By Noor Eszereen Juferi
SERDANG, Nov 19: "Mother, you must be strong, I’m here," those were the words uttered by Muhd ​​Aireill Irfan to his mother Nurul Athirah Abdullah when she was crying due to hardship in life. Nurul Athirah Abdullah received a degree in Bachelor of Science (Human Resource Development).
She is a single mother who lives in Song, Sarawak, and had to take a two-hour boat ride to her learning centre in Sibu, Sarawak.
"I am thankful that even though my children were young at that time, they understood my difficulties and provided me with moral support to continue facing the challenges in life," she said at the 43rd Convocation Ceremony of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) here.
It was also a special day as today was also her eldest son’s 11th birthday.
She added that during her 5th semester, her life changed as a result of a divorce, and she was left all alone with no one to help her with her problems, especially financial problems.
"In my 6th Semester, I had to postpone my studies for a semester to earn more money to pay for tuition fees," she said, and she almost gave up in the 7th Semester.
Nurul Athirah, a convert, said the faces of her children had encouraged her.
"When I see them... my heart tickled 'if I stopped learning, what would happen to my kids'? Who will they look up to as their source of inspiration?" she said.
She supplemented her income by selling food such as ‘nasi lemak’ and ‘roti jala’ at a school near her house before going to work in KEMAS Song, Sarawak.
“At times, my children followed me to lectures and exams because no one could look after them. The distance from my school to the learning centre was far. I had to bring the kids along even during my final examinations,” she said. – UPM
