I started studying for my masters degree in the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur as a part-time student in December 1996 and completed in February 1999. At the same time I carried on with my profession as a school teacher in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Jerantut, Pahang.
I had to choose lectures on Fridays and Saturdays because those were the days I could come to Kuala Lumpur. The lecture times that I normally attended were on Fridays, 3.00 - 6.00 p.m. and 6.00 - 9.00 p.m.; and Saturdays, 8.00 - 11.00 a.m., and 11.00 - 2.00 p.m. Besides that I had to attend graduate seminars which were normally held on Saturdays, 2.00 - 3.00 p.m. I travelled from Jerantut to Kuala Lumpur weekly by bus to attend the lectures.
My project paper for this degree was "Video-films As Comprehension Text For ESL Students". I did this research on a class of Form Four students whom I had taught in 1998. I made used of a video-film entitled "The Prince And The Pauper" as a comprehension text for the students.
Shaking hands with the Chancellor of University Malaya, Sultan Azlan Shah before receiving the scroll.
The most precious moment! Receiving the scroll from the Chancellor!
You can see the Pro-Chancellor, Raja Nazrin Shah sitting there. Sorry, the picture is not so clear.
Feeling so happy after receiving the scroll. Yes, finally after two years of hard work! I made it!
People always say, "there is always a woman behind a man's success and a man behind a woman's success".
This could be true to me, because this is the man behind all the success that I have achieved - my husband, Haji Mohamed Sharif bin Ab Rahim who has given me all the support I need to achieve my ambitions.
So I like to express my most sincere gratitude to my husband who has taken over much of my responsibility as a mother to a young boy who still needs care and attention from his parents, while I was away during weekends.
I must also express my appreciation to him for the moral and material support.
THANK YOU, ABANG!
And not to forget our beloved son, Mohd Yusof who had been very understanding. He accepted the fact that his mother was away for the good of the family. He could take care of himself well while I was away during weekends.
There were also times when my husband was busy during my lecture times. So my son had to follow me to Kuala Lumpur during weekends. We slept in a very small room, almost like a store-room, which I rented in Kampung Kerinchi.
I took him to the university and he would wait for me patiently outside the lecture room. I remember an incident when one of my lecturers felt sorry for him and gave him some chocolates to eat while waiting for me.
THANK YOU, UCOP!