| Universiti Putra Malaysia

Family members’ achievements turn into 'charm' for recipient of Chancellor's Gold Medal Award

By: Azman Zakaria

SERDANG, Jan 12: The determination to surpass the academic achievements of her sister and both parents held by Aini Nazihah Hasin @ Hassan is a strong motivation for her throughout her studies at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) which enabled her to win the Chancellor's Gold Medal Award at the 44th UPM Convocation Ceremony.

Aini Nazihah, 25, from the Bachelor of Science in Physics with Honours programme, Faculty of Science, received the Chancellor's Gold Medal Award from UPM Chancellor, His Royal Highness Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, at Session 5 of the convocation ceremony today.

“My elder sister, Najatin Ain, works hard a lot on her own… I made her an example for myself. My sister studied at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) and earned a degree in Computer Science, and I set a target for myself to surpass that achievement.

"The effort my sister put in became a source of inspiration for me. My mother has a degree, and my father has a diploma,” she said.

The second child of the nine siblings said she initially did not believe that she had won the Chancellor's Gold Medal Award when she received a phone call from UPM informing her of the matter.

"It's hard for me to believe at first because it's the highest award for the convocation," she said.

She said she was grateful and thankful to her parents and siblings, who prayed and gave encouragement, as well as lecturers and friends who helped her throughout her studies.

Aini Nazihah, who hails from Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, said she made initial preparations before the examination, and a month before the exam date, she would do revision by teaching her friends.

"By discussing and teaching friends, I can recall what was taught during the lectures," said Aini, who plans to continue her studies in the same field at the Master's Degree level.  - UPM

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