In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
On this Father’s Day, In Real Life shares the story of Selvakumar, a senior lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia, and how his father motivated him to be where he is today.
I am Selvakumar Mariappan, a Senior Lecturer from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). I wanted to share my story about my dad, who has been the greatest source of my motivation.
I grew up in a B40 family, in a drug-infested village where gangsters roamed the streets at night. It wasn’t an easy ride for me and my family. My father himself struggled financially in his youth, which pushed him into a desperate state and led him to be involved in gangsterism.
But despite his past as an ex-convict, he never failed to provide a better life for his family, especially us, his children.
My father broke the chain of poverty
My father left his dark life behind and went to work as a labourer and, in recent years, as a security guard.
For as long as I knew him, my father never let us stray down the wrong path. Everything he did was to provide us with all the necessities for our success.
During my primary education, I hated that multiplication table and would not do my maths homework. But he would beat the crap out of me and force me to study.
I still remember the day he told me that he didn’t even pass Standard 3. He admitted with full honesty that he ended up like what he was because he didn’t have the chance to get a good education.
He told us children, “I am not rich, and I don’t have any money to send you to university. Get excellent grades, get a scholarship and you can go beyond the stars.”
And that’s exactly what I did.
Furthering my tertiary education was extremely tough
Still, the journey definitely is not as smooth as I imagined it to be. When I was 20, I went to UNITEN to further my studies in Mechanical Engineering. I had excellent straight A’s from primary school up to secondary. But university was a completely different experience.
Unfortunately, I had to drop out of UNITEN when I found out there were no loans offered for foundation studies there. Then, I received an offer to pursue my further studies at Universiti Teknikal Melaka UTeM for a Diploma in Electrical Engineering.
I wasn’t in any situation to be choosy, so I leaped at the opportunity. After submitting a few appeals, I was able to obtain the JPA scholarship.
I was so far from home and not knowing how to adapt to being independent for the first time, I found it hard to focus on my studies. In my 1st semester during my diploma, my CGPA was just 2.3.
My lecturer remarked, “Kesian bapa”
I remember in my Electric Circuit subject, I obtained a D. During the final paper for this subject, I couldn’t answer most of the questions. Out of despair, I raised my hands in the exam hall 30 minutes in, and then handed the paper to my lecturer.
He asked if I had finished it.
“I didn’t. I can’t answer any of the questions,” I said.
He didn’t probe further about why. Instead he asked me what my father did for a living.
“He is a security guard,” I answered.
He took my papers and remarked, “Kesian bapa” (“What a pity about your father”), and walked away.
Hearing that was a wake-up call. This restructured my whole purpose of being in university in the first place.
With some maturity and experience obtained during my diploma, I managed to take it as a challenge and I ended with a 3.91 final pointer for my degree.
Image provided by Selvakumar Mariappan.
Now I am a senior lecturer with 12 published papers under my name
Currently, I am serving as a Senior Lecturer at USM and preparing to embrace new challenges. I managed to complete my PhD in 3 and a half years with 19 papers (12 as main author and 7 as co-author) and successfully passed my viva voce on the 14th of October 2021.
My journey to get to this position was not without its own set of challenges. I started to learn the new field of microelectronics (my Bachelor’s was in Industrial Power) for 6 months without any pay. I taught tuition and earned some pocket money to sustain my travelling and food. Although it was an unpaid position, I knew it would be a good investment.
Those who said I couldn’t do it witnessed what I did. I do my best in everything I do, it doesn’t matter if I am from engineering or technology. I would have done my best even if I was a lawyer or a doctor or whatever I am.
I did it, and you can too
Image provided by Selvakumar Mariappan.
For those who are seeking to achieve greatness in their lives, never give up, as persistence and resilience will definitely bring you success. Embrace the journey as the experience is fully yours and yours only, doesn’t matter the timeline.
Never let people steal your dream and make you complacent. Never ask why you are doing it, instead ask yourself why not.
Why not see how far you can reach? Why not see how much you can achieve? Life is yours anyway, bring the best out of you.
Thank you to everyone who has been with me throughout this wonderful journey. I am particularly grateful that I was introduced to a great supervisor, Dr Jagadheswaran who made me the person I am today. I sincerely appreciate everything.
Finally, I want to thank to my father, because of his sacrifice I can put his name on my PhD certification.
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Read also:
I Spent 25 Years Raising My Son, But Now I Question, “Was It Worth It?”
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