Convocation at Management and Science University (MSU) is a day of ceremony as well as jubilation; a biannual tradition of revelry celebrating accomplishments. Amid the abundant moments of joy, some were set aside to share personal meanings of, and the journeys taken to, graduation day.
The route unchartered
Newly minted Mohd Shukri Yajid Outstanding Award 2019 winner Amir Asyraf Zainudin has siblings who all chose the MSU Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme. At first, he did, too. He had begun studies on the MSU Foundation (Science Biology / Health Science) programme when his heart started beating a different rhythm, so he progressed to MSU Bachelor in International Business (Honours) instead at the Faculty of Business Management and Professional Studies (FBMP).
And international did he go, with 33 countries visited and counting. Naming Ireland and Turkey as his favourites, fondly recalling his Irish foster grandmother and the milk with cookies that she served, the world traveler is seeing no stop signs anywhere, anytime soon.
In between three years of running to classes, jetting away on the MSU Global Mobility and Global Leadership programmes, polishing his customer communication skills at Domino's, and countless community engagements, (all the while maintaining his 3.85 CGPA), Amir’s route to a First Class degree was also filled with the Dean’s List every semester and FBMP’s Best Student Award.
The secret to his success is the motto he lives by; daring to dream and making it happen. He learned from his role-model parents to stretch the positive as far as it can go, and to turn the negative into opportunities.
Currently handling the Government Sales Account for AirAsia Group Berhad, Amir Asyraf is aiming to be the best member of staff on the world’s best budget carrier’s payroll. Not one to rest on his laurels, he is taking Mandarin lessons and setting his sights on Master’s studies.
MSU Master in International Business
A catalytic course to excellence
MSU Convo25’s Academic Award winner Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) Muhammad Zharif Mohd Nizam was about to realize his lifelong ambition of studying overseas on Public Services Department’s (JPA) scholarship when he was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma. His dream was crushed. Enter chemotherapy and the full weight of the blow bowed him down to imminent depression.
MSU Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology
“I was easily tired, I almost lost my hair, and I was prone to infection. Chemotherapy really changed my body. Fortunately for me, I had the support and optimism of people around me.”
MSU Bachelor in Psychology (Honours)
And there was also MSU.
“When you are entrusted with taxpayer money, you feel the weight of responsibility to make good on that trust. It was a catalyst for me to strive to be a sterling example of a JPA scholarship holder, pursuing excellence in every way and challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone. MSU, with its holistic approach to education, was my perfect match.”
MSU scholarships for its best students at the 25th Convocation Ceremony
Recalling his most memorable learning experience as the industry exposure at UNILAB Pharma, away in the Philippines on MSU’s Global Internship Programme, the member of MSU Pharmacy Club who received the Junainah Abdul Hamid Award at the 10th IMPACHS appreciates the international stint.
MSU Master of Clinical Pharmacy
“I was there only a month yet it taught me so much about how diverse our life can be if we go out and explore the world. My mother is a counsellor and she had taught me how to understand and deal with people. From my father, I learned discipline as well as time and money management. I am lucky to be at the receiving end.”
MSU Bachelor of Counselling and Guidance (Honours)
All that learning equipped him to be more effective in his future career as he puts to good use the soft skills he acquired and developed during his time at MSU School of Pharmacy (SPH).
“My leadership, networking and public speaking skills were refined at MSU. It is a huge plus for a future pharmacist like me.”
Currently part-timing at a music studio while waiting for hospital placement, Muhammad Zharif is also improving his guitar playing through lessons.
“Pharmacy may be my passion but music is my hobby. Expressing my feelings through music and exploring my creative side is important to balancing the rigours of a career.”
MSU Bachelor in Music (Composition and Arranging) (Honours)
MSU Bachelor in Music Performance (Honours)
MSU Bachelor in Music Technology (Honours)
And his advice for success?
