Insights From an Insider: Muhammad Akid Abdul Rahim
For SMU Business graduating student Muhammad Akid Abdul Rahim, SMU has provided a unique learning experience, such as its focus on independent learning and unique pedagogy, to prepare him for the workforce. At the same time, he had various opportunities to pursue his passions in music and community service.
As university life prepares students for the workforce, it’s also a good chance to experience the freedom of being a student.
For Lee Kong Chian School of Business graduating student Muhammad Akid Abdul Rahim, not only has SMU prepared him to be career-ready, but it has also offered him multiple opportunities to pursue his passions.
This included becoming a training director at SMU Samba Masala, SMU’s Afro-Brazilian percussion band, and being involved in SMU Muslim Society. He also volunteered his time to participate in the Overseas Community Service Project, Project Xingfu, as programme deputy.
Read on to discover more about Akid’s transformative journey at SMU!
Q:
What’s an experience that you think is uniquely “SMU”?
A:
SMU’s culture is strongly focused on being independent and inculcating self-learning, which took some getting used to at first. The freedom and ability to arrange my schedule and organise my learning provided me a unique learning experience that I don’t think I could get as easily elsewhere.
Q:
Tell us more about student life at SMU.
A:
Walking through campus, it’s a common sight to find fellow students dancing along the corridors of the SMU School of Social Sciences, and friends bonding over meals or playing sports at Campus Green.
As clichéd as it sounds, I’ll say that SMU students work hard, and play harder!
Q:
How has SMU challenged you both personally and academically?
A:
I believe that SMU has transformed me to be a more holistic and versatile person. The training in independent learning has developed my resourcefulness, while the collaborative environment has nurtured my leadership capabilities.
By keeping a rigorous schedule (balancing academics and internship, while continuing club commitments), I’ve learnt to be more disciplined and organised.
Q:
How has SMU has helped you to be career-ready?
A:
Within the first two weeks of my consulting internship at EY-Parthenon, Ernst & Young’s global strategy consulting arm, I explored two industries to develop my consulting skillset. While the work can be fast-paced, the SMU core modules expedited my learning ability as I already have a grasp of how some things work.
Using skills I picked up from these modules, I could navigate and develop insights from client data, and understand the bigger picture when solving clients’ problems.
Besides my technical knowledge, SMU’s pedagogy inculcated a greater curiosity in me, which has helped me learn a lot during my internship.
Q:
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to your freshman self?
A:
Be forward-looking, but enjoy the present. Sometimes, we get too occupied in preparing for our careers that we sometimes neglect the blessings we have at the moment.
For many of us, this may be our final phase as students before we venture into the working world. There’s more to life than just work, and at SMU, you get a preview on how you can enjoy different aspects of life and still pursue a successful career.
