5.the Inspirer Fifth Edition

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 Published by the Counseling and Development Unit, SSSD Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS Are You Ready to CHANGE? 

Transcript of 5.the Inspirer Fifth Edition

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Published by the Counseling and Development Unit, SSSD Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS

Are You

Ready to

CHANGE? 

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1

Ed itor’s N ote Coming into the 5

thedition of The Inspirer, we felt that it was the perfect 

time to take up the theme “Change” for this edition. In the past four editions of 

the magazine, we’ve talked about ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE and what it takes to

achieve it; we also questioned UTP students are we truly WELL ROUNDED? 

Moving on we shared methods how to MANAGE YOURSELF and in the last 

edition we imagined of UTP students being the FUTURE LEADERS of the

engineering and technology industry.

  All of our previous edition prepared and paved the way for this

  particular publication of the magazine. This time around the magazine has

come up with the theme CHANGE. Why change? A quote that rightfully explains

this theme is said best by Aldous Huzley, a prominent English writer. He said 

“There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and 

that's your own self.” 

 As UTP students being at an age where we are at the prime of our youth,

change is all around us. With each passing semester, we change classes,

lecturers, our academic timetable and the list goes on. Yes, change to our 

surroundings is inevitable. The question now is what about the internal change

within us? Have we progressed? Regressed? Or remained static? In terms of 

our maturity, character performance and way of thinking, has it truly changed? 

People usually want to see change for the better in other people, in their 

surroundings, in short in their daily lives. Significant changes that could only be

beneficial for us, yet most of us fail to see that to change our surroundings or 

even other people, we must change ourselves first. The first step starts from

YOU. Lets’ shift our paradigm and change our academic performance for the

better, change towards fulfilling that well roundedness idea of a student and 

change for a better management of ourselves. ‘Change yourself first, the rest of 

the world will follow suit’ are the insightful words by a well known Muslim

 figure Imam Hassan Al-Banna. With that, we hope our readers would enjoy this

edition of the Inspirer and be inspired to change.

Nawal

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TI: What prompted this choice of change for you (from

being a lecturer in UiTM to UTP)?

PMM: There is always the push and pull factors. There are

times when one has to move in order to improve onself. That is the risk and it takes a lot of energy. There is no

specific reason why UTP; but certainly, the

humanities and social sciences are central in any

university. No university in the world can afford to grow and

enrich its intellectual landscape without the humanities. And

the humanities certainly has much potential here.

TI: What does change mean to you?

PMM: We have to be the change that we want to be. If we

want things to transform, we first have to transform

ourselves. Change has two faces - the world has existed

without an iota of change, and the other, the world keeps on

changing ad infinitum. In this sense, we have to understand

our world and comprehend history. People who are ignorant

of history tend to repeat the past. You can say things do not

change if one is ignorant of history, because they repeat

what had happened (or had not happened). The same things

happen over and over again. But if we have insights into the

past, we would not repeat what had happened, especially

the follies and foibles of those who lived before us. But

change should not be for its own sake. Sociologically, change

must not be Darwinistic. We live in a secular world which has

gone through the many phases of change in what can be

described as the desacralization of politics, the

disenchantment of nature and the deconsecration of values.

Change may also be looked upon as a devolution. We havemoved away from the centre, the source of life and things.

For the exclusive interview column for this edition, we at

the editorial board had a clear vision who we would want to

interview. He recently joined UTP in the Management and

Humanities Department; quite a buzz had already

surrounded him since he became a part of the university. Having abackground in Mass Communication, Pol it ical

science and History, it seemed only right that he be the right

person to talk about the theme Change.

