KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 — Malaysian geoscience student who took social media by storm with her inspiring graduation keynote speech at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) has received an acknowledgment from renowned composer Lin-Manuel Miranda.
In the video, Lisa Nur Marini Mohd Kamal kicked off her speech with her own rendition of Hamilton, an award-winning Broadway musical written and composed by Miranda.
“Raise a glass to freedom. Raise a glass to all of us. Telling the story of today,” she sang.
Lisa then opened up about the challenges she faced throughout her studies and said listening to the Hamilton soundtrack became a coping mechanism to get through the day.
Shortly after a video clip of her speech started making rounds on social media, the Academy Award nominee took to tweeter to acknowledge Lisa’s homage to him with a thank you note.
“Mira, Lisa, No me preocupo por ella, thank you, (Look, Lisa, I’m not worried about this girl),” Miranda tweeted in Spanish.
In response to Miranda’s tweet, Lisa replied by posting a photo of her and her friends inside the theatre where Hamilton was being staged in Chicago.
In her speech, the Petronas scholarship student from Kuala Lumpur also touched on the challenges of international students by saying that her experience as an international student from Malaysia made the transition to UW-Madison jarring.
She added that college students juggle a lot and for her finding the balance was made even harder as she was separated from all her friends and family by a 14-hour time difference.
However, despite the challenges Lisa faced throughout her time at the university, she managed to build an impressive portfolio by receiving multiple awards and recognitions.
The clip of Lisa’s speech has been viewed over 268,000 times since it was uploaded on YouTube on Monday.
