Dawn Lesley Leong Yee Yuen

“I stepped foot in Curtin Malaysia for the first time in 2017 to pursue the Foundation in Commerce. It was my first time being in a different state alone. It took a lot of courage for me to be away from family and enter a strange new environment. Nevertheless, I took it as fulfilling my educational goals and an opportunity to make new friends and learn from respected lecturers. Indeed, I have made many friends and my lecturers have been the best.

“When it was time to enter my undergraduate programme, I was uncertain which major to take, so I sought the advice of my peers, which led to me choosing the Management and Marketing double-major. Doing Management and Marketing meant lots of presentations and I would get cold feet each time I had to give a presentation. However, thanks to the encouragement and advice of my lecturers and friends, I was able to gain my confidence and improve on my communication skills.

“I really value the experience I’ve gained in Curtin Malaysia, in terms of academia, sports and social interaction. I enjoyed working in groups and making friends with both local and international students. The desire and need to interact with others helped me get out of my comfort zone. I gained new perspectives and joined sports that I never imagined I would ever take up.

“As I look back on 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, it was definitely a challenging year for students due to the change from face-to-face to online classes, but the university was well-prepared and made it possible for students to continue effective learning without deferring semesters.

Honestly speaking, the online classes were rather demotivating at times, having to sit and stare at a computer screen for hours, but you learn to take it as less of setback but rather a challenge to do better, build character and experience new things. All of us who went through it will have lasting memories of the experience.” –Dawn Lesley Leong Yee Yuen, Management and Marketing student