SANABIL DEVELOPMENT BERHAD
Exploring, Expanding, and Experimenting; these three words were describing my life so far in KL, Malaysia. I was drawn to it, in part because I have been fond of alliterative phrases since middle school, but also because of what they represent. Kafaat and IIUM marked the beginning of a four-year period where I had permission to do all three of these. When else in life would I have the time, resources, and lack of constraints to explore, expand, and experiment like this?
Before IIUM, I applied into NYU (US), APU (Japan), HAN University of Applied Science (Netherland) for majoring Finance, all of them offering me a full time undergraduate program, but NYU. I enjoyed studying every second, building youth programs, and contributing to teenagers’ personal development. However, like many of them, I knew that I wanted to build new skill sets that would take me even further in my career. I had spent a number of years watching other young people improve themselves through school, so returning to earn a B. Econs (Honours) seemed like a great idea.
IIUM’s message of educating for business and society resonated deeply with me, and I’m positive that I found the right fit. Since coming to Kafaat and IIUM, I have:
Explored. Having built my perspective on social impact within the education sector, I was excited to learn more about other social sector careers. Through IIUM academic learning, I have learned from alumni and industry experts about impact investing, corporate social responsibility, nonprofit consulting, and many other areas I hadn’t previously explored. In just a few weeks, I will have the chance to explore doing business in another part of the globe as I embark on Sahabat Beasiswa Indonesia which holding the position as a Project Officer of SB Goes Abroad (stay tuned for more on that).
Expanded. We’ve all heard about the importance of networking to advance our careers. I knew business school might fast track this process, but I could not have anticipated just how my network would grow at IIUM. I entered thinking I would gravitate towards peers with similar backgrounds. It only took a few weeks to form strong and genuine connections with peers pursuing finance, marketing, strategy, luxury retail, entrepreneurship, entertainment, and every other industry under the sun. Kafaat and IIUM has expanded both the depth and breadth of my lifelong network.
Experimented. With a four-year time out from the working world, I knew this was the perfect time to try new things. At Kafaat and IIUM, I have tried out consulting through experiential learning courses like Strategy with a Social Purpose, memorizing AlQur’an and Hadits, many cultural performance and competition, team building, and E-guide book PPI-IIUM. I visited some amazing places with my other fellows for vacation as well as for education learning.
Kafaat and IIUM has been transformative for me, and I hope these snapshots have given you a sense of my time here thus far. With just eight months until graduation, I look forward to sharing more details about the rest of my time exploring, expanding, and experimenting while I still can.
Until next time,
M Amir Syarifuddin
ماشاء الله رائع يا مدير