NEW FRIENDS, OLD FRIENDS

If my best roommate in IIUM main campus was Qamah, then my other two best roommates was in IIUM Matriculation Center, WanJu and Farha. They were actually the first friends I made in my earlier days in IIUM. It's a shame that we rarely keep in contact now. I think the last time we hung out together was in 2006. Farha has since obtained a Masters while WanJu is now happily married. I'm happy for them and wish for the best and for them to be the best persons they can be.

Left:Farha, me and WanJu at the Engineering Appreciation Night Dinner

Right: WanJu and me at PizzaHutSection 14

Being at home for the first 17 years of my life, it was a HUUUGE thing for me to be away from my my family for a long period of time. I remember one time I was in Summer Camp for 10 days and I cried buckets of tears everyday!! So it was hard to adjust at the first few weeks when I was in Matrics (even though it was only in PJ). Plus, my parents weren't even there on my first day there because they were away. Thanks to them, I managed to get myself together, grit my teeth and stop my tears. They made me feel comfortable and with time, I opened up and shared many a problems with them. WanJu was a great source of comfort for me. From the beginning till the very end. Sadly, we had to separate because I had to go to main camp one semester earler than her. Farha is like the mother of our little group. She's very sensible and grounded. I can tell her everything, that's how much I trust her. And her opinions are very valuable for me. The three of us had drifted apart for a bit. Hmm... I miss them sometimes...

The three of us in our room(at my study table to be exact)

It was also at the Matriculation Centre that I found my footing for the main camp. It was a really good place for transition between the syllabus in secondary school to university. We had to practically master about four to five different subjects every semester and classes can start from 8 in the morning till late hours of night. Thank God I managed to pass through it, with plenty of help from my new friends, of course.

IIUM Matriculation was definitely where some (if not all) of my friendships in IIUM were forged. It was there that we first met each other and the relationship continued to be stronger when we were at the main campus. I've had some preconceived perceptions of some when I was in Matric only to be proved wrong when I got to know the person better in main camp. Which goes to show that the old saying "Never judge a book by its cover".

I've lost contact with most of them now, each of us busy with our own challenges in our new life. The only time we'll see each other is only when they are weddings, or reunions or open houses. Even then the encounter is quite brief and can sometime only be in passing. I hope they'll look back and remember how much fun we had together. Those memories will stay with me (and hopefully with them too) forever.

Let's share the fun!!