Today is 31.10.2020…..I
am writing this on my plane MH 0004 heading from Kuala Lumpur to London
Heathrow. Against all odds, despite all the obstacles and difficulties of the
current pandemic situation, Allah has made it a reality today.
This happened exactly a
year after me, my wife, and kids flew to Manchester, United Kingdom. Just that
this time around it is for a completely different purpose.
We came last year to
Manchester along with the whole batch of final year Quantity Surveying (QS)
students of University of Malaya, who came for a week of an outbound program
with Manchester Metropolitan University; which my wife Dr. Nurshuhada
supervised.
I was back then
accompanying my wife for her duty calls and basically to look after the kids
while mommy was at work. It was an awesome time with the kids, I guess. Brought them to many interesting sites
throughout Manchester while mom was at work, such as the Manchester Uni museum,
Football Museum, Science Museum and of course to the Old Trafford stadium. Here
are the links to video clips: snapshots of those trips: www…..
Interestingly, it was
during this period as well that things get really serious. Although me and wife
have always talked about my intention to pursue my studies and by that
time, I have already started sending
emails to University of Edinburgh months prior to that UK trip, it never
reached to the point like, “ok, I-am-definitely-going-to-pursue-this-year” kind
of tone. I just went with the flow. However, one day perhaps after 2-3 days
being in Manchester (we stayed at Travelodge for a week by the way), my wife
came back from work and started saying,
“Yang, why don’t you try
to ask the potential supervisors again, since now we are here.”
Partially interested, I
responded, “Yeah, ok I’ll try and see…, maybe ill survey a few more
potential universities first”
So, the next day, I
started doing my online hunting for potential SVs. The interest kept on
growing and the thoughts keep coming, telling me that I
must do the online
search, like seriously doing it. So I spent a good few hours online searching
while my wife was away with her students. I managed to shortlist 5 universities
that have cardio-related Ph.D. projects which included the University of Edinburgh,
University College London, King’s College London, University of Cambridge, and The University of Oxford.
Feeling hopeful and
thrilled at the same time, I drafted the email stating my intention and
interest in these potential SVs and eventually clicked send to all other Unis
except for Cambridge and Oxford.
I was not confident that
those Universities will even care to look and read at my emails to be
completely honest. Later, when my wife came back to our hotel, we discussed the progress, and she uttered a statement which I will never forget.
“Why don’t you just click
send to Oxford and Cambridge, you can do this trust me. I believe in you more
than you do believe in yourself, and you will never know what lies ahead,”
That left me speechless
for a few seconds, and made me reflected on how in life you just need a great
support from the individuals around you and how words can transform people’s
view on life and on your own self.
Without hesitation
henceforth, I clicked send……….
LoI and behold…
12-24 hours later, only 2
potential SVs from 2 universities had responded and the most promising one was The University of Oxford.
I was like ‘Wow, is this
for real?’. They asked me to come down to Oxford to meet up on Friday if I am
interested. That email came on Wednesday. Thursday was the last day of my
wife’s formal function. Saturday was our flight back to Kuala Lumpur. So it was
more like a crazy ad-hoc kind of decision if we were to take that trip down to
Oxford. So I and wife decided to go on with the crazy idea. Thus we booked a
one-night stay at Travelodge Oxford and prolonged our car rental duration and
to Oxford, we went.
Alhamdulillah, it turned
out to be a great last-minute decision in fact. For a few reasons. First, the
kids got to taste and experience Oxford, firsthand. Let them smell the air,
witness the greeneries and the tranquility of the historical university. So,
when I fight for my place in Oxford, they will be fighting for me too. ( ill
tell you why I said this ). Secondly, having the opportunity to enter the
university, talked to the team there, and being considered a potential candidate
alone was already a Win for me. I rather died trying. To the very least, I can
tell my children later that I tried to apply, but perhaps not meant to be
there😉. In fact, since it was a Cardiology Unit at
John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, during the initial meet they
have made it quite clear that they never had a fellow from the Emergency
background attached with them. It was always Internal Medicine and Cardiology
background all these while. For obvious reasons, I did not put much hope ever
since.
However, days after
reaching Malaysia, I received an email from the same department, asking me to submit
my CV and ideas in a simple proposal format. I was surprised, thrilled, and more
importantly grateful. I took that opportunity as a huge ‘sign’ from God that my prayers may be answered.
A week after that, I
received feedback from the team offering an online interview. This was when
it got really interesting and nervy, the interview will be via skype with the presence of the whole research team and in particular the head of the unit,
Prof Stefan; a world-renowned Consultant Cardiologist and a distinct professor
of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and an editor of the European Heart
Journal. Yes, that was exactly my reaction..” wow, omg I am
nervous now”. The seconds I received this thrilling news, there was a strong
sense of adrenaline rushing in my body. My neurons began synapsing all over the
brain cortices figuring out what should I prepare for the interview? What
should I read? How should I dress? What if I don’t get it and not able to
impress them during the interviews? Well to be fair, you would be nervous also
wouldn’t ya?
So on the 11th
December 2019, roughly about a month after my visit to John Radcliffe
University Hospital Oxford, I had the interview done. Via skype, 11000km apart,
7 hours difference in time zone, 2200 Hours Malaysia time, 3pm UK time, just me
and the team in Oxford who consisted of Prof Dr Stefan, Dr Masliza and Dr Betty
Raman. It went on about half an hour covering a range of issues including my
previous achievements, my research credible and experience, my writing and
publications, family and dependants, possible funding sources for the DPhil,
and more profoundly was exploring the deep question on what doing and getting
the DPhil means to me. And I must say that time passed really swiftly that
night. But I was extremely satisfied albeit some of my weaknesses were pointed
out particularly on the publication and research aspects, which I had no choice
but to agree. In fact, afterward, when talking to my wife about the
experience, we realized how Oxford screened their potential candidates. They
were able to point to the ‘Achilles tendon’ straight away…
At this stage, only a few
persons in the department knew about the interview; my head of department at
that time Assoc Prof Dr Johar, my partner in crime Dr Hisham Isa, Dr Kusyairi
Harun Al Rashid and Pn Saadah from Crem. I kept it low because I thought it was
too premature to announce since nothing was secured, or certain yet at that
point. My biggest blessings had been my family; my beloved parents Mama and Bapak, my wonderful wife Dr. Nurshuhada Zainon and
kids Tisyia, Aqeel, Hamza, and Ahmed, my beloved parents-in-laws Mama and Ayah, my siblings Liana and her husband Azizul, Fendy and wife Misya, 4g, Adik, and all the
family members who practically prayed for me throughout the interview. In fact,
the hilarious part was when I was told that, my kids refrained from
having any of their usual verbal arguments and boy fights and prayed on time,
as they believed that will increase my chance of getting the spot. MasyaAllah,
really, I owed them this experience. 😊
Waiting for the feedback
email was also another nervy period. But alhamdulillah, a few days after that, I
received an email from the department stating the outcome of the interview.
“The interview went well
and the teams were impressed and happy to accept me as a team and be part of the the research team in RDM, Oxford”………😊😊😊😊 Alhamdulillah.
It further states “with
this, you are allowed and advised to proceed with the official application via
the Graduate Admission website of Oxford University for DPhil admission for term 2020/21.”
To be continued...
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