Assalamualaikum and hi!
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
A New Chapter Begins. A prologue.
Before I even sat down to write this, I asked myself a dozen times (obviously, hiperbola haha): Should I still update this blog? Is it even relevant anymore? Does anyone still read blogs? All the questions kept coming: Do this, do that, but eventually reminded myself why I started this blog in the first place.
I used to (and still do!) love writing. I loved capturing moments, sharing little stories, and preserving memories. And honestly, this space has always been for me, my own archive, a place I can return to whenever I want to revisit old moments, old thoughts, and photos that somehow vanish from my personal hard drive (seriously, where did they go? Deleted? Who knows hahaha).
So yes, despite the cringiness of my younger self (we all had our phases okay hahaha, versions of me that existed once, wide-eyed, chaotic, learning), here I am, writing again, keeping this little corner alive, dusting off the blog again. Still writing. Still laughing at myself. Still keeping these memories alive for future-me to rediscover, probably with equal parts nostalgia and... embarrassment 😂
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
Honoured. Grateful. Graduated.
Alhamdulillah. Master of Public Health, Class of 2025!
📸 : Pre-Convocation by @spelo89
📸 : Pre-Convocation by @spelo89
Flashback to where it all began.
My MPH journey officially started in 2022. I still remember walking into orientation day with a tiny baby bump, a hopeful heart, and a head full of questions: “Can I really do this?” Nervous, yes. But excited, absolutely.
My love for Public Health didn’t just appear out of nowhere. It traces back to 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic, when I was placed at the Ministry of Health headquarters. I worked in the clusters team, where every decision felt urgent and meaningful. That’s where I realised:
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Public health is insanely important.
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I weirdly enjoy data collection (who knew?).
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I might have some IT talent… if someone patiently teaches me hahaha.
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And watching my former public health specialist lead the team was like watching a masterclass in calm-under-pressure.
📸 : Pre-Convocation by @spelo89
📸 : Pre-Convocation by @spelo89
Small Steps, Big Milestone: Behind This Gown Are Years of Sacrifice & Growth.
About the programme. One of the most famous DM's questions.
To sum it up, the programme I enrolled in was the full-time Master of Public Health at the University of Malaya. As many of my IGfriends' DM asking about this, it’s the very same programme, the same lectures, the same exams, taken by my HLP colleagues, only with one key difference: I had the freedom to pace my journey. Where they were required to finish within 1–1.5 years, we self-funded students were given a wider canvas to paint our timelines, anywhere from 1 year to 4 years.
But of course, every flexibility comes with its little shadow.
The longer the journey stretches, the heavier the steps feel. Tiredness creeps in, motivation thins out, and sometimes the finish line feels like it’s quietly inching further away. And more sacrifices especially in terms of petrol money and time heherheher. A slow marathon, with moments where you have to remind yourself why you started in the first place.
📸 : Pre-Convocation by @spelo89
📸 : Pre-Convocation by @spelo89
I originally aimed to complete it in 2.5 years. Life, however, whispered otherwise. I crossed the finish line at 3 years. Alhamdulillah, still beautifully within time.
The programme itself is mixed-mode: coursework, assignments, exams, and a research project, each carrying its own weight of credit hours. Some courses are compulsory, anchoring the foundation; others are electives, like little branches you can choose to explore as long as you gather enough credit to bloom into graduation.
In the first 1–2 semesters, my days stretched long and thin.
8 am to 5 pm: Work.
5 pm to 6 pm: Then a slow, weary journey through traffic to campus.
6 pm to 9 pm: Evening classes, while my little one continued to grow, day by day.
It was a season of juggling; wife, mother, worker, student. All in one pair of hands.
There were days the lecturers offered hybrid or online sessions, a small pocket of relief that shortened my commute and eased the rush. By the later semesters, after collecting enough credit hours to breathe a little, I started strategising differently, enrolling in daytime classes, adjusting my rhythm, and slowly completing the final pieces of the programme.
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
This Master Degree Has Many Names Written On It.