A brief background of this outstanding personality is his

first academic appointment was as a lecturer at the School of Mass

Communication in September of 1986. At that time, he had just

came back with a Master of Arts in Mass Communication and a

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, both from the University of 

Minnesota, Minneapolis. He was there for three years from 1983,

where he first studied at the College of Liberal Arts, and than the

School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the U of M. He

obtained his PhD in the history and philosophy of science from the

University of Malaya in 2001

His academic and research interests include Malay Media

Studies, Media History, Postcolonial Studies, Colonial Knowledge

and Malay history of Penang/Kedah/Sumatra. He has published 9

books and monographs, numerous journal articles and book

chapters on those areas. He i s a lso a

referee/contributor to such journals as the   Asiapacific Media

Educator , Current Sociology , Forum Komunikasi ,

International Sociology .   Journal of the Malaysian Branch Royal 

  Asiatic Society ,   Jurnal Komunikasi , Melayu:   Jurnal Antarabangsa

Dunia Melayu, and Southeast Asian Journal of Social Sciences. He is

also on the editorial board of   Analisis Sejarah (Department of 

History, Universitas Andalas), Forum Komunikasi  (Faculty of 

Communication and Media Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA -

UiTM) and the International Journal of Communication and Media (College of Arts and Sciences, Universiti Utara Malaysia). He is also

an external assessor for graduate theses and promotions for

professorships and associate professorships.

Exclusive Interview

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At the same time, we are constantly reminded to go back, to

devolve to the source, the sacred and transcendent. That is also

change. The sage, Jalaluddin Rumi once shared with us that every

man yearns to return to his Source.

TI: Can you share with us, meaningful changes in life that you

yourself experienced and how it affected you?

PMM: Every moment is a

mea ni ng f u l cha ng e. F or

anything meaningful for us, we

cannot separate professional and

personal life. We are not 'political'

or 'economic' animals as assumed

by the Western intellectual

tradition. We have souls, values

and emotions. It is not just the

Cartesian Rationality that governs

our every thought and action. We

have to see episodes in our life as

existing in a web of permanence and change working at the same

time with us determining our fate and at the same time beingdetermined. For every episode in our life that we have passed

through, it is only half of what we think we know to be true or of 

believing that we have taken the correct action. Because that

'correct action' that we have conceived, may just turn out to be an

error in our future life. We do not know until the next episode and

the many episodes to come to arrive at a conclusion that the

change that we have perceived to be correct has indeed taken

us on the right path. We may never know. But what we should

internalize is the experience of experiencing life. Experience alone

is not enough, for the experience and knowledge that we have

acquired may be distrusted.

TI: Focusing on your background of social sciences, what

significant changes that you can see taking place in the society?

PMM: If you mean our society, there are many. But all these

changes are not necessarily changes as conventionally understood.

Generally, people may see change as being associated with the

positive - people say change for the better; and in the modern

world, change must be a good thing. But not so. One example of 

change (or it illusion) is induced by technology; and the defining

technology in the modern world, to our society is the

information communication technologies (ICT) - simply the

technology that we use to communicate in all its ramifications - the

new media in the computer or the cell phone. A common

assumption in this case is that the Internet - a manifestation of the

technology is critical to bring change in society. We assume thatsociety opens up, rural schools without the internet are assumed

to be backward, would become liberal with the Net. But since the

Net has been around, we see both liberalism and

parochialism travelling around the world, penetrating our

cultures and worldviews, and impinging upon our norms and

values. The Internet has brought about some of the worst forms of 

extremism, primitivism and fascism. Is that change? yes and no.

But I am sad to note that we still do not comprehend the meaning

of technology as it impinges upon our cultural and political life, and

our sacred worldviews. We still think technology as a thing,

material in form. We rarely think of technology as spirit - that

'animus' inducing its own course of action.

TI: Talking on a smaller scale, what is your opinion of UTP students

about change?

PMM: I am not sure what you mean by the question. But I trust that

you would not waste your talent and the opportunity to learn, unlearn

and relearn in context. And I emphasise in context because we cannot

view things in isolation as if we are the center of the world. The world

also changes.

