One of my objectives in life is getting a good degree and I have had my fair share of ups and downs in trying

to achieve just that. I was a well rounded student back in the school days. I aced my PMR, including the Arabic language and did very well in my SPM. I enrolled into an Islamic school from form 1 until PMR. I took up basic fiqh, tawhid, qawaid, to name a few as the extra subjects which were required by the school. I was highly active in Taekwondo during my school days, competing in numerous competitions and bringing home a few medals. And it was in form 4 that I also began to develop interest in table tennis and started representing my school in the district tournaments. Before I knew it I finished school and was awarded a scholarship to study overseas in Architecture. Even with the tough combination of physics, pure mathematics, and further mathematics I still managed to get good grades in A-levels and gained acceptance into one of my chosen universities. Things were looking so bright and future has never been so promising. I went abroad to the UK to study architecture in University of Liverpool after my A-levels, and to cut the story short I was not able to complete my degree unfortunately due to personal issues and other reasons. 3 years had passed since I first set foot on the British soil. However I believe the 3 years I spent overseas were not in vain as I had collected valuable skills and experiences that had shaped and made me who I am today. Truth be told I fell in a slump while I was in the UK, and only now that I managed to come out of it as a stronger individual physically and mentally. That which does not kill us makes us stronger. I definitely agree with Friedrich Nietzsche on that. While I was in the UK, I taught myself Autocad and sketchup and other softwares, and my skills were further polished by working on design projects and assignments. Today I am able to produce industry standard CAD drawings and decent 3d models. Plus I also honed my communication and organizational skills by taking part in group projects. Besides that, I was also a part of the universitys mens table tennis team and won the northern universities league in the year 2011. I have always heard good things about IIUM. In fact many of my relatives are alumnis of the institution. All of them have become successful individuals in their respective fields.Due to this fact I have a strong desire to become another successful graduate of IIUM. I would also certainly relish the prospect of once again working and mixing around with people from other countries.

I believe I have a potential in the course that I applied for, as I have a strong foundation in mathematics and as a former architecture student I have adequate knowledge in the built environment to succeed in the course.

Muhammad Ridhwan Jamaludin 11th December 2012