Of Dreams, Deadlines, and the People Who Carried Me.
And then, one day, it finally all came together; the results, the closure, the quiet sigh of relief.
Alhamdulillah, I completed my Master’s degree with a CGPA of 3.56.
A simple number on paper, but behind it lies three years of late nights, long commutes, whispered prayers, and a heart that refused to give up.
But this achievement isn’t mine alone, it is stitched together from the love and support of so many hearts around me.
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
It belongs to my husband.
The one who not only supported me emotionally, but literally sponsored most of my study years.
The one who guided me through countless assignment write-ups, reminded me of structure and logic when my brain was in full “I-can’t-do-this” mode.
The one who quietly carried the load when I was drowning in deadlines. My steady anchor throughout this long, unpredictable sea.
It belongs to my son.
Who started this journey with me from the quiet heartbeat inside my uterus, kicking through my early lectures. And now, three years later, he can run, climb, read his alphabets… and has even “joined” some of my online classes during infancy (guest appearance, special cameo, A+++).
He grew, and I grew, side by side.
It belongs to my parents and parents-in-law.
Who stepped in again and again, give academic advices (both of our mothers are lecturers) and care for my son whenever both of us were busy. Their kindness gave me the time and space to sit through evening classes, attend exams, and steal quiet moments to study. Their du’a carried me more than any caffeine could.
It belongs to my family members,
Who always being there, pray and cheered from near and far.
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
It belongs to my friends.
Who checked in, encouraged me, and sometimes just sent a meme when my brain was melting. The small gestures mattered more than they know. Especially Aini, Amalina, and Khadijah, the trio who walked this journey with me, who reminded each other of assignments, due dates, and tests.
Study buddies, emotional supporters, listening ears for every rant and meltdown. They made the journey lighter, funnier, and far less lonely.
It belongs to my supervisor, Prof. Mas Ayu.
Who guided me with the patience, warmth, and steadiness of a mother figure. She walked me through every chapter, every correction, and every moment of doubt with the kind of gentleness and wisdom that stays with a person long after the degree is done. Thank you, Prof, for believing in my research topic; “Job Insecurity and the Coping Mechanism of Contract Medical Officers” and supporting it wholeheartedly when it mattered most. Because of your guidance, your trust, and your steady hand, I not only learned deeply… I even earned an A- for my research report, Alhamdulillah.
And to all my lecturers, thank you for teaching, shaping, and opening my eyes to the real heartbeat of public health. Every lesson, every discussion, every nudge to think wider and deeper has expanded the way I see the world, and the role we play in it.
It belongs to my superiors at work.
Who gave understanding when I needed flexibility. Who give me motivation to start this.
To all of them, and above all, to Allah who eased every moment I thought would break me,
this master degree, this CGPA, this milestone… is a shared victory.
Alhamdulillah, for every step, every helper, every mercy.
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
Crossed the Stage, Carried a Story.
Survived. Studied. Graduated. Powered by Coffee, Faith, and Group Chats.
And so, that’s the story; the late-night assignments, the long commutes, the juggling act of motherhood and work, the uncertainties of the contract era, the small victories, the quiet tears, the loud laughter, and the people who carried me through it all.
This Master of Public Health isn’t just a qualification. It’s a chapter of growth, grit, grace, and gratitude. And just like that, this chapter gently closes. Not with fireworks, but with a quiet “Alhamdulillah… akhirnya.” and a long-length of blogpost mueheheheh.
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
If future-me ever returns to reread this (probably hunting for lost photos again), may she smile at how far we’ve come… and laugh at how dramatic I was about assignments and reports.
Alhamdulillah for every step, every test, every hand that helped, and every door that opened.
📸 : Convocation day by @fikaaabonooo
Here’s to closing a heavy chapter with a grateful heart, and a spirit that somehow still whispers, “On to the next adventure… but please, let it involve more rest and less Google Scholar and chatGPT and.... dramatic group chat.”
Till next time.
As always,
Thank you for reading!