If I ever get the chance to go back in time, my 2 years in Johor would, without a doubt be a journey I wouldn’t mind taking once again!
Malaysia as a country, and more importantly Johor has been very kind to myself and all the other foreign students here at USMC. Thanks to the people around me, the journey in Johor turned out to be a truly eventful one. Looking back, its difficult to fathom how close we’ve turned out to be with our fellow batch mates despite knowing each other for a mere 2 years.
Along this journey of 2 years there have been a few boulders along the way apart from the “never ending coursework.”
It still feels like yesterday, my first day in Johor. Unfortunately for me, it was off to a pretty sketchy start, when I missed my flight to Johor due to a few issues with immigration. Regardless, the staff at USMC were kind enough to provide transport to my parents and I, all the way from Kuala Lumpur to the University. On the contrary, it’s worth to mention the help given to me by Mr. James Ng, the COO of USMC, Mrs. Carolyn Ying, Ms. Anis Razizad and everyone from the student office that went out of their way, having me taken to the hospital and making sure I was ok, during the period I fell ill.
Well, this stage however was just the tip of the iceberg and there were much more unforgettable, more adrenaline packed activities we did together.
The first event we all took part in, was the “Zombie Run.” It was much more exhausting than expected but on the bright side, we made new friends both from and out of University.
Through all this fun and games we seem to have a charm when it came to competitions. The students of USMC faired exceptionally well at a number of competitions held around Malaysia. The Moustrap Car Competition and Ultimate Makerthon were among the competitions that we were awarded 1st place.
Together with all the achievements, we never fell short of “having a ball” every time we got the opportunity. From Go-carting to Rock Climbing to Karaoke, we’ve done it all. In fact I believe if we are to name one single activity that we’ve done the most, without a doubt it has to be eating. There have been days where we decide to, what we refer to as “food hopping” which basically includes trying food from a number of restaurants in one night till you realize you may have trouble waking up the next day.
Amidst all the coursework, group projects, and the highly stressed period of exams, if not for the people around it would have been a much less colorful span of 2 years. On that note, the memories and unforgettable incidents cannot be fit in to one post and I believe some of them should be kept under the sheets at least for a couple of years.
As re-iterated by our seniors, we truly will miss the memories of Johor, the entire academic and non-academic staff of USMC and the atmosphere in general. Nevertheless, it feels good to know that I’ll be having 53 fellow students joining me on the second half of our journey to the parent Campus in UK.
As the saying goes, it’s the journey that is important not the destination, and hence wherever we end up after 4 years, there will be a special place in all of our hearts for the friends and people we’ve met along the way and more importantly the memories of the 2 years gone by.