My name is Farah Syafiqah binti Mokhtar. I am the only daughter of Mokhtar bin Mat Din,a former Technician,and Sa’adah binti Md. Sood, a former Technical Assistant. Both of them retired last year.I was born on 18th November 1996. I am the youngest among 3 siblings. Me and my family live at Pekan,Pahang.
I received my early education at Tabika Nurul Iman and Tabika Islam, both in Pekan, located not far from my parent’s work place. I started my primary education at Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Biram, a school that located in the city from age of 7 years old until 12 years old. In 2008, which is during my year 6 at my primary school, I am one of the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah(UPSR)'s candidate and I managed to pass the exam with a flying colour and scored 5A’s. Then, in 2009, I furthered my lower secondary education at SMK Ahmad, Pekan, only for a few months while waiting for interview's result and in the same year, I was promoted as a second intake student at Sekolah Berasrama Penuh Integrasi Tun Abdul Razak(InSTAR). I went through 5 years at this boarding school. The school doesn’t taught me anything, but it's existence, teachers, friends and people surrounding taught me a lot about sweet and bitter experience. During the early year, being there was quite a shock for me, many challenges and I performed quite bad. There, Those in the early secondary must take Arabic and French Language as foreign languages, and both language don't mix well with me. I always failed in Arabic during my first and second year there. In my second year there, French Language got their own exam that was called Delf A1,for a beginner, Delf A2, B1, B2 etc. Since French Language is excluded in Penilaian Menengah Rendah(PMR), we must take the Delf A1. Fortunately, I manage to pass the exam well after going through listening, writing and speaking test in French language. Since I am one of the slow learner there, the teachers tried so hard to do extra classes in a few subject that I did not perform well, before I took my PMR. Their effort is worth it since I manage to scored 6A3B1C’s in my PMR. The C was in History subject,one of my weakest subjects next to Arabic,and my Arabic was B, big a shock for me, a good kind of shock.
When I was in upper form, Form 4, we were given the choice to take Pure Science, Religion Science or Technical Science. No other choice for me other than Pure Science. In Form 4, which was the busiest year, I was active in co-curricular activities, not in sports, but in uniformed unit. I started to partake in the uniformed unit's activities since I was in form 2. Our unit was sort of the school's hope in winning when we went to Marching Competition in many school's level. Sometimes, we won and sometimes, we didn't, it's only natural in every competition. I took my Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia(SPM) examination the next year, 2013, and for the result, I got 4A3B1C’s, the C never want to split up with me I guess, but good news for me is, the subjects that I barely scored in during early secondary, such as Pendidikan Agama Islam and History, I managed to score A-. Worth the effort given, since my Biology,Chemistry and Physics that I always got near fail before, I managed to score B and B+. Like what Gordon B. Hinckley’s quote says, ”You have not failed until you quit trying”.
After school holiday, quite a bummer since I was not given the chance to be one of Pusat Latihan Khidmat Negara(PLKN)’s candidate, my friends who got in, told me that in PLKN, they learned to become a responsible person and were exposed on how to strengthen their soft skills. I received offers from many IPTS's colleges and universities, but I still wanted to wait for my IPTA's result. I managed to get offers in Pahang Matriculations(KMPh), in science course and Politeknik Sultan Salahudin Abdul Aziz Shah, in Diploma of International Business, which is my Fourth Choice. It was a hard choice for me since I am not interested in science and business, my major interest is in Language field. My aunt recommended me to register Poly-Tech Mara College in Teaching English as a Second Language(Tesl) online and my parent agreed since they only want what's the best for me. I filled up the forms online, and went to Matriculation while waited for the result. Since my first application was rejected because Tesl's course is full, I tried filling the form again after UiTM second intake’s result was announced. I felt so blessed that I got accepted then.
I love English related-subject since I was in primary school because my English teachers give me inspirations, so I tried to find a field that has connection to this subject. In Secondary school, French language subject caught my attention. I am interested to learn as many international language as I can and English is not excluded. I choose to partake in Diploma in Teaching English as a Second Language(Tesl) course at Kolej Poly-Tech Mara in Cheras. Tesl focuses on teaching but it is not necessary for the individual to become a teacher. Never crossed in my mind in becoming a teacher because I am not that good in teaching people, but when you are bad at it, that doesn't mean that you are not capable of doing it. The program offers all the requirements of basic in learning English language, Psychology, Sport Science, Sociolinguistic and French studies in different semester. I am very excited because they have most of the subjects that I got my interest in.
I am planning to change people's way of thinking about language study especially in English study. I want people see the uniqueness in English's study and it is not a subject that can be taken lightly, but as important and serious as the Doctor-to-be and the Engineer-to-be required subjects -Additional Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Technical subjects etc. Based on my view, being a Doctor and Engineer are the majority choice for students nowadays, they intend to ignore the importance of language studies. I might as well involve myself in becoming an International Translator. I want to remove my shy personality when it comes to face with new people because I want to explore more interesting things in this area of study so that I can achieve my ambition, to become an English teacher who can teach students many international language and also the importance of the language and their self-value. I want to open their mind that choices and opportunities exist in many way in life. It is either they want to grab it or just ignore it. I want to be inspired by everything that happen in their life, just like how those people whom I met inspires me. Becoming a teacher is only my earlier planning. There might be possibilities that I will become something else, something that never crossed against my mind again. I believe that nothing is impossible. The path that you choose, the choice that you make, thinking it is a big mistake, is never actually a mistake. It is a long journey for a better life and better experience. Since we only live once, I inspire myself that being extraordinary is what I want to be.
This is all about me,my education and career planning if I take Teaching English as a Second Language as my primary choice to further my study. Despite having a deep interest in this field, teaching job is not only about making money, but also mainly about teaching people how to appreciate their own abilities. I will surely do my best and I will do anything to catch my goals.
Okay that's all.
Toodles !