TI: Who among the historical

figures in your opinion that has

managed to bring change to the

society and managed to change the

course of history and why?

PMM: Many. It would take a long

list and so I shall not name any. But

the course of history are

determined by God, not man. But if 

we look at history as a secular

process, than, man is responsible for what he has done. History is not a

linear process. History is cyclical and circular. So, no one man hasmanaged to change the course of history, even the prophets.

TI: What changes would you like to see in UTP?

PMM: UTP can focus on engineering and technology, and

maintain its vision and mission; but no transformation can take place if 

the humanities and social sciences are not integral to university

education and not part of the intellectual production process.

Engineering and technology owes itself to philosophy.

TI: What does UTP need for it to have a change for the better?

PMM: Time, people and wisdom.

Exclusive Interview

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Every moment is a meaningful change.

For anything meaningful for us, 

we cannot separate professional 

and personal life.

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! Aspiration

Nur Syafiqah were there to help me. They are the ones

who have guided and provided me with all the

support and assistance to get me back on track.

In my second semester of my foundation studies, I

became the committee member of  

“Kem Penghayatan Islam” which was the first University’s event that I joined. What I want to share

here is this event had opened my eyes and mind that

our life is not just about getting good results or

socializing with friends but there is more to life than

that.

Since then, my involvement in such activities has

been more active and I began to change my way of 

thinking, appearance and also realized how

important my contribution as a student towards my

family and the society. Activities such as HELWI(Hal Ehwal Siswi), Ramadhan Discovery 2009, Ladies

Valency 2009, facilitator for Minggu Aluan Siswa

(MAS) were among the events that I participated.

Now, I have found the true enjoyment in life. Being

a c t i v e l y i n v o l v e d i n v a r i o u s s e l f  

development events has taught me a lot of things. It is

part of our life to face some difficulties,

tiredness at certain times but all this will make my life

more meaningful. As a human being we will never be

perfect but that does not hinder us from trying our

very best to improve ourselves.

As a human being we will

never be perfect but that does

not hinder us from trying ourvery best to

improve ourselves.

Nurul Ain binti R.Asman is the name that was given to

me by my father when I was born. Born in Pekan, Pahang, I

am the eldest in an abstemious family. Currently, I am

taking Chemical Engineering in my first year second

semester.

For me, being able to study in this University is the best gift

that I have received from God since I have never imagined

that I will get the opportunity to further my studies here.

My parents never push me into doing something. They

have instilled in me that I have to make my own decisions.

Again, I am very grateful to God that I am here in UTP

continuing my studies.

During my foundation year, life was very challenging as I

needed to adapt to the University life. I faced

difficulties in managing my time and also

understanding all the subjects. Once again I am

grateful to the Most Merciful as He did not let me fend for

my own. Two of my schoolmates, Nurul Hamizah and

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How UTPChanged Me

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He changed me and others too.

His name is Fikri. He is 176cm tall with a broad

chest, a solid built of a rugby player. He has fair skin,

straight hair and a face full of smiles. Friendly,

intelligent and talented. Yet only a few knew the

tragedy that changed him.

It was about midnight that day, when we were

in our dormitory after just finishing our prep class.

Tomorrow, the new prefect line up will be

announced. Fikri is one of the candidates who has the

potential to become the next head boy and yet he

looked calm and sober, while everybody else seemed

anxious. I sat next to him in the middle of the room

and told him that he is going to be head boy, so be

prepared. He sighed and strangely remained quiet.

I was surprised, unable to think of what else to

say. Suddenly, he spoke, “I fear people’s expectation

of me is too great. I fear that I might not fulfil my duty

once appointed.”

“Of course you can. Everybody believes you

can. You should believe in yourself too. As friends, we

will support you. In fact the whole school is betting on

you” I replied, trying to clear his worries.

“You know, I am thinking of what my late

parents would expect of me if they are still alive. At

moments like this, one really needs parental advice

you know and I can’t get one.” he said. 

