Welcome
You may be wondering who is the person behind this website, so let's get to know me:
As you can tell by my header, my fullname is Nurul Syazwani Binte Zulkifli.
I was born in Singapore on 2nd February 1999.
I am the third sibling in my family of eight people.
I live in Woodlands along with my aunt and grandmother.
Just imagine living in a household with 9 other people! Oh, and a cat.
My Education
Preschool
When I was 3 years old, I went to a preschool at Woodlands. I didn't remember much from my preschool times but what I do remember is that my centre was an unlicensed one. Only after being in Primary school did I find out about it being unlicensed. That's why now my preschool is no longer around.
Private School (Madrasah)
I went to a private school for both primary and secondary levels. Then known as Madrasah Al-Irsyad Al-Islamiah, an Islamic private school. In 2015, my school was renamed to Madrasah Irsyad Zuhri Al-Islamiah. This was to recognise the founder's (Kiyai Zuhri) contributions to the school.
Primary
When I was first enrolled in Madrasah Al-Irsyad Al-Islamiah in 2006, the school was located at Winstedt Road. Now Lasalle is located there. I only went to school there for 3 years (2006-2008), when I was in Primary 1 to Primary 3. Then in 2009, we moved again to a new building located at Braddell Road. I went there for 4 years (2009-2012): my remaining 3 years in Primary level and my first Secondary year.
During my primary years at Winstedt Road, I was such a crybaby heh I was that student who wouldn't stop crying and wanted to go home to my mother. Luckily my teachers (and my 2 older sisters) were very patient with me and comforted me when I cried every morning before assembly. Yup, I was that big of a crybaby.
Student Leader
Luckily the crying stopped when I reached Primary 4 because I was appointed as a Student Leader (prefect) that year! I held that position up until I was in Secondary 3. Being appointed as a Student Leader when I was 10 years old felt like a huge honour and responsibility, which it was. It still feels like that even as I reach Secondary level. That feeling was amplified especially as the responsibilities grew. When I reached Secondary 3, I was promoted to become an Executive Committee member in the Student Leaders Unit. What made it worthwhile and durable was my team members. They were a great bunch of people to work with.
Secondary
When I reached Secondary 2 in 2013, the secondary students of Madrasah Al-Irsyad Al-Islamiah had to move to Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah's campus to make space for the increasing number of Irsyad primary students. There was an increase in the intake of Primary students because of a new system called the Joint Madrasah System (JMS). Being part of this system, I had to always explain it to the people who did not understand this, especially my relatives. So I decided to just explain it here. ☺
Taking in more primary students was not the only part of the JMS. More primary students meant lesser secondary students. This year (2017) will be the final year where Irsyad will have graduating secondary students. Obviously it will be a very meaningful and emotional graduation ceremony come the day.
Tertiary
Now, I am a student in Singapore Polytechnic, taking a Diploma in Information Technology. Never once in my life did I think that I would be pursuing a Diploma in IT. I was never once exposed to IT unlike most of my classmates. It is something entirely new that I do not have any knowledge in.
Besides the fact that I was pursuing a diploma which is very new to me, I am now in a non-Islamic school, which was another new thing to me. Transitioning from my comfort zone to a public school where I have to be independent and not have religious people around me to remind me of my religious duties. The way I see it, my journey starts only when I am in tertiary level because I am no longer in my comfort zone.
"Great things never come from comfort zones."