By Wan Eizzul Islam Wan Zulkifli
This is not so much a New Year message but a sort of an appreciation of gratefulness and a way to say thank you.
The past two years of my life have been a roller-coaster ride, with moving back to my home country after 15 years of overseas’ stay and starting over with basically everything from friends and family to studies. But I’m glad to have had the opportunity to start all over, to push restart on life somewhere else in the world, improve upon myself and become a better person. In the similar tradition of New Year, it was like a beginning to something new. That being said, it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies the past few years.
There were many difficult obstacles and challenges that I had to face and there are still many more to come. One of these challenges was that of finding a place to continue my studies. After swiftly and surprisingly packing up and leaving my adopted country, I didn’t really have time to carefully scout out the higher educational institutions here in Malaysia.
Also having arrived home just after the semester had begun in February, I’d have to wait quite a while to begin my studies, but that did not dampen my spirits. Try and try again, I registered for various universities trying to find the best of the best in what little time I had and finally, the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) sent me a letter of acceptance for their June intake. Not my first choice but I have never regretted taking the offer.
IIUM has been an amazing second home for me. A wonderful, rich and diverse environment where students can interact and participate in many activities while exploring their inner piety through the religion of Islam. What was first a challenge now became a blessing in disguise. IIUM being an international university made it easier for me to adapt and learn among friends the culture and traditions as well as norms and values of Malaysia. Language was not much of a barrier with English being the medium of teaching and making friends was not too difficult because of the many similarities we share.
Choosing what to study was made simple with the right influence and advice from friends and seniors who led me to the main reason as to why I’m writing this article. The Department of Communication, IIUM has been in more than many ways supportive not only to my studies but my well-being in the university and that has allowed me to think back on all the opportunities that have gotten me this far.
From being apart of the integral revitalising of the campus radio station, IIUM.fm, to reporting and writing news on major campus events for the online news portal, IIUMToday, and even having a role in the Communication Student Association (COSA) to help nurture and improve relationships among students and their lecturers, all these came about from the trust and responsibility given to me by the Department of Communication and the lecturers who stand firm to bring a brighter future for all communication students of IIUM.
With brilliant mentors guiding the students on the best path available to us, what is there not to be grateful for? My sincere thanks and appreciations go to the lecturers of the Department of Communication, who work hard everyday to make a difference in their students’ lives and to all those who have guided me through these past few years.
These are the Confessions of a Third Culture Kid, whose culture holds no boundaries, no matter where you are from and unity is among those who strive for peace.***