My name is Karma Dolma Gurung. People call me by different names but I prefer to be simply called Karma. I am from Nepal, the land of Himalayas. Though gifted with many natural beauties and diversified culture, Nepal is going through a very difficult period. But in many ways my country offers an exotic pleasure of living. When I wake up early in the morning and I unveil the curtains, I can see birds playing and, most beautiful of all, I can see the snow-capped mountains far away from my window, unlike now where I can see only buildings. I miss the morning view a lot. There are seven people in my family – My ‘Ama’ mother, my ‘baa’ father, aunt, grandfather, elder brother and younger sister. I feel like I am the happiest person in the world when I make them happy. My mother and father hold a very special place in my heart. I always worship and cherish them for they are the biggest role models in my life.
I have always had a thirst for knowledge. I have always wanted to learn so many things, meet different people from around the world, and learn about their country and culture. All I ever wanted was a place where I could gain all these knowledge and experiences. I found my wish fulfilled when I got the chance to study in AIU.
Honestly, ever since I came here I have transformed completely from a very shy and dull person to a very confident and bright person. People say that I am very sporty, kind, cheerful and a good leader. I was never like this before. It shows that, as a person, I have undergone many positive changes during my stay here at AIU. I also have been able to make great friends from different country and I plan to visit those countries one day. AIU has given me an opportunity to develop myself with many of the available resources. All in all, I’ve had a significant growth as a learner and I continue to quench my thirst with the help of my beautiful university, ALBUKHARY INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY.
I am Nur Adilah bte Abu Samah. I come from Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia. I am 19 years old. Everybody calls me Joyah because I am a talkative person. 2nd April, 1992 is the most wonderful date for me because I was born on this date. I love shining colour and I really admire colourful things. That is why my shoe laces are orange and green in colour.
My primary school was SK. Tengku Mariam and my secondary school was Temenggong Ibrahim Girls School in Batu Pahat, Johor. I got 4A and 1B in UPSR examination, 6A and 2B in PMR examination and 5A, 4B and 3C in SPM examination. After SPM, I got my motorcycle & car license, so it was easy for me to go anywhere. I also learned how to sew “baju kurung”, and I was one of the marching coach for Cadet Police team under PDRM. I really enjoyed it.
My father is Haji Abu Samah Bin Rauf. He is a retired Immigration Officer. He comes from Malacca and now he is 62 years old. He is a very disciplined and sensitive father and I call him “ABAH”. My beautiful mother is Hajah Rosnani bte Hussin. She is a very shy and loving mother. We call her “Mak” and she comes from Muar. She is 54 years old and a really hardworking housewife. My parents are my life and my love. Every day I miss them so much. Sometimes I regret to be here because I am too far from them but they always motivate me. I have 5 sisters and 1 brother only. My elder sister and brother are already working now. My younger sister is still studying. My “akak” is a nurse in a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, while my “ngah” is a Mathematic teacher in Danau Kota Primary School. My brother, “abang,” is an ICT technician in my hometown and he always works at night. My “andak”, my fourth sister, is one of the researchers in UKM and my fifth sister, “uteh,” is a pharmacist in a famous hospital in Johor Bahru. My younger sister is now waiting for her UPSR result.
I have changed a lot since I got here. Honestly, before coming to AIU, I was afraid to speak in English to anyone. Even in class, I don’t really participate during English sessions. But I love English that is why I join English Drama competitions, since I was in form 3, even though I didn’t know the meaning of the words. I always mixed English and Malay language in my everyday life. I live in Girls School for eleven years. So I can do many things that man can do. I can depend on myself but this is the first time I live far away from my family. From here to Batu Pahat, my hometown, it takes almost 11 hours when we travel by bus. It is really tired but I like to go back, and study far away from my sweetheart.
The first time I came here, on 22nd November 2010, I was so excited because the place was awesome and beautiful. It contains Islamic elements. What surprised me was I was the only one from Johor, South of Malaysia. Every day I learnt English. It made me attracted to English subject. I started to gossip with my roommates and classmates using English, even though sometimes it was hard for us to understand English. Nowadays, I can talk in English much more better and fluently than others. I try to avoid Malay Language in class. In AIU, I also have got many great responsibilities, such as President of female Hostel and President of the Netball Club. I learn from beginning, and nowadays I can handle many things, like female and hostel problems. In AIU, I am also one of the mentors for AMP. I teach English to primary school students and also Islamic education to Form 4 and 5 students. I really enjoy teaching at the orphanage.
I am Mohammed Jahid Hasan Zim, 20 years old and have completed the Intensive English courses at AIU. Now, I am studying at the Centre for Foundation Studies. I believe AIU is great university for sutdents who want to have bright future. The university provides its students with proper education and scholarship. Before coming to this university, I had a lot of trouble and problems with my life, but now I am leading a happier life as a student at AIU. .
I come from Bangladesh, a country with a huge population of about 160 million. It is a peaceful country and has a lot of resources. It is also a land of evergreen trees that everybody will always remember visiting Bangladesh. At first time I did not want to leave my country, but after I reached Malaysia and started to live here, I gradually started to recognize Malaysia as a land of green and got to like the land and its people.
I was born in 1990 in Dhaka in Bangladesh. Then I started my primary school when I was only 4 years old. I finished my high school in 2005 and my higher secondary school in 2007. Then I got a chance to come to Malaysia to study in IIUM, one of the famous public universities in Malaysia. I reached IIUM in 2008 and that was my first ever journey to any foreign country. Then I chose to study Communication Engineering.
