BID Excellence Award recipient, Christysterra Johnny gains experience in Turkey

Translation by: DR. ROZAIMI ABU SAMAH, FACULTY OF CHEMICAL AND PROCESS ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

“Being a temporary English teacher in Altınküre Okullar, Sakarya, Turkey was the most meaningful experience of my life during my study in UMP,” said Christysterra Johnny, 23, graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Applied Science (Honours) Materials Technology. She received the Dimension BID Excellence Award at the 14th Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) Convocation Ceremony.

In Turkey, she had almost 200 students aged six to 14 years old to teach and interact in English.

She gained a lot of new experiences and also learned Turkish.

As a proud Kadazan, she never forgets the supports of her family.

Her father, Johnny John, 50, is a General Assistant and her mother, Catherina Angkim, 52, is a nurse.

“They believed in me and always gave words of encouragement when I was down.

“My success today is because of them and I will strive to make them proud and pay gratitude for things they have done,” said the native of Keningau, Sabah.

Christysterra excelled in her academics as she received the Dean's Award for seven semesters.

The second child of five siblings holds on to the words – hard work works.

“Success is the result of hard work, perseverance, tenacity and sacrifices in garnering knowledge and gaining valuable soft skills.

“UMP offers a full range of soft skills from leadership to entrepreneurship and students are trained to gain soft skills before joining the industry,” she added.

She is currently working as an engineer in TG Porcelain Sdn. Bhd. She is responsible for the preparation of materials to produce ceramic mould and treatment of industrial wastewater.

In the future, she hopes to pursue her study abroad as she sees garnering knowledge is a lifelong learning process and must take advantage of every opportunity.