I was speechless. All my sympathy and

compassion exploded deep down in my heart. I felt

sorry for him for his lost. All I knew until now was he

had lost them in a car accident but never the details

as no one dared to ask; afraid of hurting his feelings.

Now, he himself willingly telling I cannot help much,I thought, but at least I can be an attentive listener. 

Word by word, he told me the sad story of the

day his parents and little sister died.

.......................................................................................

It was on a lovely morning. Fikri was

packing his jerseys, sport shoes and towel. The district

level volleyball competition is waiting. At the dining

table, his father and mother, both teachers, wished

him good luck and all the best while they were havingbreakfast together. He is the second in the family, and

his brother was in a residential school at that time. He

has two little sisters. One had already departed for school and

the youngest, with her beautiful smile was sitting beside himenjoying her breakfast. This was their last breakfast together.

While walking to his coach’s van, waiting outside the

front gate, a feeling of an unknown origin grabbed his gut.

“Don’t leave” a voice whispered. He felt something bad might

happen but didn’t know what it was. He quickly shrugged off 

the sensation, turned to the door and saw his mother and little

sister waving to him. He felt more comfortable and waved back.

He was determined to win today’s competition; so he

thought.

.......................................................................................................

Half an hour later he was in the court spiking his way to

victory. Nothing in the court could stop his fast ball. Known for

‘The Killer Spike’, Fikri can spike the ball at sharp angles, leaving

opponents with opened mouth as the ball hits the ground.

Winning seemed not so far away but the horrifying news of his

family’s death shattered everything.

He was called out by his coach, and he whispered

something to him. He was stunned and nearly fainted. The

world seemed to be at an end to him. He felt all his organs werebeing pulled out. His heart was being scrubbed with nails and 

the pain was unbearable. He just wanted to die and die quickly.

He was lost, not knowing what to do. The coach grabbed him,

telling him to be patient. He lost his family in a car accident. 

Tears broke at the police station when he was asked to

identify his parents and little sister. Since he is old enough and

the only remaining member left in close proximity, he dragged

his heavy feet into the police station. He moaned even harder

when he saw their bodies. The remains were shredded, their

faces blacken by dried blood; they were wounded badly to the

point of beyond recognition.

The Observer

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  From that moment, he changed. His character

turned upside down. He skipped school, joined a “Grunch”

group, smoke; he was in a deep lost; lost of love, company

and care. The tragedy affected his emotion, judgement,

and personality. He became hot tempered, abusive, and

vicious. His brother, who came back from his residential

school a few days later, can hardly control Fikri anymore.

Their granny, the legal guardian now, tried to calm him

down but everything failed.

She decided to transfer him to another school.

Perhaps Fikri was so disturbed by being at the school his

late parents once taught, that moving to another school

might ease his load of past nostalgia. In two months time,

he is going to face the UPSR examinations, the most

important national examination for primary schoolstudents, and she feared he would not be able to face it.

..............................................................................................

“At that time, many relatives came, to put up my

spirit again. I dismissed them. But, there was this teacher

from my new school who came and offered to teach me

as the exam was getting closer. I was reluctant initially,

but somehow I could see that he was really worried about

me. I saw it from his eyes.” continued Fikri.

“So I went to his house for one hour every night,

trying to regain control of myself and my studies. If my

parents were still alive, he said, they would want me

to carry on too and do the best in my life. Two month is

enough if I work hard. The important thing is to forget the

past and move on which, I did.” 

..............................................................................................

Fikri slowly recovered from his depression with the

help of the teacher, his brother and granny. He decided

not to cry anymore and let the death of his parent and

little sister to be the last thing he wept for. He wanted to

prove to everyone else and most

importantly to himself that he

can succeed in UPSR.

