I’m Glad to Say That I Spent Four Amazing Years in IUMW for My Foundation in Arts and Bachelors in Accounting
The reason I chose IUMW.
I started my foundation studies a year later than those my age. Honestly, I took a gap year because my initial plan was to fly to Egypt to pursue my Islamic studies along with my younger brother and sister. However, due to some issues that couldn’t be avoided, I decided to register at IUMW because I wanted a fresh start. I wanted a place where I wouldn’t have to deal with people from the past. I’m the eldest daughter in my family and I grew up going to a lot of different schools. But I’m glad to say that I spent four amazing years in IUMW for my foundation in Arts and Bachelors in Accounting.
What got me interested in my field of study
I have tried different fields of studies ranging from pure science back in secondary school and even arts (business) during my foundation. However, I began to realise that I’m a lot like my mom, who’s a certified accountant, who completed her CIMA professional accounting papers in 2019, with only one try. I challenged myself to try accounting and see where it would take me. During foundation and the first few undergraduate semesters, I was getting all As for my accounting courses – that’s when I thought to myself that I’ve finally found the right field to pursue.
Studying Bachelor in Accounting at IUMW
It was honestly very tough at first because coming from a pure science background, I had zero knowledge of accounting. But at IUMW, the lecturers are super helpful – especially during the foundation where my lecturer really helped a lot by ensuring his students could keep up with his pace of the lecture. I wouldn’t say that it was all sunshine but I’m proud to say that my friends and I made it through!
Life at IUMW
I was the Student Council’s Financial Officer for the term 2019/2020 alongside my very best friends, Raja Rajeswary, Nur Aisyah Ariana and Nurshameera. I honestly did not want to run for student council because it was my final year and I also just started leading and managing my own NGO (which I’ll touch on later hehe) but my friends really encouraged me and convinced me to make the most out of my final year, and so I did. I learnt so much from being a student council from getting complaints to actually bringing up the complaint to management and the feeling of satisfaction when the complaint was resolved. Just simply amazing. I have always loved helping people so being in the student council allowed me to help not only the IUMW students but also the IUMW management to ‘reach greater heights’. I would also like to share that during my tenure, I actually initiated the IUMW SC Souk platform, which is an online marketplace for IUMW students and staff to buy and sell products. I would definitely say that that is one of my proudest achievements as part of the IUMW Student Council.
Apart from being in the Student Council, I am also the Founder, Vice President and Secretary-General of my very own youth-led organisation called the International, Welfare, Economics & Leadership Dialogue (I-WELD). This organisation was initially founded by my father who wanted a platform for youths all over the world to connect and network. Then he handed it over to me in December 2019 to really structure I-WELD from A to Z. Glad to say that I had my amazing colleagues; Nur Aisyah Ariana, Jasmine Sofiya and Raja Nur Maisarah to assist me in the early development of this organisation. Today, I’m proud to say that I-WELD has 20 very passionate and dedicated members from different countries in the world, different backgrounds of studies but working towards one similar goal; which is to become a world-class leader someday. Last year, we successfully conducted more than 10 projects (despite only one-year of establishment), two of which I would like to highlight. First, the live conference with Baroness Uddin, Member of the Parliament in the United Kingdom where we shared the COVID-19 situation in the UK as well as Malaysia. The other would be our Virtual Economics Forum where we received nearly 200 registrations and it was officiated by Malaysia’s former Chief Secretary, Tan Sri Ismail Bakar. I’m beyond proud of the milestones we’ve achieved and I’m super excited for the projects we’ve planned for 2021!
Life outside of IUMW
I’m a very active person on and off-campus. Besides focusing on my studies and maintaining every semester’s GPA, I tend to take up opportunities that would add value to my resume. During my undergraduate studies, I started off my leadership journey with TimeToTalk: Digital Media as the Head of PR and Protocol. Ever since I fell in love with events management and decided to take up any opportunity I can. My best on-campus leadership experience would be during the TimeToTalk: Women’s Empowerment and during my tenure as the Financial Officer of the Student Council. TimeToTalk: Women’s Empowerment received overwhelming support from so many people and I’m glad to say that almost 500 people attended the event (PHYSICALLY!). We had Deborah Henry, Sherry Amin, Keanu Azman and a few other speakers during the session and it was such a proud moment being an IUMW student, haha.
Apart from my involvement in I-WELD, I was also very active in competitions where I represented IUMW with Raja Rajeswary at the APACs Business Challenge 2018 and we won first, we were also the Top 20 finalists for the ICAEW Business Challenge 2019 and I was the Top 100 Key Opinion Leaders 2019 in Malaysia organised by Monsta Asia. For Merdeka 2019, I was appointed by The Love House of Celebration Sdn Bhd to organise a ‘Panggilan Merdeka’ festival along with 10 IUMW volunteers and we managed to pull in at least 1000 visitors that night with just 4 days of planning from A to Z, simply amazing.
Favourite IUMW memory
My favourite IUMW memories would be my participation in the Malaya-Wales Dance Club (MWDC) and Student Council as the Financial Officer. In 2017, MWDC represented IUMW at Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), Perak for a dance competition and I would say that that was one of the best memories as I was a new foundation student at IUMW and my very first friends were my dance mates.
My second best memory would be my whole tenure as the Financial Officer of IUMW’s Student Council. I learned so much from all my council members as well as the management of IUMW. I will always hold the memories and experience gained during the tenure very close to my heart. I’m forever grateful for the trust put in me and the opportunity to be one of the student leaders of IUMW. I hope during our tenure we’ve done enough to aid the students, especially during the pandemic.
Advice for IUMW students
I would say to live your student life to the fullest. You might think that you really wanna get your studies done and over with, but trust me when you start the 9-5 life, you are going to miss your university life so very much. Try new things, don’t be afraid of failures. Get out of your comfort zone. Take part in events, join competitions, build your resume. I was once told that I’m too reserved and I got tired of listening to people thinking that saying that is a joke, so I took courage and decided to become a whole different version of myself. And remember, when you do, don’t let anyone take credit for your achievements. You are where you are because of your effort, and the support from your family and close friends.
My plans for the future
Just like everyone else, I have big (sometimes too ambitious) plans for my future. In 2 years time, I will be joining the Masters in Financial Economics program at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Ten years from now, I see myself as the Chief Executive (or Finance, whichever hahaha) Officer of a company. But at the moment, I’m living every bit of my life. I am currently the Strategic Business Executive at XIDEAS Sdn Bhd, a Property Marketing Specialist company.