By Siti Nor Hidayah Sahrunizam
John Wooden once said, “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.”
The quote above is what I think could represent the extra effort made by Faizah binti Majahar who was the winner of Royal Education Award Best Student (Overall) IRKHS during the IIUM 35th Convocation Ceremony 2019 on 24 November.
Faizah, 23, from Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (IRKHS), took three and a half years to finish her studies in Arabic Language and Literature. She started her degree from February 2016 and completed it during June 2019, and now she is in progress of doing her masters in Arabic Language as A Second Language.
Being a successful student with Grade Point Average (GPA) 4.0 for five semesters and on Dean’s list every semester, Faizah shared several tips on her study skills which she always practices until today.
- Focus in class and ask the lecturer if there is something that you did not understand
Seems simple but it is somehow difficult things to do because some students rarely ask any question to their lecturer because they are either too shy or afraid.
“It might be because the students are not confident enough to speak,” said Faizah.
Hence, she suggested the students to polish up their soft skills by joining any programmes that are organised by the university and try to learn new things to overcome the problem. As for Faizah, she also joined many programmes that were handled by university and one of them is Community Service Programme in Pattani.
- Do some exercise for healthy living
How does exercise improve your study skill? According to Faizah, jogging in the morning has become her actual routine as almost every day she does that physical activity, except for some particular days where she fasts. Healthier body and mind would give the best result in our studies because the brain will work better especially in improving our memory. It is truly proven when referring to Faizah’s academic result.
- Read al-Quran every day
As expected of Muslims and a product of International University Malaysia (IIUM), Faizah try to stay istiqamah in reading the al-Quran every day after Subuh prayer and before she started to study. By all means, she can balance her worldly and spiritual affairs as a student and vicegerent of Allah.
“I live with this one principle; you can ask anything from Allah. Surely, He will give it if it is a good thing for you,” said Faizah Majahar, that hit me a little bit during the interview with her.
She also mentioned that being a student is not often easy as there are always challenges happening through the journey of studies. Load of assignments and projects? We all face that. For Faizah, the most challenging things that she had faced is involving time management because she once did a part time job while studying and at the same time, joining many programmes. However, she never has the feelings to give up because she took that as a challenge for herself.
Here is the thing, feeling of giving up is normal but sometimes, people tend to limit their potential and never take it as something new to gain experience. Hence, Faizah prompts the students to always find a joy in the little things that they do because we are far more likely to stick to something if we enjoy it.
She also expressed her gratitude to her respective lecturers and family members especially her parents, who support her in terms of motivation and finance. They are the people who motivate her to keep striving to do better.
Indeed, her achievement on getting the Royal Education Award somehow inspired me to become like her. I guess, not only me but all of us should look up on her as we all wish to be successful students like Faizah Majahar.***