Nothing makes us prouder than seeing a Malaysian shining amongst the best of the best on an international level.
Recently, four Malaysian students who graduated from the Royal Military College (RMC) successfully made the cut into the prestigious United States Naval Academy (USNA) in Annapolis, Maryland, and that’s a really big deal.
Source: Westinannapolis
FYI, USNA was listed as the top military academy in 2017 by Forbes. In the fall of 2015, USNA received a whopping 17,618 applications from all around the world, but only 1,398 of them were accepted. That’s like less than 10% yo!
Ladies and gentlemen, meet 18-year-old Ahmad Yusuf who made the cut along with three other Malaysians. He was accepted by the academy and enrolled in a four-year degree programme in June 2017.
Source: Malaysian Digest
In an interview with Malaysian Digest, his parents, Ahmad Azani and Dr Yasmin Mohd Hasni, revealed that their son has always been an outstanding child in various aspects such as leadership, academics and extra-curricular activities.
“I remembered a Muslim teacher at his school (Bentinck Primary School) told me how Yusuf had approached her asking for permission to use 10 minutes of the daily play time to enter the school’s building and perform his prayer. Upon approval, he had many followers, and they prayed in congregation,” his mother shared.
Source: Malaysian Digest
Since he grew up in the United Kingdom, Ahmad knew nothing about Bahasa Melayu, which was tough for him when he first enrolled into Klang High School at age 13, when he returned to his mother land.
However, he soon picked up his mother tongue and got in touch with his roots. He even excelled in his PT3, which eventually landed him an offer in RMC.
His deep passion for military school was inspired by his father, who also graduated from RMC, and his grandfather who fought against the communist.
“He was inspired by the fact that his ‘atuk‘ was awarded the Panglima Gagah Berani medal by our King in 1975 for saving his squad mates from a communist attack,” she said.
Source: Malaysian Digest
The chance to further study in USNA knocked on his door when the Royal Malaysian Navy made an announcement at his college. He registered himself and was shortlisted among the 40 candidates for USNA.
The process of earning himself a scholarship at USNA was tough. That’s because he had to:
- sit for several tests at RMC
- be interviewed by Markas Tentera Laut (MTL)
- sit for the TOEFL and SAT examinations
- be interviewed by five US Naval attachés at US Embassy KL and one Lt. Commander from RMN
As such, it was one of the proudest moments for the Royal Malaysian Navy when he was accepted by USNA.
Source: Twitter
After 50 days of training at USNA, he began his first day in college on Monday. It wasn’t easy for him as he posted this on his Twitter account.
Source: Twitter
Nevertheless, his parents are confident that he can pull through this and return to serve the country once he graduates.
“After he graduates, he will be serving RMS and this is the point where he could give back to Malaysia and continue to make the country proud,” the parents said.
Source: Malaysian Digest
From RMC to one of the finest military academies in the world, Ahmad’s journey is certainly an inspiration to the younger generation to strive harder in life. Kipidap Ahmad, and keep making Malaysia proud!
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