By: Kavitha A/P Gnanavelan
Student of Bachelor of Human Development Science, FEM
SERDANG, Jan 9 ─ Never thought of giving up her studies, Sharmila D/O Jayabalan, 26, has successfully graduated from the Bachelor of Education (Teaching English as a Second Language) programme, Faculty of Educational Studies (FPP), at the 44th Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Convocation Ceremony here.
Being the eldest in the family, she has to shoulder the family responsibilities because her mother is a single mother, and her three siblings are still studying.
Sharmila looked up to her mother as her idol, for her mother has always been a woman with tenacity, supporting her children’s education from young until university.
Hence, she is inspired to be someone great like her mother.
"Without the help and support from my mother, my dream would not have been achieved to see this beautiful moment," she said.
Meanwhile, she is serving as a teacher in a government school in Kuala Lumpur, and she is working hard to provide her family with a better life.
"Despite the financial constraints, I did not see it as a barrier for me to give up, and so I decided to apply for a KPM scholarship to reduce the financial burden of my family," she said.
She added that one needs to put in effort and have the determination to succeed, so one will not regret in the future. Apart from that, respecting parents and praying to God are among the important elements for success in life.
"In life, there will be many challenges, but we must strive to achieve something valuable for ourselves and not be weak individuals," she said.
She also motivated UPM students to make the most of their time as a student and to always attend their online classes according to the scheduled time given by their lecturers and study hard. – UPM
