Her 18-hour days are filled with attending lectures, dashing off to her part-time job, and desperately trying to catch up on assignments and revision.
But lately, despite feeling tired to the bone, she hasn’t been able to sleep. She’s at her wits end trying to figure out how to complete her degree after having lost her scholarship when she failed to attain the minimum 3.30 cumulative grade point average (CGPA).
She knows she has to buck up, but 2020 has been an awfully difficult year for her.
Just two months before starting her degree course, Aliya’s father, the breadwinner for the family of eight, passed away.
Her mother, a diabetic with high blood pressure, has now become the sole provider, selling homemade sambal in the neighbourhood to support the family.
“My two elder brothers are working and do help with the bills as much as they can, but it’s not enough, even with the welfare assistance for one of my siblings, who is disabled.
“So, I have been working at an ice-cream shop for four to five hours a day, four days a week and full shifts over the weekends,” she said, adding that throughout her father’s illness, she also helped care for him.
Aliya, who earned her scholarship through good grades, said her studies suffered when she had to work part-time and study till the wee hours of the morning.
“The movement control order also affected my studies because I found it challenging to learn online while having to look after my siblings at home as well as my mother and grandmother.”
She has even had to study for her exam papers in the hospital while caring for her grandmother who had been admitted at the time.
If these circumstances weren’t bad enough, Aliya’s battered, second-hand laptop has refused to work, making online learning next to impossible for her.
Aliya has appealed to the corporation who granted her the scholarship to reconsider the withdrawal. However, she was told that she would have to bring her CGPA to 3.30 again, a tall order given the results of her subjects in previous semesters.
“This scholarship means everything to me and my family. I don’t want to lose it. I want to be a lawyer and provide for my family. I’m just going through a rough patch.
“I know I can get my grades up again to maintain the scholarship, I just need a chance.”
For those who wish to help Aliya, do drop us a WhatsApp message on FMT’s Helpline at 019-389 9839. Click here to Whatsapp us.