IIUM grants Amyni Natasya KAHS Best Student (Overall) Award at 40th Convocation

By, Afifah Syahmina Nordin

GOMBAK, 20 November 2024: Graduand, Amyni Natasya Binti Suhaimi from the Department of Medical Imaging, Kulliyyah of Allied Health Sciences (KAHS) was awarded Best Student (Overall) in the fourth session of the 40th IIUM Convocation Ceremony on 17 November, at IIUM Gombak. She received this award in recognition of her outstanding performance in both academic and co-curricular activities.

She received the award from a member of the Board of Governors, His Excellency Professor Dato’ Dr. Koutoub Moustapha Sano.

In an exclusive interview with IIUMToday, she expressed her disbelief for receiving the award, as there was stiff competition in her Kulliyyah that had many good students from several departments and she did not expect to be the best amongst them.

“Medical imaging is one of the back-bones of healthcare yet it has not been receiving much recognition compared to medicine,” said Amyni when asked what made her pursue a degree in medical imaging. She also conveyed her wish that the course would get more recognition in future, while in the meantime she also encouraged new juniors to apply for the bachelor’s program as it is fun to learn.

She mentioned the stories behind her achievement. Despite being a person who loved to memorise theories, she also faced difficulties in her study. She revealed that one of the challenging courses she took was radiographic image evaluation in her second year. She explained that once she had received the x-ray images, she needed to interpret them and visualise the diagnostics information. This made her become a visual learner as it is one of the main skills that is needed to interpret x-ray images. 

Moreover, she disclosed that her primary source of motivation was her family members, especially her parents who would always give her a wake up call when she wanted to study in the early mornings. Other than that, she expressed her gratitude towards her lecturers as they would always allow her to ask questions when she faced difficulties, even past their working hours. 

“When one thing isn’t meant to be yours, then there will be many signs telling you that it will not be yours,” shared Amyni when asked about the valuable lessons that she learnt at the IIUM. She once felt disappointed for not receiving an award from her department, but it did not stop her from becoming an outstanding student in her Kulliyyah eventually. 

However, success did not come in one night but it came with continuous hard work and the dedication of a person. Her advice for the students was, “take a break when you feel like you need it and if you feel like there is something missing in your life, don’t forget to check on your relationship with Allah SWT,” and instead of giving up on studies she mentioned, “don’t dwell on your past, just accept it,” as it is better to move on from your mistake and be a better person. 

Lastly, she also thanked her batch mates (named Luminaries 17) for being supportive during her study. “Thank you for the occasional fun distractions that kept me sane,” said Amyni at the end of the exclusive interview with IIUMToday.***