By Nur Iman Eirfan
GOMBAK, 5 December 2022: After a brief setback due to her mother’s passing in her first year, Ameeratul Aniqah Binti Khairol Azman from the Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design (KAED) made a spectacular comeback by achieving the Best Student Award in Conservation.
Ameeratul was awarded her Bachelor of Applied Arts and Design (Honours) in the third session of the 38th IIUM Convocation Ceremony on Sunday (4 December) at the Main Hall of the IIUM Cultural Centre (ICC).
In an interview with IIUMToday, she shared that losing her mother to breast cancer led to her depressed emotional state affecting her studies and she did not achieve what she would have liked to in both the first and second semesters of her first year.
Nevertheless, Ameeratul persevered and entered into her second year where she found unexpected success both to her and her lecturers.
She attributed her success to waking up early at around 3.00 a.m. and 4.00 a.m. to pray Tahajjud, and after much sweat and tears, she achieved a 3.90 Culmulative Grade Average Point (CGPA) in her second year, which boosted her motivation to continue even further.
“I know that my strict routine was a struggle, and I did not practice this as often in my third and fourth years but with effort, comes satisfactory results as shown in the success of my second year,” she said.
Her secret to success was also finishing her assignments earlier than the rest of her batchmates as it provided her with a new perspective when friends asked her for help, allowing her to be conscious of mistakes which she corrected later.
Throughout her years in IIUM, her main motivators were her parents and Allah but since her mother’s passing, her father was the only parental figure she had left.
“I needed to get his blessing throughout my journey, and my mother would remain in my heart for the rest of my life,” she said.
She advised new students going into KAED to take care of themselves and never forget their relationship with Allah SWT since only He can bless us with knowledge.***