By Azman Zakaria
Photo by Marina Ismail, Noor Azreen Awang & Mohd Hasrul Hamdan
SERDANG, 6 Nov – "For the sake of knowledge, a person needs to be willing to travel and be apart from the family. Such sacrifices must be made," said Nazerita Lasumin, a student from Ranau, Sabah.
For her efforts and sacrifices, today, Nazerita, 23, received a Bachelor of Science degree at Universiti Putra Malaysia’s (UPM) 41st Convocation Ceremony, here.
"The atmosphere is different, particularly when being far apart from the family, but we must quickly try to adapt to the new environment," she said.
The eighth child of nine siblings said that if faced with any problems, they would have to be resolved on her own unless family’s views and advice were needed.
"I do not want to trouble my family; I do not want them to worry. Nevertheless, I always contacted my family to ask how they were doing," she said.
She said that she was grateful and happy to be able to complete her bachelor's degree within the stipulated duration.
She said throughout her course of study at UPM, she returned to Sabah two or three times a year; however, before the final examination, she did not return home for more than a year as there were many assignments to be completed.
"This is one of the sacrifices that must be faced... not being able to go home to meet the family for quite a long time," said Nazerita who also hopes to further her studies in the field of environmental science next year. - UPM
