Written by: 21B0103, Dk Nurafiqah Binti Pg Hj Ramlee (Public Relations Officer, Executive of Media and Public Relation Officer)
Interviewer: 21B0002, Wan Mohammad Safwan bin Wan Mohammad Ishak (Public Relations Officer, Executive of Media and Public Relation Officer)
We are absolutely glad to announce September’s Inspirasee of the Month in the community category: 19-year-old, Farhah Syahirah binti Mohamad Shamrin! Farhah is currently a 2nd year, 1st semester student in IHS, majoring in Biomedical Science. Nowadays, she is training to become a professional in karate, which was once a hobby for her. In 2018, she officially became a member of the national karate team.
The start of her journey was inspired by her athletic family especially, her younger brother who started his karate journey beforehand. With that being said, Farhah and her sisters wanted to try it out as well. In the beginning, she did not have any specific intentions of pursuing in this field, but as time passes, her coaches saw her potential, which made her train harder. As a result, she eventually became a member of the national team. Moreover, Farhah enjoys the surrounding around karate. Through this, she enjoys being competitive yet, at the same time, she also ended up befriending many people. Overall, she finds the karate scene to be a fun environment; All the healthy competitions and pressure makes karate more addictive for her.
However, one thing she is currently struggling with is how she manages her time. Her daily schedule makes it challenging for her to juggle between her training and school work; for example, she has to go to classes from the morning until the afternoon. Then, right after that, she has to train until night-time. Due to this, she is actually sacrificing her sleep time. In contrast, her favourite thing related to karate is being in the national team, which is one of the driving forces that keeps her motivated. With that being said, even though she is struggling with time management, balancing school life and her training became a norm to her as she got used to the cycle of her daily routine. In addition, being in the national team makes her feel proud of her achievements and makes her want to strive for more. Not only that, but it also helps shape her to be a role model for her siblings.
Moving on, Farhah usually gets overwhelmed by the expectations everyone has about her. Being the youngest person to enter the national team, it was difficult for her to catch up with her seniors. She is also the eldest daughter in her family which henceforth, sets a standard for her to be a role model for her siblings. With that, Farhah also shared that the way she overcame feeling overwhelmed is by eating good food and resting as much as possible. She believes that taking a short nap is significant due to her tight schedule.
A person or figure whom she looks up to is her supportive parents. Farhah claims to be close with both of her parents as they are one of her pushing factors to continue her passion. She believes that she is lucky enough to have parents who motivate and support her, even supporting her by going overseas with her for a match.
Her training is mostly the same routine every time; however, one month before a tournament, she undergoes intensive training, even during her free time. For instance, during semester break she would have to train from morning until night-time. The only breaks she has are during prayer time, and she also would have to endure not eating during the training period. This shows how passionate and committed she is to being a professional in karate.
During contingent events, like the SEA games, Farhah shared that only those who are qualified are able to join these types of events. She generally would be assigned with different people, but in team events, she would usually is usually would be assigned with two girls to preform together. Rather than having assigned roles, Farhah says it is more liketo freelance work. These are some of the great and memorable moments that she experienced. In contrast, one of the more unpleasant memories she has is being the youngest in the team. She shared that during her early years as a national team member, she remembers being left out of the team and being asked to do errands instead. In conclusion, there will always be good and bad memories that should be experienced.
Since Farhah’s schedule is packed with training and being studious, Sundays are her usual free time. She uses her free time to sleep– sometimes, she does go out to eat for family bonding time. Furthermore, Farhah stays motivated by reminding all the achievements she has accomplished and looking back at the hard work just makes her feel good, thus this makes her want to keep moving forward and strive more. In her opinion, the most significant achievement, that she believes to be the most memorable, is becoming the youngest member to enter the national team. Another thing is achieving being in one of the Top 5 in Asia when she was just 16 years old. Moreover, she believes that in order to be a professional national athlete, she must stay focused and committed to studying and training as a routine.
Meanwhile, when ask about a word she believes her friends would describe her as, she responded “anti-social.’’ As she is committed to training and being studious most of her time, she usually rejects hanging out offers to hang out by her peers. However, her friends do support her either way because they understand her passion. Other than karate, Farhah also finds joy in other athletic leisure activities such as golfing and swimming. If she is troubled, she prefers keeping the problems to herself– if not, she would talk about it with her family.
In five years' time, she is unsure of what she would become; however, she thinks she would still be in this field and may even continue her studies. Her hopes and goals in this field for the future are to make herself feel more satisfied with herself and also to make her parents proud. She also hopes to get a doctorate degree at some time in her life. As for future goals that she would like to accomplish, she aims to get a medal in individual events.
Finally, one quote by Farhah that she would like to convey to everyone is:
“We should stop trying to please people and just
do whatever you love and enjoy everything”
2022 IOTM FARHAH'S interview PODCAST
Audio Edited by: 18B0125, 'Izzati Hanani binti Khairul Shaffarani (Public Relations Officer, Executive of Media and Public Relation Officer)
