My Journey to Monash and the World
Saida Lulu
At work. ▶
With good friends
at Monash. ▼
I spent a lot of time running around in the hallways
of Monash, making it for class, taking short breaks,
chasing after my student visa or whatever.
Seven years down the line and I can still picture myself
at the cafeteria having my favourite snack, curry puffs!
Never had one ever since so if I ever come back to
Malaysia, my first stop would be to a curry puff shop. I
can still see myself in this engaged class with Dr. Helen,
a gentle but very strong and caring lady; Dr Yeoh, very
funny and so in touch with all his students;Dr. Andrew
Ng, the funny man whose Authorship class scared
everyone. I remember I once had to take five units in
one semester and Authorship was one of my classes
at that point. Everyone kept telling me how they had
failed that unit so I was totally panicking the whole
semester. I remember the night before the final exam
I didn’t sleep. I went through all the previous exam
papers (for the umpteenth time) and at one point when
it was almost time to go sit for the paper, I just decided
to look pretty for the paper, just in case I didn’t pass it.
So I showered, put on make-up and went to face this
Authorship beast. And for some reason I had so much
energy, not tired at all after not sleeping a whole night
and well, I got a credit. A CREDIT. Not so much but way
better than my expectations. The lecturers gave their all,
whole heartedly, grooming us for what lay ahead. Being
lecturers wasn’t just a job for them. Seeing us excel was
of so much importance to them and I am grateful for the
role they played in shaping my future.
Despite having some challenges at Monash, the
experience shaped my life so much, even the challenging
ones. If I didn’t have access to the portal due to late fees
and we had to submit assignments, my friends were
always willing to share their username and passwords
for me to be able to view the assignments. Shruthi,
Samreen and Zeena, God bless your souls. My lecturers
were willing to have me submit via my personal email.
I had Kevin Tan fighting for me to have my student visa
renewed to complete my degree. Monash University
was truly a family. At that time, I felt like everything was
tumbling down but I still did everything with full throttle.
And this was really due to the awesome support system
that came with my university. It was encouraging and
it created a warrior in me. Gave me a fighting spirit to
achieve the things I set my mind to. I have become this
woman that I am proud of, my family and friends are
proud of and hopefully my lecturers are too. I realized
that there is nothing I cannot overcome, as long as I put
my heart to it. If it is something I can’t change, I accept
and find alternatives. Those that I can change, I work
with courage to do so. The serenity prayer makes so
much sense now, like it did then. Giving up and waiting
for things to tumble down doesn’t make anything better.
And that was what Monash instilled in me. And what’s
better, I made friends in Malaysia that are for life. We
might never see each other again but we keep in touch
and my Malaysia family holds a special place in my heart.
Saida graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring
in International Studies and Communications in
2011. She currently works as Regional Institutional
Partnership Development Advisor, Eastern and
Southern Africa, SOS Children’s Villages International.
99
My parents
saw Malaysia
as an Islamic
country that
would pave
my path to
heaven, but
what I found
was diversity,
which is how
I imagine
heaven would
look like.
It all began in 2007, a few months after completing my
high school studies. I was getting the opportunity to get
my university degree, my first time on a flight that was
longer than an hour and in a totally different continent.
I had issues getting my passport renewed as the global
terror menace was hitting Kenya hard but after a lot of
crying and pleading at the Kenyan immigration, I finally
got it and I was outbound to this new destination, for
a totally new experience. My parents saw Malaysia as
an Islamic country that would pave my path to heaven,
but what I found was diversity, which is how I imagine
heaven would look like.