Father-daughter duo's historic day at UUM Convocation

SINTOK, March 13 (Bernama) -- It has been a historic day today for an account supervisor, when she received her degree scroll alongside her father at the Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) 33rd Convocation Ceremony, held at the university’s Dewan Mu’adzam Shah.

Izzati Khairunnisa Ismail, 32, is a Master of Science (Managerial Communication) graduate while her father Ismail Zakaria, 62, a government retiree, is a doctor of philosophy (PhD) graduate in Social Studies.

The father-daughter duo was among 244 graduates who received their scrolls at the first session of the convocation ceremony today, which was officiated by UUM vice-chancellor, Prof Dr Haim Hilman Abdullah.

Izzati Khairunnisa said that she was very grateful that her father could be with her in the hall to watch her receive her scroll, as graduates' parents were not allowed to enter the hall in compliance with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to contain the spread of COVID-19.

“It is a special day for us as we both witnessed each other go on stage to receive our scrolls,” she said when met after the first session of the convocation. 

Izzati Khairunnisa, who works at a cooperative in Perlis and is the second of three siblings, said that she planned to follow in her father's footsteps to continue her studies at the PhD level.

Meanwhile, her father Ismail, who is a former Pokok Sena district Social Welfare Department (JKM) officer, said that he completed his studies at the PhD level in almost eight years.

The grandfather of three grandchildren said that he was very happy today because he had succeeded in achieving his childhood dream of having a PhD, despite facing challenges that almost discouraged him. 

“I faced challenges in terms of the time needed to complete the thesis. While being a student, I also worked (before retiring) and the most challenging thing to do was data analysis, which I had to re-do until I got it right.

“Although it did dampen my spirit a little, I kept telling myself that if others could do it, why couldn’t I?’’ said the part-time lecturer at a private university in Kedah.

Ismail said that he strongly encouraged his three children to further their studies to the highest level possible, as he helped provide guidance to Izzati Khairunnisa in preparing the thesis for her master's degree.

A total of 4,052 graduates who graduated in 2020 received their scrolls at the 33rd UUM convocation ceremony, which will last for seven days, starting today.

-- BERNAMA