From one hour, now he

took two hours studying at the

teacher’s house and added two

hours more for personal revision in the evening. It was hard

indeed; to forget the tragedy while remaking his life. He

was just 12 while undergoing this difficult time. But through

sheer determination and realization, step by step he

emerged from the slump he had been for a month and built

up new hopes.

..................................................................................

“I got through. 5A’s. Perhaps for anyone else, the

success means going to a good secondary school, but for

me, I was a symbol of reborn. To be able to surpass the

sadness and surface again is the true

satisfaction for me and the result is the vital point of that. I

was being reborn again; to accept the fact and use it as

motivation instead of destruction” he said. 

“And now I believe if my parents are still alive, they

will be proud of me too. I can feel it because their love for

me was very great. There were times when I missed them

so much, I told myself to work hard and achieve success, as

they are smiling for everything that I did. They missed me

too.” 

“I’m sure they are” I added.

“Take care of your parents, buddy, while they are still

around. You are going to miss them. Do whatever you can

to make them happy now and even after they are gone.

The love of our parents affect us even after they have died.

That was what changed me; the love of my parents. Their

desire to see me becoming a successful man is the thing I

carry until now. So should you.” he said. 

I was about to cry when he said,

“Now, thanks for helping me find the content of my

speech. Parental love and success” 

I smiled.

“I was being reborn again;

to accept the fact and use it

as motivation instead ofdestruction” he said. 

The Observer

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Lessons:

We will not change as long as we are not threatened

with danger or maybe extinction. There will be no fix resolutionuntil the danger is in front of our very eyes. A quote from

Sun Tzu, “Myriad single minded men cannot be defeated, let 

alone desperadoes several time that number”. A resolute

change and adjustment will happen only when the situation

became desperate. If there’s no danger, there’s no change. 

Take lesson from the story of a frog inside a pot. First,

the frog jumps into a pot with a fire below it. Initially, the water

is cool. The frog ignores it. Then the water becomes warmer.

The frog feels more comfortable. After that, the water reaches

a high temperature. The frog feels the heat and pain but he

cannot jump out of the pot since he had no energy after he felttoo comfortable. In the end, the frog dies.

Let us learn from these. Do not be an ignorant person.

When desperate time comes, we are not prepared and

helpless. Lastly, we are defeated.

In the real life, we should monitor ourselves. Are we

becoming better each day or we are spiralling downwards.

Spend some time each day to recap and evaluate ourselves. By

doing this, we will be aware of what actually happens to us.

Only then we can make adjustments and changes to improve

ourselves.

In the real life, the thing we have to monitor are:

academic performance

our expenses

relationship with others

most important, our Iman and Taqwa of the day .

Muhamad Bin Hasan Azhari

Foundation 2nd Semester Student - ME

Inspired by: Muhammad Bin Abdulhadi

A thought crosses my mind to share some

experience from the Convofair Family Day nearly

two months ago. On our way to Gunung Jerai, we

had watched a movie entitled ‘The Day The Earth

Stood Still’ starring Keanu Keeves. 

The film is about an alien in the form of a

human (Keanu Reeves), who was sent to earth. At

first, the alien’s mission is to save all the creatures

of the earth except mankind itself. The rescued

creatures would be transported from earth via thealiens space crafts. One of the characters in the

movie asked the alien why he wanted to save all

other life forms but not human beings. The answer

is “because human being caused the self 

destruction of earth in the first place”. According to

the alien’s theory ‘if earth is destroyed, then

mankind perish. However, if mankind is destroyed,

then the earth will be preserved’. 

After that, the people started to convince

the alien to give mankind the chance to live. So,

they met a Nobel Prize winner saying that eachcivilisation in the world has their own critical era, at

that particular time, if the people in the civilisation

did not change themselves, the civilisation will fall.

On the other hand, if the people do change

themselves, they all will be safe. Thus, according to

the Nobel Prize winner, this is the critical era of 

mankind. Mankind still capable to change, it is not

acceptable for the alien to steal the chance for

change from them. When the alien was asked

about how their civilisation can survive until now,

he answered that they did realise and change

themselves when their sun is about to ruin.