It was going well. But it was becoming more difficult to get a scholarship from IIUM. I am from a very poor family and my father is only a journalist. In Bangladesh it is very hard to get good salary for a journalist in the right and honest way. So I was stressed with the pressure of thinking of tuition fees as well as the pressure of study. I got depressed and was looking for a scholarship everywhere in Malaysia. I was not looking back because my parents were making praying for me while I was trying myself. Finally I got a chance from AIU in September, 2010. It was a great moment, a great day for me when I heard the news of the scholarship. Otherwise I would not have a chance to continue my study.
I did not know what was waiting for me at AIU. When I reached the place, I met a number of friendly international students and staff. From the beginning I had to cope with the environment in Malaysia and got to be familiar with its people and culture. So I tried to use my experience at IIUM . And it worked. The moment I got here, I started to gain respect and dignity from others on the campus. It was the consequence of my good conduct and manners with them.
Here I am involved in many clubs and societies which frequently organise programs, seminars, lectures, activities, projects and presentations for students. Some of the clubs that I am playing active roles are Editorial Club, Welcoming Committee, Cricket club, Peer Buddies, Male Hostel Committee, Student Librarians and Martial Arts club. In fact, I am the president of the Cricket Club, Event Manager of the Peer Buddies, and Environment Minister of Male Hostel Committee. These roles are enriching the treasure of my experience every day.
As students of AIU, we are not only involved in clubs and organizations but we also organize and participate in particular cultural programs and events which are being held here frequently based on local as well as international themes. Recently we did our Presentation on Bangladesh. We even participated in International Cooking event. The cross-cultural program called Cultural Night has already been held twice since the first intake. We were the performers as well as organizing committee member. There were also trips to USM (University Sains Malaysia) and UUM (University Utara Malaysia) which had given us much experience and knowledge.
In conclusion, I would say that I feel proud as a student of AIU. The respect, dignity and friends I have here is very unique and beneficial for the future of my life.
I am one of the scholarship students of Albukhary International University whom are from Africa; my name is Hassan Haibe Osman and I am a 22 year old student from a country that does not officially exist namely “Somaliland”. It has a flag, a functioning government, its own police force and a central bank with its own currency but no recognition on the world stage. The former British protectorate broke away from Somalia two decades ago and set up its own government. The lack of recognition makes my country to experience difficult circumstances for instance in education, health, and all the different aspects of social services as we have to start everything from the base after a long struggle with Somalia’s former military regime from 1988 to 1991.
I started my elementary school 1997 and finished within four years. After that I joined an intermediate school for another four years and lastly I had my secondary and high school classes which were two years each. After I graduated in 2009 I couldn’t start university directly because of the low socioeconomic status of my family and the poor circumstance of the country. I was staying home for one year without studying or working. Although I don’t have a big family our background is at a low level of our community. My family consists of five members including me, my mother, my two brothers and my grandmother. None of my family have a job or position to get salary, but my aunt who lives in the Emirates help my family economically and sends $100 each month. Although it is not enough money to cover all the needs of my family at least it can handle some basic needs like electricity, water, the rent of the house and the fees of my younger brother.
I never thought that I would get a chance to continue my higher education in an international university in such a country like Albukhary International University in Malaysia. I got the opportunity with the help of the representative of my country to Malaysia as I was one of the highest scoring students of my high school and finally I arrived at AIU and started a new life. Before I came to Malaysia I had a long and expensive journey. It took me to arrive here in the Albukhary complex two days and around RM3800, which was very difficult for my mother to get that amount of money. Luckily I got it with the help of my mother’s relatives in other countries. I had a flight which took me to five different airports and I was in transit for two nights. This was the first travelling experience of my life.
I was not looking forward to meet completely different students from all over the world with different languages, culture, clothes, religion, food, and even life styles. However I got the experience of communicating with different people. For instance I have two roommates and they are from China and Malaysia; I tried to treat and make them as my own family members but it was difficult for me for the first few months while we were trying to adapt to each other. After I got involved in different clubs and groups at AIU it became easy for me communicating with everyone. I got the experience from those clubs and groups through activities, sharing ideas and team work which showed me the way of communicating with different people. I reminded myself that I will be staying here in Malaysia for five years and the only family, friends and relatives that I will have is the Albukhary community, either my university mates or the surrounding staff and community and that gives me the impression to live with them suitably.
Getting involved in the society around us is another good point which I have learned in Malaysia. It is an eye opener the way people help each other practicing humanitarianism in the neighborhood by taking part in community services activities. I found for myself good reflection points in knowing my strengths, weaknesses, capabilities and limitations. Alor Star showed me the way people behave and the city is welcoming to new comers which I appreciate. However, local transport is not very available and sometimes it takes us two hours to get a bus or taxi to go the city center. The food and weather are also completely different from my country. I am used to live in a seasonal country whereby we have annually four seasons which are: Winter, Autumn, Spring and Summer. Likewise the average temperature is 25oC, but here in Malaysia it’s hotter than my country and more humid.
However, I have adapted to all these food and weather diversions. I have learned to tolerate it and if I feel inconvenienced I never like to complain about anything. I always remind myself of the poor conditions that I have left in my country and my home, so this makes it easy to feel like as if I am in my family. My principle that I have convinced myself of is: “keep the vision in your mind and never look back at the past, learn from your mistakes and experiences, take the barriers as trivial and minor things, make use of the chance that you have and focus on what you are going to be.”
All in all during my stay at AIU, the classes that I attended and activities that I am involved in gave me good experiences for example in leadership, communication, team work, and in other opportunities and responsibilities that we have.