AZ MUKHLIS ISKANDAR BIN AZLI's Reflection
When I was 17 years old, during my SPM year, my goal was initially to study overseas and gain new experiences with new people and different cultures. Unfortunately, that goal of mine was not achieved and I was set into a different path in my education life. I received a sponsorship from MARA based on my SPM result to study in UTM and it was, so far, the best thing that has ever happened to me. I gladly accepted the offer and started my foundation under UTM at MARA College Seremban (MCS). There, my knowledge and understanding towards education was totally challenged and I began to see myself changing and adapting to the life of tertiary education. After a year of foundation, I received a total CGPA of 3.68 for three semesters and I immediately chose Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science - Computer Networks and Security as my first choice to study in UTM as I saw my future in the area of computer science.
Entering UTM on September of 2019 was both thrilling and exciting. I managed to make some new friends during my orientation week while staying in contact with the people that I met in MCS. For my first semester, the main courses that I took were Digital Logic, Discrete Structure, Programming Technique I and also Technology and Information System. These courses taught me basic but in depth information on technology and its branches. I feel humbled but enlightened when attending to these courses because the knowledge that I gained from these courses proved to me that there are still a lot of understanding that needed to be done about technology. There are also a few elective courses like Graduate Success Attribute, Science and Technology Thinking and also Malaysian Dynamics. What I learned from these courses was that as a computer science student, yes, my life does revolve around computers but I still need to have basic social and soft skills in order to be professionals and have ethics driven by good morals.
To simplify, I can see and understand that my life in university will help me develop myself as a student and a professional. Ultimately, I could say that I have achieved my goal to gain new experiences with new people and different cultures as in UTM, I get to know and be friends with various people from various countries and cultures. In the future, I know that I will use the knowledge that I have gained and the growth that I have developed in UTM to put into good use. Hopefully, I will be able to give back to the things that had helped me succeed in life whether it is my family, the education institutions that I attended and the country that I grew up in, Malaysia.