Yet another proud moment for us Malaysians! Subashan Vadibeler, a Malaysian student from Ipoh, recently made our country extremely proud of his amazing achievement.

The 24-year-old medical student at University Malaya (UM), was recently awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.

This scholarship is not just any other scholarship as it is one of the oldest and most prestigious international scholarships till today. The Rhodes Scholarship gives selected young people around the world the chance of a lifetime to study at the University of Oxford.

We are so proud!#UMisOne pic.twitter.com/CeHNKeZHFS

— Universiti Malaya (@unimalaya) November 10, 2020

We all know that being in the medical line, it can be quite a tough journey as it takes a lot of hard work, dedication and most are bound to face many challenges.

WORLD OF BUZZ had the pleasure of speaking to Subashan who shared his experience with us expressing how thrilling it has been for him.

“I think my journey in medical school has been quite smooth sailing. I’ve been extremely fortunate for that,” he said.

 Subashan also expressed how it all still feels surreal to him. 

“I was definitely surprised and it still feels surreal. One thing I’ve had to do throughout my Rhodes application is to convince myself that I’m deserving of this opportunity,” he said.

“You see all these amazing individuals who’ve achieved great things during and after their Rhodes tenure and you start to ask yourself if you truly have what it takes. My mentors and friends helped with building that sense of self-confidence. And with the selection news, I then realised that the selection committee also thought I was deserving of this opportunity and that brought tears to my eyes,” he adds on.

When asked about the people who gave him the most motivation, Subashan said “My primary influences in my personal life are my mom and sister. My mom because she’s a teacher and she has always valued education beyond anything else. Growing up, she’s the one who constantly reminded us that only through the pursuit of education and then using the knowledge to think about issues and explore solutions is how one gives back to society.”

“In my line of work, my biggest influence is Prof. Adeeba (Dean of Faculty of Medicine, UM). Her courage in using evidence to fight inequalities in medicine is what inspires me to stay true to my moral compass and use evidence to persuade people who aren’t on the same page. I’ve written an essay about this in the past on my blog,” he continues to add. 

Besides wanting to eradicate dengue, Subashan says his overarching goal is to become a clinician-scientist.

“Malaysia has many such amazing individuals who bridge the gap between bench and bedside and I want to work towards joining their ranks. Honestly, the road is still a long way to go but that’s the thing about being in medicine, the learning is lifelong and I might as well enjoy and embrace every step of the way, both the good and the bad times,” he tells us. 

When he was asked whether his initial goals was still the same as his current goals, he said “My goals have definitely changed and transformed over time. I think as I grow and learn, my goals and ideals also follow suit.”

“Honestly, the worst thing we can do to ourself is excluding ourself from wonderful opportunities because we feel undeserving of it. You shouldn’t decide your worth before giving the selection committee a chance, don’t rob yourself off opportunities that way. I’ve had amazing people pushing me forward and I know not everyone affords that support. I’ll try my best to make myself available to more Malaysians who also have big dreams, to convince them not to doubt themselves,” he says.

How inspiring! Congratulations Subashan! Kudos to you.

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