By Najwa binti Mazlan
GOMBAK, 23 March 2015: Every lecturer would say to be successful, it is important for a student to take down notes every time you come to class. This is important because you might not have time to study later on. Therefore, note-taking is one of the best ways to save time.
According to the research done by the University of California Berkeley, information not found in notes had only a five percent chance of being remembered. Then this research supported by Howe (1970) cited by Longman & Atkinson (1999) that if important information was contained in notes, it had a 34 per cent chance of being remembered.
Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Student Society (IRKSS) in collaboration with Student Learning Enhancement Unit (SLEU) held a talk on the topic “Before I Get PhD” last week as part of  the programme for SLEU’s Edutainment Week.
The speakers of the talk were Assistant Prof. Dr. Miszairi Sitiris, Assistant Prof. Dr. Abdulhamid Mohamed Ali Zaroum and Associate Prof. Dr. Haslina Ibrahim from Islamic Revealed Knowledge (IRK).
The forum focused on how the speakers managed their time to study to become successful in their life. According to Dr. Miszairi, it is not difficult to handle it when you have a target on what you want to achieve.
œI got married when I was a second year student doing my Bachelor’s degree. The commitment became double compared to before. Plus I was doing double degrees during those times which was Bachelor of Fiqh and Usul-Fiqh with Psychology. Alhamdulillah, I was able to finish it within three and the half years without taking any short semester courses, he explained.
He also said that living as a married man is not easy. Moreover, you need to manage well between student life and personal life.
œAs a student, you need to use your young age to seek more knowledge, do a lot of ibadah and build good relationship with human beings, if you do not it you would regret later on, Dr. Miszairi said.
The second speaker, Dr. Haslina, told the audience that she had stayed in IIUM for a very long time because she attended her secondary study in Sekolah Menengah Agama Wilayah Persekutuan (SMAWP) which was located in Petaling Jaya since 1984.
œDue to my family background, I always tried to work harder and wanted to do better in my life. I did not come from a religious background, hence, when I got the offer to join SMAWP, I was a little bit disappointed because I really wanted to go to a boarding school.
However, it was actually the starting point which Allah has set for me to turn myself 360 degrees, she said.
After completing her secondary school, she furthered her study at University Malaya, Nilam Puri, with a Bachelor’s degree of Usuluddin, a Master’s degree of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Heritage and a PhD in Usul al-Din and Comparative Religion.
She noted that being married and studying at the same time was not an easy task. The time to study was limited but the blessings that Allah gave were unlimited. She realised how this had greatly influenced her life.
Dr. Haslina said, œIf there is a chance to turn back the clock, I will ensure that my time is spent on reading a lot of books, spending more time in library and doing a lot of ibadah. This is the best time for us to do a lot of things because we are still young. If you want to wait until you get older, you will regret it. Believe me.
The speaker, Dr. Abdulhamid Mohamed Ali Zaroum from Eritria, Africa said he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Quran and Sunnah with Political Science, a Master’s degree in Quran and Sunnah and a PhD in International Islamic Relations.
œAfter my parents came back from hajj, my parents told me a lot of thing about Malaysia. Starting from that day I love Malaysia very much until my sibling called me ˜Kuala Lumpur. Alhamdulillah, my dream became true when I got an offer to further my study here, he added.
When he arrived in Malaysia, he realised that there was a language barrier. He faced difficulties in learning the subjects and to communicate. Then he changed his course to Arabic subjects.
œIIUM is like my second home and I live in Malaysia more than in my home country. More than 50 years I live here. I learned a lot of things. My advice to all of you, learn and study because the learning process is endless. The more you learn, the more you know. Ibnu Abbas narrated: “I used to ask question. When I get an answer, I will write down, understand and remember,” said Dr. Abdul Hamid.
He mentioned that he also faced a lot of difficulties when he was trying to finish his study. His scholarship ended before he completed his study. It was then that he took a lot of part time jobs such as a translator, teaching Arabic in Islamic school and did many other things.***