4 years ago I made up my mind to further my study in UTAR. A lot of my friends against my option and they said, 'It's going to be very tough for you. UTAR is not like your previous university, you can hardly find any of your friends there.' And by friends, they mean people from my community. They also said that why I have to go there when I can get a better option? All of them continuously giving me such a bad impression and repeatedly said 'It's going to be tough for you. Very tough.' Well they have their points, so do I. 4 years ago, I got an offer to continue my study from another university, and surprisingly I didn't feel happy at all even though my friends received the same offers. I was contemplating to go or not so I told myself, I have to get out from my comfort zone. They can give you all sort of impressions, but you have to get to experience it by yourself.

So this little Malay girl finally made up her mind to further her study in UTAR regardless any negative views that she received. I still remember the first day I went to the campus to register my course. My mind was clouded with a lot of things on 'What if people look down on me' What if I'm the only weirdest person in the class? What if they act cold?' Well something amazing happen on my first day. When i was about to go to cafeteria alone to grab some lunch, a random girl approached me and asked if I was about to go for a lunch too. Without any hesitation, I nodded and she invited me to join her as a nice gesture. I was stunned by her kindness, because my mind was clouded by those negative thinking. We both talked and joined by her other friends, regardless our colour, our culture, our background. Nobody is going to judge you by your physical appearance, and the most important thing is we are all Malaysians.

For all those rocky 4 years, I learn to value myself more. I learn not to be timid among others; I learn that we are all just same, I learn not to be afraid of being different and I should be proud of my own uniqueness. University life is a part of learning process, and by far, I have experienced a lot of things and it's such an eye-opening. I have to admit, being a minority in the community is not as easy as I thought but it somehow let you see world in other perceptive and try to be in someone else shoes. I would like to express my appreciation to my dearest friends, my lecturers who I admire and have learnt so much from them and my family who never stop believing in me and keep on supporting me. For all those sweat, blood and tears in these past 4 years, we have finally made it. One thing for sure, I am proud to call myself as one of UTAR alumni.