By: Alex Ardiansyah
SERDANG, Oct 22 -Two national athletes, Nur Syafazliyana Mohd Ali and Ivy Cheah Hsiao Yong, not only received their bachelor's degrees but also made great success when they were selected as excellent students to receive awards at the 42nd UPM Convocation ceremony.
Nur Syafazliya, the captain of the national netball team, and Ivy Cheah, a fencing athlete, are among the 12 graduates who will receive the university excellence awards at the convocation ceremony held from 27 till 30 October. Nur Syafazliyana, a student from the Bachelor of Education (Physical Education) programme, the Faculty of Educational Studies, will receive the Razlan Putra Award while Ivy Cheah from the Bachelor of Science (Dietetics) programme, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences will receive the Emeritus Professor Tan Sri Dr. Rashdan Baba Gold Award Medal.
Nur Syafazliyana, who led the national netball team in winning the gold medal in SEA Games 2017, said that she did not neglect her studies despite representing the country in sports.
"Studying is my responsibility when in UPM. Being a student and a national athlete at the same time requires a lot of sacrifices due to the challenges faced.
"One must know how to divide the time. I treat training as a form of entertainment so I could get rid of tiredness," she said.
Ivy Cheah said that being a national athlete does not mean that studying can be neglected.
"I focused on my studies especially in the final year, and I have never expected to be selected to receive this award," said Ivy who participated in the World Championships in Russia and Grand Prix in Shanghai, China.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Aiman ​​Mohd Badrulzaman Shah from the Bachelor of Science with Education (Honours) with a major in Physics from the Faculty of Science, was the first student to receive the Student Entrepreneurship Award which was introduced this year in UPM.
He said he did not expect that his efforts together with five other friends in starting up a business which managed to create job opportunities for 20 others, were also evaluated by UPM and awarded the UPM Student Entrepreneurship Award. - UPM
