MARA ESSAY - STUDENT LOAN

On the 31^st of August 1994, I was born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to a Malaysian father and Vietnamese mother. My sister and I are the only children in this family. At a very young age, we were taught by our parent to work hard and believe in what we do as success will come with time. Since my dad work with the Ministry of Foreign affair as a secretary, he travels a lot throughout the world therefore I spent most of my time studying abroad.

In 1997, at the early stage of my life, I started kindergarten in British School in Taipei, Taiwan. Few years later, we moved back to Malaysia, where I continued in Sri Utama International School for 4 years.  Upon finishing primary 4^th, we moved to Mexico where I was enrolled into British American School. Personally, this is a life changing experience for me as I exposed myself to new study environment, new friends and new culture. Throughout my time in this school, various spelling bee contests were held annually, either at school or competitive level where we had to compete against other schools. As my teacher had confident in my skills, she encouraged me to sign up in every spelling bee contest. Despite my low level of confidence I had in myself, every spelling bee contest I joined, I managed to finish in the top 5 most of the time. In 2006, my parents decided that I should further my studies in one of Mexico City most prestigious and distinguished school known as Greengates school. The school has a good reputation for producing top scorers in IGCSE (International General Certificate School Education) as well as IBD (International Baccalaureate Diploma). Before joining, I knew the bar and stakes have been set higher than the previous time and the study environment would be more competitive and challenging. Regardless of these concerns, I managed to score well in a few subjects that I had great interest in such as Geography, History and languages. Apart from studying, I was also an active member in after school activities. The first year, I joined the school cricket team. Every week we had training and at the end of each month a match against other school. However, in the second year I decided to try out for the school basketball team. This time, training and competitive match was more frequent. What I have learned from playing sport is that teamwork is essential in sport for success. Once quoted by a wise man, “Alone you can go fast, but together you can go further”. Nowadays, scientist, engineers, even diplomats work together as a team to find a solution to a problem. Even though the barrier was set higher academically and physically, my friends and I worked together to ensure that all of our difficulties were solved. After spending 5 years in Mexico, my family was posted to Stockholm, Sweden. This time I was enrolled into my 5^th school known as Stockholm International School. Here, I completed my MYP and IB course in a span of 3 years. I was also actively involved in Student council for 2 years. The main aim for student council was to find solution on how to create a better study environment in school as well as method to raise money for charity group such as RED CROSS, UNICEF, SOS BARNEN, etc. Here I developed my skills such as work ethics, researching, communication, analysing among others. Moreover, I also joined a football club afterschool. The football club played in several leagues and tournament and we were able to grab the first place in one Sweden most competitive league.

Sweden is where I have developed a keen interest in global, geography and history studies. One day I wish I could become a diplomat like my father and follow his footstep. For this reason, I have chosen to study in Monash University Sunway to pursue a degree in Global studies. Social Science faculty in Monash has produced many great alumni over the past years and has a stable ranking of being in the top 30 faculty worldwide according to the TIMES ranking. Furthermore, I have dream of going on a student exchange during my studies where I can gain more experience studying abroad Malaysia which will be beneficial for my future job. Understanding other people cultures and traditions would also be a plus for me. With determination, hard-work and perseverance I am willing to succeed as a diplomat. If one day I become a successful diplomat, I will thank MARA loan for giving me an opportunity of a life time to become what I have ever wanted. I aim to work with the government after my degree to establish and build solid bridges with other nations which will benefits both nations through investments and cooperation. Hopefully through this action, one day Malaysia can become a strong tiger economy that was dream many years ago securing thousands of jobs in all working sectors for our 28 million future workforces. As a diplomat, I would also like to put Malaysia back on the map where other countries view us as a respectable nation with a robust economy in the unforeseeable years ahead.

                                                                                                            Khairul Noor