Lyna Mohammad
With a CGPA of 3.77, 95-per-cent attendance, good class participation as well as a high regard and respect for classmates, class activities and discussions, not failing or repeating any modules, and making a notable contribution to Kolej International Graduate Studies (KIGS), Nurul Hayani binti Salleh was deemed qualified to receive the Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Paduka Dr Lim Kok Wing Excellence Award.
Nurul Hayani can take pride in her achievement as she was also the only graduate at the college’s recent convocation ceremony who attained First Class Honours in Bachelor of Communications in Digital Media.
On that memorable day earlier this month, Nurul Hayani alongside her proud and happy parents walked up the stage to receive the prestigious award from Minister of Development Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Muhammad Juanda bin Haji Abdul Rashid.
Speaking to the Bulletin, Nurul Hayani was all smiles and expressed her gratitude to Allah the Almighty for the reward following all her hard work, determination, commitment and the endless support and motivation from her parents and family members.
She said she found her studies to be quite enjoyable throughout the first few semesters, as she was able to understand more deeply what the course was about and get an idea of what kind of job prospects she can pursue in the future.
Despite the COVID-19 outbreak the following year and many students scrambled to adjust to the new changes, they still persevered until the day they returned to the physical classroom.
“It was indeed a new type of learning method that all of us had to adjust to,” she said.
“Many of the projects done for the teachers made me realise my uniqueness, pinpointing my strengths in finding out my style of approach for any project, be it individual or group.
It gave me confidence and motivation that I could not find anywhere else. Every moment was deemed a learning experience.”
Nurul Hayani gained lots of skills specifically in using apps and tools for digital media students such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and a DSLR camera, to name a few.
Thanks to her dedicated teachers, she was able to apply the apps and tools on certain products or elements in terms of how it may communicate with the audience.
During her studies, she tried to be more inspired by other people’s work, primarily to motivate her to improve her digital media abilities, especially in photography, videography and design, as she focussed on making her projects better.
“I was able to adapt to the changes and overcome obstacles especially during online studying, mainly on how to re-organise my work for the week and how to finish them on time with the distractions I had to face at home and the environment.”
It was at this time that most of her motivation for getting the grades was the endless support from her parents.
The encouragement from her peers, teachers, and internship workmates boosted her confidence in producing exceptional results.
“I plan to continue with my i-Ready programme to explore more on what I can do with my skills, because I feel like I have still so much to learn and I know I can go beyond that,” she shared.
“For my fellow peers, just do what you really want to do and don’t beat yourself up too much if you can’t do it. Just really focus on how to improve your own learning style.”
“I hope with my achievement, I can manage to show my capabilities in any related fields and able to spark interest on others to learn multimedia subjects,” she added.
Meanwhile, Tong Siew Ching, who was one of the best students under the Faculty of Business and a graduate in Bachelor of Business in Accounting, expressed pride and happiness to be named the Best Student.
For now, she wants to learn different skills to gain more knowledge but will chase her dreams to become an accountant one day when the right time comes.
“I would love to continue my studies but currently I am satisfied with my work. But if there is an opportunity then I will definitely take it,” she said.
Muhammad Afiq Izzuddin bin Haji Zulkarnain Sahta who graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Software Engineering with Multimedia said he found interest in his course modules as it not only covered the disciplines of software engineering, programming, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) but also touched on multimedia and creative modules such as 3D modelling and animation.
He shared that the most challenging part of his course was his final year project as, at times, when dealing with software, there will be unexpected bugs and errors that will appear that might be difficult to fix.
“My project in particular used AR and 3D models so that added to the complexity,” he said.
Touching on his internship, he said it was a new experience for him as he had to work in an office to edit and also go out in the field with a production crew.
He added that the experience was invaluable as he got to go out and cooperate with his colleagues rather than work on a project alone.
“While I still have some room to grow, overall I am ready to venture into the workforce or to continue my studies thanks to the experiences I got from the university and internship,” he said.
Fellow graduate Majidah binti Haji Khirul Abasah finds it interesting to see the graphic design field expanding in the Sultanate, and said it might be a challenge to land a job in the field, as there are a lot of talented people who have taken up and graduated in this field. She added, however, that one just has to be smart and courageous and she is sure that there is spot for everyone in the industry.
Majidah graduated with a Diploma in graphic design technology and is currently pursuing a degree in professional design.
Another graduate to comment was Muhd Nuur Siraaj bin Haji Muhd Rosanan, who said, “Having landed a job in a field that I am most passionate about, as it very much covers what was in my Diploma programme in graphic design technology, it has further grown my interest and passion in anything related to this part of technology.”
He shared that as he has successfully managed to attain employment, he plans to pursue his studies further on a part-time basis, as it will be convenient to study in the evening and work during the day.
He added that there are lot of opportunities in the field, as graphic design technology covers many careers in both the public and private sectors.
Fellow graduate Farah Sabrina said she sees more and more females taking up careers related to electronic media production, and shared that she also finds it interesting.
Having graduated from her course in Certificate in Multimedia and Broadcasting, she is currently pursuing her diploma and looks forward to learning more, while also intending to take a 2D animation course.
