BALING – The recipient of the highest award at the 23rd Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah International Islamic University (UniSHAMS) convocation ceremony, Hanis Sofia Mohd Norazlan described the online teaching and learning method (PdP) during the COVID-19 pandemic as the biggest challenge to overcome before successfully completing her business studies.
According to the 24-year-old, online PdP was very demanding on her mentally and physically compared with face-to-face learning as she had to work so much harder to focus on lessons.
“It is actually quite an ordeal to study online compared to classroom learning, what more with the disruption of internet coverage as well as other factors that to some extent disrupted the concentration to learn.
“For me during these three and-a-half years, that was the biggest obstacle I had to face, it was most critical and sheer torture because face-to-face is easier to focus,” she declared in no uncertain terms, when met at the convocation ceremony in Kuala Ketil near here today.
At the convocation, Hanis Sofia who is a graduate in Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) with Honours (Islamic Finance and Banking), received the Jaizah Imtiyaz Tuanku Chancellor award for her outstanding achievement in obtaining an Overall Grade Point Average (PMK) of 4.0.
She obtained grade As for all 45 subjects taken during the seven semesters of her studies.
Hailing from Taiping, Perak, Hanis Sofia is grateful for overcoming the hurdles of PdP during the pandemic and is happy to fulfill the dream of her parents who wished to see her or her eight other siblings receive first class awards at institutions of higher learning.
“That is also one of the motivations for me to achieve excellence, because it is the desire of both my parents … so this success is a gift to them,” she said.
Hanis Sofia, who is the fifth of nine siblings, said she is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Administrative Science at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) in Sintok and intends to continue with the paper chase at a higher level after this.
Emerging as recipient of the highest award at the convocation, Hanis Sofia took home RM3,000 in cash, a plaque and a certificate of appreciation from Kedah Ruler, Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah.
Earlier, Sultan Sallehuddin, who is also the Chancellor of UniSHAMS, presided over the convocation ceremony.
