M.A Language Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Alhamdulillah! I couldnt be more grateful to have made my parents proud of what I have achieved. It was a short 22 months journey, but it was intense and enjoyable at the same time. I registered in October 2015, and exactly two years later I attended this convocation ceremony. It was a perfect day.

Photo credit to USM's Official Facebook Page

During the ceremony, I sat next to an international student from Yemen and a teacher from Sarawak (on the photo above). We exchanged stories about each others' journey towards this masters degree, and I believe no one had it easy. It was a lonely journey, yet full of challenges. In my opinion, you dont need to be book-smart to survive as a postgraduate student (its surely a bonus if you are), but you definitely have to be strong in many ways. Its important to keep yourself motivated, inspired, hard-working, and (insert more positive adjectives here haha). Lucky for me, I have my sources of strength.



My sources of strength are of course, my family. (They are also my financial source, without them I wouldnt be able to pay those university fees haha jk jk). Thank you, Mama Papa. Im also lucky to have my roommates (Ira for the first few months, and then Mira for the next 10 months).



Mira is only 23 and she's already a masters degree holder, whutttt. Hashtags #respect #idola haha. Congratulations Mira, we did it!


And then of course, I had my beloved supervisor, Prof Tengku Sepora. She was there all the way, guiding and teaching, not once downgrading (even when my work is not up to her standards, she'd still find nice ways to talk to me about it). Thank you so much Prof! Honestly all your "youre a good student", "good job, Izazi", and "I know you can do it" helped to keep me going. :')



Studying away from your hometown meaning youre leaving your friends behind, but that doesnt mean you cant make new friends in your new surroundings. I practically made friends with everyone possible. I dont have that many friends in Penang, but those few are the ones most important. I even made friends with my student cab customers (if you read my previous posts you'd know that I used to drive student cabs - something like Grabcar). I also did many more part time/freelance jobs to fill my time and earn some cash - will share more about this in another blogpost soon.

Congratulations to you too, Dr Yushalify Misro!

Thanks for coming, Wai Kit! Tahun depan awak pula naik pentas okay!

Overall, my masters life was an amazing journey. Im blessed to be surrounded by great people who made every step of the journey worth remembering. Hmm, I wonder where will my next path be? Hehehe, cant wait for the next 'episode' of my life.

Thanks for reading this long post, and thank you again for all your wishes. And oh, I'd also like to thank Hijabista Magazine for featuring me in their website, hehe. Theyre too sweet! You may read the article here: http://www.hijabista.com.my/gadis-hijabi-ini-bukan-saja-cantik-manis-tetapi-juga-bijak-pandai-aktor-lelaki-ini-didik-anak/