“Take care of your health, because your future depends on it. Live life to the fullest, while you are still young and energetic. Always try to keep getting stronger, and never give up. To quote W. Clement Stone, ‘With a positive mental attitude, failure is a learning experience; a rung on the ladder, a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order and prepare to try again'."
A people’s physician
MSU Medical Centre Industry Award recipient Dr Abdul Khalid Saleh is another proud member of the Management and Science University (MSU) alumni association.
MSU Medical Centre celebrates healthcare's heroes
“Unlike at other universities where the medical faculty is situated apart from the other faculties, MSU's close knit structure allows me to mingle with students from other fields of study and enrich my learning with life lessons. It is such a lively and vibrant campus filled with passionate lecturers who take every effort to ensure each student reaches his or her full potential.”
In song and spirit, harmony across diversity
Bonding over flavours and colours
He says his best experience at MSU International Medical School (IMS) was the time he spent speaking to a group of orphans about healthcare and the importance of a balanced diet as well as a healthy lifestyle.
MSU Bachelor in Nutrition (Honours)
“It was on the GPS Ramadan programme in my Year One at MSU IMS and we were helping a Seri Menanti community in Negeri Sembilan. Such a learning experience not only increases your knowledge of community health but also develops you into being well-rounded, which is in line with MSU's holistic ideals for its future graduates.”
Giving and grateful, in GPS Ramadan
Which also leads to his advice for MSUrians present and future.
“Do not be content with merely attending classes and doing tutorials but also engage in the campus activities. Always give the absolute best in your every endeavour but never compromise your ideals and beliefs in the process.”
MSU Master in Biomedical Sciences
MSU Bachelor of Medical Sciences (Honours)
MSU Diploma in Biomedical Sciences
On his choice of MBBS, the graduate who shares his passion in Medicine with four other alumni siblings – two of whom attended MSU IMS Shah Alam campus and the other two the Bangalore campus – puts it to the familial ties. The firstborn is also incidentally the fifth in the family to graduate as a doctor.
“Sure, there had been sibling rivalry at play, but then I have always enjoyed working with people. I find that Medicine allows me to help people in a manner immensely meaningful to me and suitable with my skillsets as a person.”
Medical School story: United Ambition
Finding his voice as muezzin and medic
Making her own cool with her brand of do
Dr Abdul Khalid Salleh is currently reconnecting with the people of his hometown in Melaka, where he hopes to live and serve his housemanship.
MSU Master in Biomedicine (by Research)
MSU Doctor of Philosophy (by Research) in Biomedicine
Shawshank Redemption
“My biggest inspiration will forever be my mother; a fighter who never gives up and taught me to trust the Almighty in every decision,” says Mazayu Nadzirah Mazmadi, MSU Bachelor in Education (TESL) (Honours).
Currently working at ESL Training Centre where she helps adults and children alike improve their English Language proficiency, the MSU School of Education and Social Sciences (SESS) alumna had always been interested in English. The reason she pursued her BTESL at MSU was the fact that her two other siblings had graduated from MSU. Her brothers Mohamad Mokhzani Shah and Mohamad Syazwan Shah hold a Bachelor in Culinary Arts (Honours) and a Bachelor in International Business (Honours), respectively. Mohd Syazwan had progressed to MSU BIB from MSU Diploma in Management, while Mazayu herself comes from the first cohort of MSU Foundation in TESL.
MSU Bachelor in English Language and Literature Studies (Honours)
MSU Diploma in Education (TESL)
Once a recipient of the President’s List Award, she says another memorable experience on the MSU BTESL programme is Theatre, which exposed her to the art form and working collaboratively with people from different backgrounds. She also remembers taking part in an MSU community engagement with the Street Feeders of KL, providing personal hygiene kits and food aid to the homeless.
“It made me realize that we as humans have to give back to society and help the unfortunate.”
And her words to live by?
“Know that struggles are an inevitable part of life but you may choose to overcome them. You either move your life in a positive direction, or stagnate and accept failures in life. So, quoting my favourite movie The Shawshank Redemption, get busy living.”
