August 26, 2005
-
“When I was in college, one of the instructors there gave me the best advice ever. He told me that I should never have to pay for my education and that was the turning point in my life,” relayed Modglin through an email interview. “At that time, I had almost finished my course at KDU, and was looking for a job in Kuala Lumpur. I wasn’t able to afford an overseas education,” she explained.
Being the resourceful person that she is, Modglin applied for a scholarship. As fate would have it, she received one from Hood College in Maryland. However, she decided to give up her scholarship when she found a more suitable course of study at SIU.
“I then moved to SIU which was more diversified across the board. I found that by living frugally and working on student jobs on campus, I could afford to attend SIU with minimal help from my parents,” added the academician.
She started her tertiary education in January 1991, and did her graduate programme at virtually no cost. She was clearly overjoyed about the tuition waiver and stipend provided by the university as she said: “They actually pay you to study!”
No need to pay for your education? Hmm. That's Arlene Tan Modglin speaking. The Malaysian who now lives in Carbondale, Illinois, is a happily married mother of two, and a researcher at Southern Illinois University.
Recent Comments