Ilmira/Murni: Goodbye KY

I officially graduated from KYUEM today!

Graduations and goodbyes are usually filled with bittersweet sentiments, and today was no exception. I think today was the one and only day that I did not rush to get out of college and go home, because as Batu had aptly put it 'Those doors are the end of all this, and we're looking straight at it"

A lot of people graduate KY claiming that the best years of their lives had been spent in that remote campus. I feel that way too. KYUEM was a place that made me feel like I could belong, and I think everyone goes about life looking for a place like that. Upon entering KY, I was a girl who had gone through very different experiences. I went to a fairly liberal and westernised primary school, a very conservative traditional high school, and have been in situations of both extremes. As a result, I always felt like my experiences were always so in conflict with each other. I was always either too conservative or too liberal and hardly anywhere in between, and every time one world crossed with the other, people got shocked and confused. But in KY, theres a place for everybody, all types and concoctions. And if you're in between, no-one will leave you out or not welcome you for it. Sure there are cliques, but my time in KY has made me experience one thing I never had before; no huge obvious divide. You could go to the dining hall alone and know that you would be welcome at any table, and I feel like if we needed an example of a diverse community peacefully coexisting, you just need to come and see our campus. We have comparative religion talks, and religious groups often welcome people of other faith to join in their activities (MUSCOM has surau open days for everybody and welcomes even non-muslims to join their feast, and the christians offered to make prayers for anybody when it came to exam season). We celebrate all holidays with the same amount of gusto, we smile to each other at the walkway (seriously, everyone is so nice to each other, sometimes I get tired from smiling). When I decided to take off my hijab, nobody treated me any differently. The people in the surau welcomed me just the same, people who were curious openly asked me and respected my decision. I didn't feel any hate. Its seen me heart broken, I met a group of girl friends who literally gave me a home when I was at my absolute weakest. And even then, when I ran for president, everyone gave me an equal chance and didn't use my personal battles against me. I've met friends who have welcomed me in, even though I hardly talked to them. You know, everyone gives you chances there. Its great

KY has to be the one place I grew up the most (not physically, if anything I got smaller heh). I am so so glad for everything that this institution had to offer me. Not to mention the amazing teachers who honestly care so much about you. World class, my teachers. Through the good and the bad, I'm so grateful for my time here.

I'll end this post with a spam of graduation photos, or at least the ones I have with me, so enjoy!