The conversation stopped there

because the military arrived. To shorten the story,

the boy treated the alien badly. However the boy

changed his perception of the alien after he was

saved from drowning in a river. The alien also

watched an incident where a mother sacrificed

herself to save her child. These had changed the

perception of the alien which later helped the

human being from being destroyed.

Reflection

7

What If ? 

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The world is always changing. Nothing stays the same. 10 years

ago, mobile phones are a luxury, but now, it is a necessity. Before, only

rich people can afford to own mobile phones.

Contradiction today, even our brothers in primary school have them.

Living a campus life, change is inevitable. Every semester is

different in some ways. To detect the changes is one thing. To cope with

it, is another thing. Have you ever notice that, some of our colleagues

always thrive in what they do. These are people that adapt to changes

accordingly and successfully. On the other hand, some of us may be

unable to deal with changes and might be experiencing culture shock.

How can we deal with changes effectively?

Learn from others

The changes that we experience may also

happen on other person. So, to know how to cope

with that particular situation, ask the person that had

went through that situation. For example, you are

elected as the president of SRCUTP, then, ask the

former president to get a review and preference of 

how to deal with the post. The same goes when you

get into a new semester, you should ask the seniors

of how to manage that semester.

Anticipate changes

Since we already know and believe that changes do

happens, the next step is to anticipate them so we

can be prepared. When do changes most likely to

occur? Most probably, the changes occur at the start

of new semester, after joining a club or when getting

a post in an organization. List down a few occasions

that may lead to changes in your life so you may alert

about changes.

Enjoy changes

Since changes will happen whether we like it or not,

why should we torture ourselves by resisting it. See

changes as an opportunity for us to improve

ourselves. Enjoy the process again and again. Open

your mind. Think of all the possible outcomes of 

the change. Most of them will be good. Even if there’s

dark side of it, focus on the bright side. Think positive,because every cloud has silver lining.

„The only thing

that remain unchanged

is change itself‟ 

Accept changes.

Firstly, accept that the world is forever changing. The change

happened and will always happen from time to time. Accepting this fact

will help us to deal with it later. The first thing… just accept it. 

Be flexible

Sometimes the change that happened requires us to make some

adjustments to ourselves such as letting go old beliefs, making new

goals and practicing new style. Embrace the changes by being flexible.

This is the way to adapt to changes quickly. As long as the adjustments

do not leads to bad things, just go on with them. Moreover, dealing with

changes means to change ourselves in order to adapt to changes.

Are You CHANGE Resistant ? 

Do you like change? Not sure? Answer the quiz below. Don’t put a lot of thought; just pick the first

answer that pops into your mind.

When I think of change, I feel:A) AnxiousB) Excited

When policies at campus change, I:A) Have a hard time getting into a new

routineB) Pick them up quickly and easily

When my environment changes, I feel:A) Unsettled

B) FreeI believe change is:

A) Something to avoidB) Inevitable

I think people who force me to change:A) Make life difficult

B) Keep me on my toes

When there is new student in class, I feel:A) Worried about the team dynamicB) Happy to have a fresh perspective

Change is another word for:A) Disaster

B) New

I believe people can change:A) NopeB) Yep

You want to know the

result of your Quiz??

Check it at the page 11 

Highlights

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9

As it was my first time to travel abroad, I left my country, Egypt,

willing to enter a new world where everything is different rather than in my

country. I dreamt of mixing with new people, learn about different cultures

as I have been told that in UTP there are students from more than 35

countries all over the world, and I was very anxious to create new

friendships with every nationality in UTP.

All these dreams and thoughts vaporized during my first week in

Malaysia. As we were all new students introduced to the university life,

everyone seemed to be shy and not willing to help much and that made it

very difficult on us as foreigners since we are strangers and seem not to

know anyone around. After one month, the situation became worse by

discovering that people in this university are divided into groups, and each

group is enclosed to their members only, meaning the South Africans for

example hang around only with South Africans and so on.

