KUCHING: Remember the Sarawakian student whose story went viral after receiving not just one but two offers from two of the world’s prestigious universities?
Months later, she is still finding it hard to believe that she actually got offers from Cornell University in the United States and Oxford University in England.
Speaking to New Sarawak Tribune recently, Adriana Syahmina Karim Mohamad Fuad, 20, recalled being lost for words when she received an offer from Cornell University on Dec 16 last year.
“I was unable to think about what to say… I was jumping up and down on my bed the moment I signed in to the university’s portal and received the offer,” she recalled.
“I was shocked and of course extremely happy,” she said.
As if that was not impressive enough, the student from Kuching also received an offer from another famous institution – Oxford University on Jan 10, when least expected.
She tweeted a screenshot of her offer letter to St Hugh’s College, Oxford to enrol in Earth Sciences (Integrated Master’s Degree) in the October 2023 session and it went viral on various social media platforms.
“Up until today, I still find it hard to believe that I actually got offered by both of these universities. Regardless, I am immensely grateful for all of these. Alhamdulillah,” she said.
However, she has not made up her mind and will only decide which to go for in August or September.
The offer from Cornell University, she said, was an unconditional one so regardless of her A-level results, her place is secured there.
As for Oxford University, she needs to meet certain grades in order to actually get into the university.
Also, she needs to achieve her sponsors’ requirement in order to go overseas.
The ‘Karim’ story that secured a place for her at Cornell University
Sharing about her application process to the universities overseas, she said the processes for the United Kingdom (UK) application process are similar to University Admission Unit (UPU) in Malaysia with a centralised system called Universities and Colleges Admission Services (UCAS).
As for the US universities, she applied via the Common App. The US schools, she said, have a more holistic approach where they do not just see the applicants’ grades for admission.
“They also take into account other aspects of a student such as my extracurricular (ECA) activities as well as at least two recommendation letters from my teachers and one from my school counsellor,” she said, adding an offer from a US school is almost unconditional whereas a UK university is conditional.
Meanwhile, the major difference between these two schools was the admission essay; the UK one was more academic where the question/ title was “Why do you want to study this subject?”.
“Frankly, there is nothing too special about my essay (for my application for UK universities). It was a space for me to further explain my interest in the subject and perhaps to put my pre-existing knowledge to the test,” she said.
As for US universities, she was required to write at least two essays and that it depended on the universities she was applying to.
The first essay was the personal statement, as required by the Common App itself and the subsequent essays, supplemental, are required by the universities.
“So, I talked about Karim, a name which I used to think was my father’s when applying for US universities,” she said.
Adriana said Karim is a boy’s name. Naturally, by cultural mandate, the name would belong to the girl’s father but that wasn’t the case for her.
“When I first found out, it was a moment of self-discovery for the 10-year-old me.
“I remembered telling some of my friends at the time that Karim is actually my own name and some took it as a joke. Not a good experience though,” she recalled.
However, the once frowned upon name is now a trademark because realising being different (a girl with a boy’s name) does not always mean bad luck.
More often than not, it helps her stand out in a sea of ‘Adrianas’ wherever she goes; such as in rugby competitions, science competitions or simply, living her life in an all-girls school because there are tons of girls named ‘Adriana’.
“What people call me really depends on how they know me. For the sake of convenience, people usually address me as Adriana because there’s no follow up questions (or I had known them from primary school) because it is gender-appropriate right, until I let them call me Karim.
“As for the people I have known since high school, they know me more as Karim,” she added.
Sponsored by Sarawak Foundation (Yayasan Sarawak) for her secondary education, Adriana had moved to West Malaysia and studied at Tunku Kurshiah College in Negeri Sembilan, since she was 13.
She believed that her years spent at the premier all-girls boarding school had shaped her into who she is today.
Currently, she is doing a 24 months A-level programme at Kolej Yayasan UEM (KY) sponsored by Shell Malaysia and is expected to graduate in June.
“I’m doing A-levels at the moment, taking general subjects but in-depth: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Marine Science,” she said.
Study tips? Mini self-rewards and avoid unproductive sacrifices
Adriana said there is no big secret or unique study method for her to achieve excellent results or grades but she is an avid believer of not doing unproductive sacrifices.
“When I feel tired or my brain feels a bit slump-y, I will just stop and take a break so I could push harder in the next study session. On the weekends, I’ll watch a movie on Saturday nights, something I look forward to every week to keep me motivated,” she said.
She is also inclined towards mini self-rewards, such as grabbing a coffee at the café or enjoying an ice cream after accomplishing some work throughout the day.
Apart from that, an advice which she has held dear to is “other than studying, don’t forget to have fun as a student too”; it was some wise words from one of the board of trustees from Shell Malaysia.
“As long as I know my priorities, I believe I should be in the right direction,” she added
Family, Adriana said, has also played a big part of her upbringing as well and kept her going while overcoming various challenges she faced.
“I have a small family, a younger sister and my mother is a single mother. I was raised by my maternal grandparents,” she said.
“My maternal grandparents have always been there supporting me in whatever I do. Be it financially or simply, keeping me in their prayers,” she said.
Whenever she has an exam or a competition coming up, her grandparents will perform prayers at the exact time (of her competition or exam) from afar since they are in Kuching.
Although the gesture may seem small, she genuinely believes the prayers and kind words from her family also contributed to her academic excellence.
“I also remember back when I was going to do my PT3 exams in 2018, my mother and grandparents flew all the way to Seremban to see me go into the hall on the first day of PT3.
“For me, it’s the simple yet meaningful things that keeps me going,” she said.
