#storytime: Re-discovering myself through UNISEL...

At a 3D2N leadership program.

Hi friends.

In this blog post I am going to tell you about how I re-discover myself through UNISEL.

After quitting my architecture degree, I felt like I had lost myself in the sea of hope and opportunities. I did not have any goal - because I could only foresee myself as an architect and nothing else. I just wanted to graduate. At that time, I felt like I could just enroll in any degree program that would accept me sooner, I did not really care which program.

I told my parents that I wanted to register to a foundation program in TESL because it would only take a year to get into degree programs and it is English - it could not be that hard.

I searched high and low for the cheapest tuition fee and closest date of admission because I was that desperate. It had been weeks of doing nothing at home, questioning where will I go, what will I do... It was then, I had found UNISEL's website calling for students' admission.

I contacted the registrar's office asking for the details, downloaded and printed any documents needed for registration, and photostatted my certs. It was a fast and easy process. Only then I could finally see a light of hope flickering over the horizon.

Three semesters of foundation in TESL were so much fun. It went by so fast and left me with sweet lingering memories.

Fast forward, it was the time for me to choose for the next destination - enrolling for a degree program. Initially, I would want to go to public universities that offer political science, Asian studies, or international relations because of my love for politics. However, I could not wait for another few months for UPU - for I had wasted 3 years of my life devoting to architecture which now we know had come to waste, I do not have the grit to wait any longer.

So, I went to the administration office and asked for the degree program's pamphlet. I just want to know if there was any program that offers something related to political science or international relations. Then, there was one line that glows brighter than the rest.

Bachelor in Communication (Hons.) Journalism

Yes. Perfect. I would not be waiting no more, I got to learn about politics, and the fees were fairly cheaper than other private universities.

Thus, the journey of becoming a communication student begun.

As I am writing this blog post, I am on sixth semester. As far as it goes, the assignments and workloads are fairly okay - since I had gone through a tougher degree program... I am thankful that I went through TESL program before opting for communications. The technicality of English grammar, storytelling, and paragraphing issues are on the back of my head. It is easier for me to handle long essays. By long, I mean 10 pages with almost 4,000 word count.

Through this course, I had found my love for graphic designing, video editing, and photography.

In the second semester, I had found my signature photography technique which is low exposure photography. I accidentally discovered it during our trip to Ipoh. Diana, Syifa, Nuren, Habil, Nathasyeena, and I went there for our TITAS assignment on Chinese-Malaysian food and went sightseeing for a bit.

I brought my DSLR and we started shooting randomly. Because of the alleys were quite narrow and there were a lot of indoor plant, the surroundings were dark and eerie. So, I set up my camera into manual mode and put the shutter speed to slow.

It ended so pretty and the darkness enhances the beauty of the subject.

Nuren, Diana, and Syifa ended up being my test subject for this newly found passion.

Nuren

Diana

Syifa

Last year, when in was in my fourth semester, I discovered that I love graphic designing.

Remember when I said that I studied architecture for 3 years? Because I always failed in my design classes, I thought that I have no talent in designing and I definitely suck at it.

In the third semester, I had to do a lot of posters for my class' assignments. I designed in PowerPoint because I forgot how to use Photoshop (because I have not used it since I quitted my degree and because I hate designing with passion).

These are the assignments that I made using PowerPoint because I thought I sucked at designing.

Making our own newspaper for News Writing assignment.

Poster on Malaysian socioeconomic status for Hubungan Etnik.

Lecture note on propaganda for Communication Theory.

For the fifth semester Hakim, Habil, Syifa, Diana, and I decided to sign up for Graphic Design Communication course. In preparation to that, I phoned my best friend, Aziey to teach me all about Photoshop that I needed to know so that I could design freely. During the semester break, we had three paid sessions in total.

In order to test my ability in designing with Photoshop, Aziey suggested that I joined a- designing competition. Coincidentally, someone posted that a book club in MSU was organizing a designing event on designing a fantasy book cover which had a really close submission date. At that time, I was only at my second lesson of Photoshop and all I know was brush tool and pen tool.

I did the poster within three days while consulting with my mama, Aziey, and Timun (my best friend who is also really good at Photoshop). Mama was very helpful during the brainstorming session since she used to work in this field. She listed out what should be on the book cover and how to position everything. Timun helped me with typography part. I found it hard to decide on the fonts so we discussed it together.

Aziey and I were announced as the candidates who will receive the first prize. We were told to attend a small ceremony at one of the MSU's hall. I was excited, my mama was also very excited.

Aziey and I posed in front of our book cover designs. (Syifa, if you see this, I'm wearing your tudung. Hehe.)

During the ceremony, Aziey was announced to be the second prize winner. I was happy but sad at the same time because I thought that my design had no chance on winning - as I was not hoping to get the first prize. Suddenly, my name was called to receive the first prize! I was genuinely surprised because just a week ago, I could draw nothing on Photoshop.

Book cover design of Bawang Putih Bawang Merah and the Enchanted Forest.

From that point onwards, I designed a lot using Photoshop and it had helped me during Graphic Design Communication assignments.

PSA poster assignment on typography entitled Beware of the Rapid Current.

PSA poster assignment on typography entitled Save Our Earth, Save Our Trees.

If you want to see my other projects, click here to view them.

Finally, I learned about video editing during the last semester break from Timun. Click here to see the first video editing project that I made!

Thank you for reading this far 💛

See you guys in the future updates. Bye!