Growing up in Malaysia in a household of six people made overseas vacations for our family rare. My ayah (father) and grandparents would continuously remind us that education opens more doors for us to explore the world. They were correct.
At 21 years old, I have been lucky enough to have lived in several countries, including the US and South Korea, because of my education journey. Now, I am pursuing my postgraduate degree in Australia. I am forever grateful to the Malaysian government agency, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), for trusting in my passion and abilities to sponsor me for my overseas degrees.
I always wanted to study a degree focusing on the environment as it has been my passion since high school. When MARA offered me a scholarship to pursue environmental engineering in the US, I jumped into it as fast as I could. Students from all over Malaysia were given six months of intense maths and English classes to prepare us for both the SAT and TOEFL exams in June before we even applied for universities.
MARA provided lecturers and student officers who helped us apply to universities and community colleges around the US in July. I was accepted into one of these community colleges in California.
Once I had my offer letter, I applied for a US F-1 visa (student visa) online and booked an in-person interview at the US Embassy. My visa was granted in August. This was sooner than the normal timeline, probably because I was under a Malaysian government sponsorship. Typically, they can take up to several weeks to be approved.
I arrived in California on 31 August with several other Malaysian students to start our college careers at Ohlone College, a community college in Fremont. I then took all my prerequisite courses to transfer to a bigger university for my bachelor’s degree.
Classrooms in a community college are much smaller, with most classes having 15 to 25 students maximum per class. This was a good opportunity to participate more in class and it was easier to network with professors and classmates.
After two years, I applied to several other universities offering environmental engineering, focusing on environmental clean-up processes. Then I found Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) situated in a beautiful little town called State College.
International universities that teach in English
Scholarships for Malaysian students to study abroad
What documents do I need to study abroad?
Big public universities have much bigger classrooms that can accommodate more than 100 students at a time, and industrial-size appliances in labs. Amenities at Penn State were also more advanced, with a huge sports centre with a gym, Olympic-sized swimming pools and dance studios. Professors at Penn State also expect students to be more self-disciplined to do well in class. Libraries were also bigger; some even have interactive places where the public can access and play around with equipment provided there.
My advice to prospective international students would be to make use of all the amenities your university has to offer and to travel as much as you can while abroad. I took trips to some of the major US cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and New York City.
When it came to applying for my postgraduate degree, I went through the same application process at Australian National University (ANU). I researched and sent online applications to the universities I was interested in. I also completed an application for the Australian subclass 500 student visa. Usually, the admissions office at your school is happy to guide you through the visa application process if needed, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Studying abroad has its own set of challenges, of course. Islamophobia is still a concern in the US. For the first time in my life, I was verbally harassed on the street on my way home from class just because I was wearing a hijab at that time. As an 18-year-old girl, it was terrifying, but I pushed myself to keep going and found my confidence.
Being so far from my family for two years straight was also not easy. But friends I made along the way helped me push through.
The cost of living is generally high when you study abroad, so unless you have ample funds, a part-time job may be needed.
It took me almost a whole year to get used to the language style and level of competency of a native US English speaker. Another challenge that I faced is that everyone is “book smart”. The realisation that you are not the smartest one any more is a bit stressful, but I just focused on doing well for myself and managed to get on the dean’s list, with a high grade point average, in the last three years of my studies.
I wish there was a how-to book to share, but I believe experiencing it all as you go teaches you more.
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