I was highly motivated to be a ‘green’ person especially after working in World Wide Fund for Nature(WWF), a global green non-government organization for about 6 months before entering my varsity life. I was challenged by my German colleague when he asked,’ you are working in WWF and you want to be an architect?’ My answer was , ‘why not? The built environment can never stop and it needs some green hands to save it and make the world a better place.’ My goal and expectation to myself before I enter UKM. First, to continue on my green passion and take action. Second, to be globalize and enhance networking nationally or internationally. Third, to live my varsity life to the fullest ,do crazy things and develops skills to be competent to the society. To enjoy my architecture life which will be totally different from my entire study life, design great architecture and inspire the world. Too much goals to mention.

As an architecture student, you live a student life that no one can imagine unless they are in it. The lecturers call it archiTORTURE as the course is intensive, hardcore, require a lot more time or 24/7 involvement and brain juice squeezing for ideas. We need to be as artistic as artist and musician but also as scientific as engineers. This is the tough part. Sleepless nights are expected. Studio is our second home. I can proudly say that I am forever proud to be an architecture student as we are trained to be different compared to other courses. We are creative, against the rules sometimes, flexible, presentation is a norm to us, we are small but united, we are close to our lecturers and we have our personal workspace in studio. Architecture has made me a better person and always confident in front of crowd. We are always dealing with design projects which require intensive progress, such as critique sessions, tight deadlines, dealing with people, sensitive to issues around us, innovation and exploration of the world. One of the best thing about us is we have study trips every semester. For example, Singapore and Bali, my top dream place to visit! In my first year we get to involve in organizing the national architecture workshop and it was a huge and successful event. I also went on an internship in my dream firm,T.R.Hamzah & Yeang which works on international green projects for 3 months. Working in a global learning environment with experts from around the world is indeed a valuable experience. I also attended a few international conferences held in Malaysia and Singapore.

Besides being an architecture students, I’m also an AIESECer. AIESEC is a non-political global leadership organization. Many people think I’m crazy when I apply for it as it is a hectic organization because being an architecture student itself is already super hectic. But my personal goal to be globalize and expand my network and also be competent to the society push me to the application and pass the interview ,finally became an AIESECer. It really challenge me in terms of time management as I startup as a team member of In-coming exchange department where intensive matching and intern servicing job are required. I got most inspired to continue my AIESEC journey after attending the Malaysian Leadership Seminar held in UUM where the AIESECer around Malaysia as well as international facilitators and delegates were involved. This organization is truly filled with inspiring individuals who have personal goals and positive about personal growth. We always have chance to meet with successful professionals and even work with them. During my second year I took up leadership role as the communication director which challenge my limit. I called it double ‘A’ syndrome. Architecture and AIESEC. I manage to survive my second year with the support of my great Executive Board team and also my architecture coursemates. For many times I wanted to give up from the start of the semester, I am now glad that I hold on and never give up.

After that I continue to search for opportunities and I applied for Global Leadership Programme held in Rome. I manage to get scholarship and sponsor for this programme and thus flew to my another top dream place, Rome, Italy. I had the best time of my life in Rome for two weeks intensive course on Peace, Conflict, & Religion and I met a bunch of new friends from around the world. By understanding about Peace, Conflict, & Religion, I hope to find the answer of my doubts that why religions that all promote peace and harmony can cause such conflicts when they meet and to live in the multi-religious community without conflict, where everyone lives together with mutual understanding. As a citizen, I felt that I have the responsibility to improve the situation by taking the first step, to understand the people around me and promoting the importance of mutual understanding among the religions and live in a peaceful environment. I know it may sound too ideal but the issue wont be solved if no one is taking an initiative to make a change by putting ourselves in others shoes. In this programme I am happy to know that I am actually competent internationally among the students. After the programme I went backpacking around Italy with a few friends and we experience the culture, life of true Italy.

I believe that I am able to see things in a broader perspective through discussion and sharing among students from all around the world and learn to express ideas in a more intellectual and holistic way. Critical thinking and analytical skills can also be improved. With that I am able to become a more competitive person in the society as well as in the international arena especially in architectural field that requires a lot of these qualities. I am able to improve my time management and self-discipline by balancing myself between studies and social life which I am still in the process of learning. It will certainly be beneficial for my study or future career that will be full of tight submission deadlines. Learning to understand and work with people from different background through cultural exchange or sharing is also one of the skills that is important to me as I have a strong desire to work with a team of inspiring people from different background in my future career.

The varsity life really impacts me a lot and I believe I will be a competent graduate and achieve my goals. Not only career but my aspiration to contribute to the society with my ability and skills. Money is important but it will not be my priority before achieving impact to the society.