Getting to know people around me, mixing more with them in the

activities and group work removed all those misconceptions taken during

my first days in Malaysia. Getting to mix around with my colleagues and

knowing them better, besides playing sports and

participating in a lot of activities substituted my

feelings as a foreigner and killed the problem of 

homesickness. All this of course was besides takinggood care of my studies and practicing my religion.

There is no doubt that an international

student will always feel that they are not in their

country except when the people who are around

them gave the warm feelings that would sweep all

these cold feelings of being a stranger, and I

managed to do that after three years of 

discovering friends that encourage me with

enough energy to continue my studies and achieve

my goals. In other words I have managed to adapt

to change, in fact I have changed.

Introspective

Quotes for today 

……………………………………… 

People Don't Change,your soul Does 

Bradley Volz 

………………………………… 

No one will hear your stand unless you stand; raise your 

hand and voice out your choice Udezue Chibuzor  

……………………………………… 

Those who see change as a time

of opportunity, rather thandistress, are those who write

history  

James Ehrman 

………………………………… 

Change is what makes life lively  

Soumi Sarkar  

........................................................

Change is the one thing that makes you better, its funny how 

things could change but still stay the same. So change for the best 

and get better for the worst  Dyquan Caldwell 

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10

“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk 

then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward." ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Growing is a continuous process which happens as long as you live. Experiences in life teach you to grow to a bet-

ter person. Yet, this will only happen if you are able to change. You can’t grow if you stay at the same position.

You need to change in order to grow. In fact, changing is also a continuous process which will never end.

The moment you stop changing, you are actually stop growing. After all, life without any form of changeswould be monotonous right?

Stop, Think and Reflect.

Have you ever thought that you

are letting your life to take action

each and everyday? And you just

go with the flow? If you are too

busy, this will happen. Have a

pause in life and reflect on every

action you have taken. Slow

down, give some time for

you to think and open the

door for you to change. 

W i l l i n  g  t o  C h a n  g e . I t   s t a r t s   f r o m   y o u !   I f   y o u  

a r e   n o t   w i l l i n  g   t o  

c h a n  g e  , t h e n  n o t h i n  g  i n  

t h i s   w o r l d   c a n   m a k e  

y o u   d o   s o .  R e a l i z e   t h a t  

y o u r   l i f e   c a n   b e   b e t t e r  

t h a n   i t   i s   n o w .  T h e r e   i s  

a l w a y s   r o o m  f o r   i m p r o v e - 

m e n t . L a s t l y  , d o n ’ t  e v e r  l e t  

o t h e r ’ s   f e a r  h o l d   y o u  b a c k  

i n   y o u r  w a y   t o  m a k e  p o s i - 

t i v e  c h a n g e s  i n  y o u r  l i f e . Don’t Give Excuses. 

Excuses are limiting believes which

are one of the biggest factors that

hinder you from changing. Identify,

write them on papers and handle

them effectively. By doing this, you

can see clearly the attitudes that has

been stopping you from changing.

Replace your limiting believes

with encouraging believes in

order to be more positive.

Mentor as an Inspiration.

Having a mentor will help you to go

through your changes smoothly. You

can skip the hardship as you have

your mentor to seek for advice and

warn you on possible traps along

your path.  You will also save a lot of 

time by having a mentor. Find a goodmentor whom can f it and

relate to your situation. At the same

time, be a serious mentee who is eager

to learn and ready to change. This will

make your mentor’s job easier.

Have the Right Target.

Set your target and ensure that

it is something that you are

able to achieve. Otherwise, you

will be easily discouraged when

things don’t go as expected.

Remember that change

takes time, especially if you

want the change to last. 

Setting the right target helps

you to be persistent in difficult

times.

