By Shaheerah Dzaki
GOMBAK, 1 December 2023: Nurdamia Qistina binti Mohd Azmi from Kulliyyah of Language and Management (KLM) was awarded with the Best Student (Overall) Award alongside her scroll in the sixth session of the 39th IIUM Convocation Ceremony at IIUM, on 29 November 2023 at IIUM Gombak.
Nurdamia Qistina or Mia completed her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Malay for International Communication at the Kulliyyah of Langauges and Management (KLM), with flying colours. She was not only excellent in her study but was also able to excel at it while being heavily involved in the Mahallah Representative Committee (MRC) of Mahallah Zaid bin Harithah and the Independent Performing Arts Club (INPAC).
In an exclusive interview with IIUM Today, she recounted her struggles with her inner self as she had to deal with a lot of negative emotions in her first year of study.
“In order to give yourself a chance to get to know yourself, you must start loving yourself first,†Nurdamia shared. She realised that she had to move forward and should not succumb to despair due to her past failures.
Moreover, she expressed her gratitude to her highly spirited support system. “When I was feeling down, my friends would approach me and sit next to me without doing anything. To me, their presence alone was enough to give me strength,†she remarked.
Her family members were also a part of her strong support system. Without their support, she mentioned that she would not be where she is today.
“Alhamdulillah, I was able to present this award to my parents as a token of my gratitude to them and for them to savour in memory forever,†Nurdamia added.
Furthermore, she conveyed her appreciation towards members of MRC Zaid bin Harithah and INPAC for their unwavering moral support. “If you noticed at the ceremony, some of the members of my clubs and society applauded me loudly when it was my turn to receive the scroll. I was so touched,†she said.
Before graduating, she revealed that she had worked temporarily as a lecturer at the Centre for Foundation Studies (CFS), IIUM, Gambang. She often advised her students to always be kind to others no matter what.
“Unfortunately, It is quite infrequent to meet kind people these days, which is why people will always remember your acts of kindness,†she told IIUM Today.
Since Nurdamia was an active member of her club and society, she had to deal with how to manage her time properly between her study and co-curricular activities. She stressed on how important practising effective time management was to her because her study had to be prioritised over her club activities.
“Most people have the assumption that Malay language courses would not be so hard but the truth was quite the opposite. Imagine if you had to learn grammar but it is much more intricate than that,†Nurdamia explained.
Further into the interview, Nurdamia mentioned how her senior, who was also active in co-curricular activities inspired her a lot. In the 38th IIUM Convocation Ceremony, her senior was awarded with the Best Student Award in Co-curricular.
“The second he got on stage, I thought that one day I would be in his place. And alhamdulillah, today I succeeded in achieving that dream!†she expressed with excitement.
When asked about her future plans, she mentioned that she would be going to report duty for her job in Malacca soon. She also conveyed her plan to continue her study in three or five years time.
At the end of the interview, she shared a lot of inspiring and motivating advice. One of them was to go with the flow and discover what can be learned behind the failure.
Lastly, Nurdamia shared a quote by Imam Shafie, “My heart is at ease knowing that what was meant for me will never miss me, and that what misses me was never meant for me.â€
“Put your trust in Allah. Surrendering doesn’t mean that we are giving up but it’s a process where we are letting the All Mighty take over our affairs,†she remarked. ***
