McLauren Abel Marcus

“I’m from Tamparuli, Sabah, and when I enrolled at Curtin Malaysia, I was still clueless as to what I wanted to study. Should I take engineering or business? But after taking the foundation course for a year and asking seniors and lecturers for their opinions, I ended up taking applied geology and I fell in love with it. Who would have figured that a guy like me would come to love going on field trips and getting his hands dirty looking for fossils and interesting rocks. I swear all rocks looked the same before I started learning about them!

“Aside from my studies, I was involved in a lot of clubs and events. I got to pursue my passion in the performing arts and I challenged myself to join one of the engineering clubs, the IEEE Curtin Malaysia Student Branch. Doing electrical stuff and programming never crossed my mind before, but I ended up being one of the club’s committee members and I absolutely loved it.

“But the most memorable experience was being an organiser of small charity event called ‘Little Things’ to show our appreciation of the often-forgotten support staff on campus like the security guards, cleaners and bus drivers.It was inspired by the Frank A. Clarke quote: “Everyone is trying to accomplish something big, not realizing that life is made up of little things.”” –McLauren Abel Marcus, Applied Geology student