SOOK: As a day student, Mohd Fazli Abdullah spent much of his time at home without a proper study routine. However, his mother’s concern became the turning point that changed his academic journey.
Seeing that her son rarely studied at home, Fazli’s mother suggested that he move into the hostel and focus on his upcoming examinations.
At the time, he never expected that decision would eventually help him achieve a perfect 4.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) in the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) examination.
“About 10 days before the Semester 1 examination, my mother became worried because she saw that I never studied at home.
“So she told me to move into the hostel, and from there I slowly started preparing for the examination,” he said.
However, his Semester 1 results were much worse than he expected.
For Fazli, the results came as a shock because he had previously scored 9A in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination while studying at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Keningau.
“When the results came out, I was shocked because I performed badly.
“After that, I felt very disappointed in myself. From there, I started focusing more on improving myself, especially in my studies,” he said.
The experience changed the way he looked at education and his responsibilities as a student.
From that moment, he made his studies a priority and worked hard to improve from one semester to another.
His efforts eventually paid off when he achieved a perfect 4.0 CGPA, something he never thought he would achieve at the beginning.
“As soon as the results were released, I was very happy and surprised. At first, I did not expect to get a 4.00.
“But after seeing my results improve every semester, I started believing that I could achieve it. That is why I felt so relieved and happy when I saw my final result,” he said.
Throughout his time in Form Six, his family remained one of his biggest sources of support.
He said his parents always helped him financially, provided what he needed and encouraged him throughout his studies.
“My mother always prayed for me and encouraged me. My father always tried to make things easier for me throughout my studies.
“I am very grateful to have such a supportive family, and they are one of the reasons I achieved a 4.00 in STPM,” he said.
The first people who came to his mind after seeing the results were his parents because he was proud to make them proud.
But getting a perfect 4.0 CGPA was not easy.
As a member of the Student Representative Council (MPP), Fazli had to balance leadership responsibilities with his studies.
“My biggest challenge was managing my time because the Form Six schedule was very busy.
“As an MPP member, I had to be flexible and adapt to different situations. At the same time, I had to make sure my studies remained my top priority,” he said.
Because of his busy schedule, he often gave up his rest time to complete assignments and revise his lessons.
According to Fazli, sacrificing rest was the biggest sacrifice he made while working towards excellent results.
“If there was not enough time in my daily schedule, rest was always the first thing I sacrificed.
“Because of that, I often did not get enough sleep and my health was sometimes affected,” he said.
After moving into the hostel in Semester 2, Fazli took full advantage of the opportunity to focus on his studies.
He said the hostel allowed students to continue studying after prep hours, giving him more time to revise and complete assignments.
Many people see the 4.0 CGPA he achieved today, but they do not know what he went through behind the scenes.
“There were times when I studied until one or two in the morning. Two weeks before examinations, I would study until three in the morning.
“Sometimes I went to school with less than five hours of sleep. There were times when I fell asleep in class because I was too tired,” he said.
Besides keeping up with his studies, he also had to carry out his responsibilities as an MPP member.
There were times when he felt exhausted, stressed and struggled to stay focused, but he always reminded himself to remain consistent.
He also faced health problems such as fever and body aches due to lack of rest, but he never allowed those challenges to stop him from studying.
The principle he held onto throughout Form Six was:
“As long as the examination paper is not in front of me, there is still time to do something.”
He said those words reminded him not to give up, no matter how difficult things became.
For Fazli, his success was not achieved alone.
“What I have achieved today is not because of my efforts alone.
“My teachers, family and friends all played an important role in helping me reach this point,” he said.
After STPM, Fazli hopes to pursue a Bachelor of Education degree and continue his studies at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) to achieve his dream of becoming a teacher.
He also hopes to receive a scholarship to support his studies at a higher level.
He also shared some advice for other students.
“Work as hard as you can, maintain a good relationship with your teachers, parents and God, and never give up.
“Remember, hard work never betrays results,” he said.