Maintain the Pace. The beginning is always the hardest. Once you

gone through it, things will get easier. The only

step you need to take is to maintain the pace. It is

like pushing a car where a large force is needed to

move the car. But once it is moving, small amount

of force would do. Be in your pace. You can’t go

slower but you sure can go faster.

Quickies

 F i n d  a  R e a s o n

 W h y  yo u  need

  to c h a n ge ?  I s  t

 he re 

 a  re a so n  fo r  yo

 u  to c h a n ge ?  O

 r do 

 yo u   re a l l y  need 

 to  c h a n ge ? 

 C h a n g e  i s  n o t 

 e a s y.  I t  i s  j u s t 

 l i ke 

 t he re  i s  a  g r a v

 i t y  t h a t  kee p s 

 p u l l -

 i n g  yo u  b ac k  a

 t  t he  s a me  po i n t

 Yo u r   re a so n 

 i s   t he e ne r g y 

 yo u 

 needed.  T he  re a s

o n  w i l l  g i ve  y

o u 

 t he   s t re n g t h   to  o ve rco m

e   t he 

 g r a v i t y.  F i nd  t h

e  re a so n  fo r  yo

 u  to 

c h a n ge  a nd c h

 a n ge! 

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From the Counsel-

11

From the Counselling Unit

Counseling and Student Development Unit Diary

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1st

Semester 2009/10 Schedule

From Quiz “Are You CHANGE Resistant ?” Add up your answer… and let’s see if you are a change resistor? 

Program  Date  Program  Date Training of Trainers MAS July 2009  7-10 July 09  Workshop : Introduction to EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)  23 October 09 Training of Trainers for all 40 Tunas Cemerlang committee  18 August 09  Workshop : Introduction to EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)  28 October 09 Public Speaking Workshop  19 August 09  Foundation Teambuilding  2-4 Oct 09 

9-11 Oct 09 16-18 Oct 09 23-25 Oct 09 

Decision For Future  19 August 09  Workshop : Success Is Never Ending, Failure Is Never Final  7 October 09 Sharing Experience With Ex-Utp Student  26 August 09  IMPRESS  10 October 09 “Fuelled Up! Becoming A Professional Student” Seminar   29 August 09  Stress management Skills  14 October 09 Workshop : Event Management  2 September 09  Workshop: Relax Therapy  14 October 09 Workshop : Time Management – Plan your Success  2 September 09  Workshop for Potential Leader   20 Oct ober 09 Workshop :The Power of Color   9 September 09  Sharing With High Achievers  21 October 09 Workshop : Time Management – Plan your Success  9 September 09  Workshop : Introduction to EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)  23 October 09 Workshop : Study Habits – Looking Forward  11 September 09  Workshop : Introduction to EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)  28 October 09 “Smart Study – Time Management Skills” Seminar   12 September 09  Foundation Teambuilding  2-4 Oct 09 

9-11 Oct 09 16-18 Oct 09 23-25 Oct 09 

Design Your Destiny  16 September 09  Workshop : Success Is Never Ending, Failure Is Never Final  7 October 09 Workshop : Study Habits – Looking Forward  30 September 09  IMPRESS  10 October 09 Foundation Teambuilding  2-4 Oct 09 

9-11 Oct 09 

16-18 Oct 09 23-25 Oct 09 

Stress management Skills  14 October 09 

Workshop : Success Is Never Ending, Failure Is Never Final  7 October 09  Workshop: Relax Therapy  14 October 09 IMPRESS  10 October 09  Workshop for Potential Leader   20 Oct ober 09 Stress management Skills  14 October 09  Sharing With High Achievers  21 October 09 Workshop: Relax Therapy  14 October 09  Workshop : Introduction to EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)  23 October 09 Workshop for Potential Leader   20 Oct ober 09  Workshop : Introduction to EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)  28 October 09 Sharing With High Achievers  21 October 09