January 9, 2019, by Lisa Chin
Images of Postgraduate Experience 2018: Runner Up
Experience sharing #3
This post is contributed by Mohammad Saad, runner up of the Images of Postgraduate Experience Photography Competition 2018 and PhD student from the Department of Mechanical, Materials & Manufacturing Engineering.
PhD is a roller-coaster experience. Some days are filled with exponential accomplishments and on some days, the progress is small. Time becomes a valuable asset that can be translated into a fountain of opportunity to do meaningful work or spent on watching a late-night movie. Therefore, the freedom to choose when and how much to work can potentially also bring days that are less productive and idle. Luckily, the University hosts many opportunities to stay involved and active during this period, such as providing training courses to help research. Likewise, several events have been organised by the University in order to provide a creative platform for students to share skills and express their emotions, such as, one of the recent Postgraduate Photography Competition. This competition was focused on photographs expressing the theme of motivation without any post-processing. The competition was to describe the PhD experience at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, which made it more exciting as I have had a chance to reflect on my experience.
In my perspective, I have learned to acknowledge that there are many challenges in PhD, the main inspiration for me to begin my further studies is to give back to the community and be a part of making the world a better place. It might sound cliché, but the chance to pursue further studies is a remarkable journey and a privilege that I am very grateful for because not everyone can have the chance to do so. It has provided me with a platform to apply the knowledge and experiences I have obtained in the past years to spark conversation, promote innovation, share my story to the world through a field I am passionate about. My postgraduate study on the innovation of renewable energy allows me the chance to support, give back and build more stable and developed communities. My motivation is the smiles of the faces of those who can have more comfort in their lives than they had yesterday. With greater knowledge, we hold a greater responsibility to the world. We lose nothing, but gain everything, from helping to light another person’s life.
It brings joy that there are these types of events happening around campus that promote the development of creative ideas from the audience. I was enthralled with all the images from the participants. There were many simple to super creative ideas. I was astonished upon winning the “runner-up” award for the competition since I did not exhibit my art on any social media platforms. I think that such events are a great stage for the postgraduates to show their talent and develop soft skills. I really enjoyed participating in this fun and artistic competition.
This was a great opportunity for me to express my emotions to the audience through photographs. This made me realised that the most important weapon is the power of words. The caption of any picture can easily change the perception of the viewers. Similarly, I was also able to express my emotions and experience with this competition.
Runner Up
Saad was crowned the runner up in the Images of Postgraduate Experience photography competition on 6 December 2018. Check out Saad’s winning entry below!
“A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle”. UNMC PhD provides a platform to question, spark conversations and promote innovation. My research is my chance to give back – a mission to hopefully one day, provide basic needs to people’s lives, so they too can bring their light to the world.
Read more about the photography competition.
Featured Image: Saad receiving the Runner Up award from Ms Deepa Kumari Veerasingam, Head of Graduate School.
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