Two top scorers among 495 graduates of Cosmopoint College
KOTA KINABALU: When she was 17, Christabel Yeo Boon Chin was convinced that she would not be pursuing her higher education.
However, after jumping head first into the working pool, she experienced a revelation and became aware of the importance of education, prompting her to make a u-turn to get back to college.
She has never looked back since and, today, the 22-year-old is the 2017 Cosmopoint College Kuching Bestari graduate, an award given to the highest CGPA scorer with excellent performance in project work and extracurricular activities participation.
“I didn't really enjoy school and I would rather play basketball every day. So I went to look for jobs, instead. I worked as a promoter for awhile and it made me realize how relaxing and great study life was,” she said at the 22nd Cosmopoint College Convocation ceremony for Sabah and Sarawak held here yesterday.
Fueled by her retired father's tough love and her cleaner mother's quiet desire for her to further her studies, the youngest girl among two brothers pushed herself to get a diploma.
“Slowly but surely, I grew to like studying, especially on things that interest me. I realized that I am not that bad at studies after all,” shared the CGPA 3.89 scorer and Business Management Diploma holder.
The unsuspecting Christabel only learned that she had been honoured with the Bestari Award on the graduation rehearsal day, thinking only of juggling work and studying part time for her degree.
“I am not in any position to give any advice, tips or even have secrets to success because, honestly, I don't have one. But there's one thing I always hold close to my heart whenever I feel down or discouraged.
“The word is, believe. Keep believing in yourself, keep moving forward, be strong and confident, and never give up no matter the situation or circumstances. If you don't believe in yourself, then who else will?
This year's Cosmopoint College Kota Kinabalu Bestari Award recipient, Susany Voo Su San, almost gave up on her Pharmacy Diploma studies.
“When I look back three years ago, my first year was a challenging one. At one point, I almost gave up because of the difficulties faced in college life where I had to adapt myself with different ways of studying,” said the Kudat lass.
“With the encouragement of my parents and lecturers, I managed to complete my studies today,” reminisced the 22-yearold child to a businessman father and housewife mother.
The third child out of four siblings, who left behind her aspiration to be a singer, scored a CGPA 3.88, the top two scorers among 495 successful graduates, 390 are from Cosmopoint College Kota Kinabalu and 105 from Cosmopoint College Kuching.
The current medical representative is among 386 East Malaysian graduates who took their diplomas in various disciplines, such as Hospitality and Tourism Management, Business Technology and Accounting, Creative Design as well as Health Sciences.
To date, Cosmopoint College has been able to produce more than 100,000 graduates since its 1992 establishment.
City Hall Mayor Datuk Yeo Boon Hai also attended the ceremony for the first time.
“I believe in these three years, graduates have got the upbringing, guidance and education to change perspectives and paradigms in order to face life's challenges in the future. With such changes, of course, graduates have increased the self-confidence to achieve whatever you wish for,” said Yeo in his speech.
Also present at the ceremony was Cosmopoint College Chief Executive, Mohammad Najmie Noordin.
“Convocation is one of life's most memorable moments. It signifies the hard work, sacrifices and determination you have gone through to obtain your qualifications in the past three years,” he said.
Not just the lessons and readings but the experiences of being with your fellow friends, of interacting as adults, dealing with the challenges of independence and the examples you see from the leaders of this college. Take the positives as inspiration, and the negatives as lessons,” added Najmie.
Cosmopoint also inked a Rakan Bandaraya agreement with City Hall, a collaboration to strengthen the existing partnership, particularly in the involvement of students in City Hall's youth initiatives.
Additionally, the college also signed a MoU with Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa, a reflection of the existing collaboration as industry partners in terms of students industrial attachments and job opportunities for Cosmopoint graduates.