Lyna Mohamad
Siti Nurfauzimah binti Haji Mahri celebrated her graduation from at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) at the university’s 34th convocation ceremony yesterday.
Siti Nurfauzimah, who graduated in Malay Literature, was among those faced the COVID-19 pandemic amid her studies and faced challenges of movement restrictions and a transition into online learning.
Changes in the education system, as well as the difficulty to obtain reference materials for her assignments and research projects during the early pandemic due to the restrictions were issues which she had to overcome, she said in an interview with The Bulletin.
The support from her family, friends, lecturers and loved ones is the main factor that led her to push through to finish her programme, reminding her of the importance of knowledge in life.
She is now looking into a stable job related to her expertise, studies and talent, and shared that she is grateful to have Radio Television Brunei offering her the opportunity to host an upcoming show.
PHOTOS: LYNA MOHAMAD
Danny Pui Wei Sheng, a graduate in chemical engineering, said the pandemic began during third year of his studies, and forced him to complete his final year project and internship online.
It was the group assignment that was stressful, he recalled. At the start of the pandemic, they were doing a project management module and had to organise an event.
After the news of the pandemic came, everything had to change. He said it was his first time being a project leader while also having fully online classes.
While he initially struggled, it got better as he learnt to be optimistic, stay motivated, and, most importantly, communicated more with his peers and lecturers.
“This helped me a lot,” he said.
Now, Danny looks forward to working life, with a plan to gain practical experience by working in the field for a few years, acquire field knowledge and try to improve in various aspects.
After that, he would like to try and explore different areas in related fields as he lives by the motto, ‘Always Exploring’.
“Job security is the reason that I chose this programme. Right now, it is not easy to secure a job, especially for fresh graduates,” he said.
At yesterday’s convocation ceremony Liyana Nadiah binti Osli celebrated the completion of her PhD as she graduated from the geoscience programme at UBD.
She said UBD has been a generally positive experience and, while doing a PhD is challenging at times, Liyana Nadiah is thankful to have a supervisor who always reminded her of her potential and pushed her to become a better researcher.
Liyana said she ensured maximising every working hour as during the pandemic, the time in the laboratories was limited.
She did all the manuscript and thesis writing at home, while important discussions were held online.
Now with a PhD, she said, “My next plan is to share the knowledge relating to the petroleum geology and sedimentology of Brunei Darussalam as an academic, Insya Allah.”