Convocation at Management and Science University (MSU) is a day of ceremony as well as jubilation; a biannual tradition of revelry celebrating accomplishments. Amid the abundant moments of joy, some were set aside to share personal meanings of, and the journeys taken to, graduation day.
The route unchartered
Newly minted Mohd Shukri Yajid Outstanding Award 2019 winner Amir Asyraf Zainudin has siblings who all chose the MSU Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme. At first, he did, too. He had begun studies on the MSU Foundation (Science Biology / Health Science) programme when his heart started beating a different rhythm, so he progressed to MSU Bachelor in International Business (Honours) instead at the Faculty of Business Management and Professional Studies (FBMP).
And international did he go, with 33 countries visited and counting. Naming Ireland and Turkey as his favourites, fondly recalling his Irish foster grandmother and the milk with cookies that she served, the world traveler is seeing no stop signs anywhere, anytime soon.
In between three years of running to classes, jetting away on the MSU Global Mobility and Global Leadership programmes, polishing his customer communication skills at Domino's, and countless community engagements, (all the while maintaining his 3.85 CGPA), Amir’s route to a First Class degree was also filled with the Dean’s List every semester and FBMP’s Best Student Award.
The secret to his success is the motto he lives by; daring to dream and making it happen. He learned from his role-model parents to stretch the positive as far as it can go, and to turn the negative into opportunities.
Currently handling the Government Sales Account for AirAsia Group Berhad, Amir Asyraf is aiming to be the best member of staff on the world’s best budget carrier’s payroll. Not one to rest on his laurels, he is taking Mandarin lessons and setting his sights on Master’s studies.
MSU Master in International Business
A catalytic course to excellence
MSU Convo25’s Academic Award winner Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) Muhammad Zharif Mohd Nizam was about to realize his lifelong ambition of studying overseas on Public Services Department’s (JPA) scholarship when he was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma. His dream was crushed. Enter chemotherapy and the full weight of the blow bowed him down to imminent depression.
MSU Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology
“I was easily tired, I almost lost my hair, and I was prone to infection. Chemotherapy really changed my body. Fortunately for me, I had the support and optimism of people around me.”
MSU Bachelor in Psychology (Honours)
And there was also MSU.
“When you are entrusted with taxpayer money, you feel the weight of responsibility to make good on that trust. It was a catalyst for me to strive to be a sterling example of a JPA scholarship holder, pursuing excellence in every way and challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone. MSU, with its holistic approach to education, was my perfect match.”
MSU scholarships for its best students at the 25th Convocation Ceremony
Recalling his most memorable learning experience as the industry exposure at UNILAB Pharma, away in the Philippines on MSU’s Global Internship Programme, the member of MSU Pharmacy Club who received the Junainah Abdul Hamid Award at the 10th IMPACHS appreciates the international stint.
MSU Master of Clinical Pharmacy
“I was there only a month yet it taught me so much about how diverse our life can be if we go out and explore the world. My mother is a counsellor and she had taught me how to understand and deal with people. From my father, I learned discipline as well as time and money management. I am lucky to be at the receiving end.”
MSU Bachelor of Counselling and Guidance (Honours)
All that learning equipped him to be more effective in his future career as he puts to good use the soft skills he acquired and developed during his time at MSU School of Pharmacy (SPH).
“My leadership, networking and public speaking skills were refined at MSU. It is a huge plus for a future pharmacist like me.”
Currently part-timing at a music studio while waiting for hospital placement, Muhammad Zharif is also improving his guitar playing through lessons.
“Pharmacy may be my passion but music is my hobby. Expressing my feelings through music and exploring my creative side is important to balancing the rigours of a career.”
MSU Bachelor in Music (Composition and Arranging) (Honours)
MSU Bachelor in Music Performance (Honours)
MSU Bachelor in Music Technology (Honours)
And his advice for success?
