DEC 13 — Across Malaysia’s public universities, this year’s convocation season arrived with its familiar rhythm.
Halls filled with colour, proud families waited with cameras ready, and graduates stepped forward carrying dreams they had shaped over years of hard work.
Yet in the midst of all the celebration, I found myself feeling something deeper than usual. This year, the season hit different for me.
Convocation is always meaningful, but this time I stood in two very personal roles. I was a mother watching my own children receive their degrees at Universiti Teknologi MARA, and I was an educator witnessing my Universiti Malaya students walk onto the same kind of stage toward their futures.
Two worlds, two responsibilities, yet one continuous journey that reminded me how learning connects us across generations.
At UiTM, the moment my children’s names were called, everything around me seemed to slow. I saw their faces, bright with confidence, and I remembered the small hands I used to guide.
The early mornings, the late-night homework, the moments of doubt they had overcome. When they received their scrolls, I felt a quiet gratitude settle in my heart.
Every parent in the hall understood that feeling. It was the gentle triumph that comes from seeing years of guidance turn into independence.
Days later at UM, I sat again in a convocation hall, this time among fellow lecturers. The pride was just as strong, although shaped differently.
My students were not my children, yet I had watched them grow too. I had seen their uncertainties, their breakthroughs, their resilience.
As each one walked across the stage, I realised that teaching is its own form of parenting. It is a slower, wider, more communal version of the same journey.
We nurture, we challenge, we encourage, and we hope that our students find the courage to step into the world with purpose.
Sitting through both ceremonies brought back a memory from decades ago, one that resurfaced more vividly than I expected.
In 1991, I stood in my graduation robes at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, thousands of miles away from home. They called it Commencement Day, not convocation.
Only later did I understand why. Commencement marks the beginning of something new. Convocation marks the completion of something earned.
In truth, every graduation is both. It is a closing and an opening, a moment of looking back and looking forward at the same time.
Watching my children and students take their steps reminded me that this cycle never really ends. Each generation begins where another leaves off.
That memory helped me see this year’s ceremonies with clearer eyes. My children showed me how far a family can journey together. My students showed me how far a classroom can reach into the future.
Both groups made me realise that education is never a single moment. It is a series of linked steps. It begins long before the ceremony and continues long after the applause fades.
To the Class of 2024, whether from UM, UiTM or any IPTA across the country, you are stepping into a world that needs your courage and compassion.
Your degrees are not endings. They are beginnings shaped by years of learning, sacrifice and support.
To the parents, your children’s success reflects your patience and guidance. To my fellow educators, every scroll on that stage carries a part of your commitment.
May this convocation season mark a new chapter for all of us. May your next steps be taken with clarity and gratitude. And may the learning you carry continue to grow, connect and illuminate the paths ahead.
All the best, graduates. Your journey continues from here.
* Associate Professor Sr Dr. Zuraini Md Ali is from the Department of Building Surveying, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya and may be contacted at [email protected]
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