“Take care of your health, because your future depends on it. Live life to the fullest, while you are still young and energetic. Always try to keep getting stronger, and never give up. To quote W. Clement Stone, ‘With a positive mental attitude, failure is a learning experience; a rung on the ladder, a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order and prepare to try again'."
A people’s physician
MSU Medical Centre Industry Award recipient Dr Abdul Khalid Saleh is another proud member of the Management and Science University (MSU) alumni association.
MSU Medical Centre celebrates healthcare's heroes
“Unlike at other universities where the medical faculty is situated apart from the other faculties, MSU's close knit structure allows me to mingle with students from other fields of study and enrich my learning with life lessons. It is such a lively and vibrant campus filled with passionate lecturers who take every effort to ensure each student reaches his or her full potential.”
In song and spirit, harmony across diversity
Bonding over flavours and colours
He says his best experience at MSU International Medical School (IMS) was the time he spent speaking to a group of orphans about healthcare and the importance of a balanced diet as well as a healthy lifestyle.
MSU Bachelor in Nutrition (Honours)
“It was on the GPS Ramadan programme in my Year One at MSU IMS and we were helping a Seri Menanti community in Negeri Sembilan. Such a learning experience not only increases your knowledge of community health but also develops you into being well-rounded, which is in line with MSU's holistic ideals for its future graduates.”
Giving and grateful, in GPS Ramadan
Which also leads to his advice for MSUrians present and future.
“Do not be content with merely attending classes and doing tutorials but also engage in the campus activities. Always give the absolute best in your every endeavour but never compromise your ideals and beliefs in the process.”
MSU Master in Biomedical Sciences
MSU Bachelor of Medical Sciences (Honours)
MSU Diploma in Biomedical Sciences
On his choice of MBBS, the graduate who shares his passion in Medicine with four other alumni siblings – two of whom attended MSU IMS Shah Alam campus and the other two the Bangalore campus – puts it to the familial ties. The firstborn is also incidentally the fifth in the family to graduate as a doctor.
“Sure, there had been sibling rivalry at play, but then I have always enjoyed working with people. I find that Medicine allows me to help people in a manner immensely meaningful to me and suitable with my skillsets as a person.”
Medical School story: United Ambition
Finding his voice as muezzin and medic
Making her own cool with her brand of do
Dr Abdul Khalid Salleh is currently reconnecting with the people of his hometown in Melaka, where he hopes to live and serve his housemanship.
MSU Master in Biomedicine (by Research)
MSU Doctor of Philosophy (by Research) in Biomedicine
Shawshank Redemption
“My biggest inspiration will forever be my mother; a fighter who never gives up and taught me to trust the Almighty in every decision,” says Mazayu Nadzirah Mazmadi, MSU Bachelor in Education (TESL) (Honours).
Currently working at ESL Training Centre where she helps adults and children alike improve their English Language proficiency, the MSU School of Education and Social Sciences (SESS) alumna had always been interested in English. The reason she pursued her BTESL at MSU was the fact that her two other siblings had graduated from MSU. Her brothers Mohamad Mokhzani Shah and Mohamad Syazwan Shah hold a Bachelor in Culinary Arts (Honours) and a Bachelor in International Business (Honours), respectively. Mohd Syazwan had progressed to MSU BIB from MSU Diploma in Management, while Mazayu herself comes from the first cohort of MSU Foundation in TESL.
MSU Bachelor in English Language and Literature Studies (Honours)
MSU Diploma in Education (TESL)
Once a recipient of the President’s List Award, she says another memorable experience on the MSU BTESL programme is Theatre, which exposed her to the art form and working collaboratively with people from different backgrounds. She also remembers taking part in an MSU community engagement with the Street Feeders of KL, providing personal hygiene kits and food aid to the homeless.
“It made me realize that we as humans have to give back to society and help the unfortunate.”
And her words to live by?
“Know that struggles are an inevitable part of life but you may choose to overcome them. You either move your life in a positive direction, or stagnate and accept failures in life. So, quoting my favourite movie The Shawshank Redemption, get busy living.”