At 5am, while her family was still asleep, Lay Soo Yuen was already getting ready to leave home. She would take a bus, then a train, then change again before making her way to Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUM) for her 8am class.

The journey took nearly three hours.

She did it for four years.

Now in her forties, Lay is graduating with a bachelor's degree in Data Science. She joined the programme in April 2022 as one of its first students and completed her studies this April. This weekend, she will join more than a thousand graduates on the stage of the university auditorium.

Returning to university after years of work is not unusual at XMUM. Starting an undergraduate degree in Data Science after already building a career is less common.

However, for Lay Soo Yuen, the decision was not complicated.

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A GIA-certified gemologist, she had spent years working in the gem and jewellery industry and running her own business. As technology continued to change the way businesses worked, she saw the growing importance of data and artificial intelligence.

“At the time, I thought that whether for the development of my industry or for my own personal growth, I needed to keep learning to adapt to the times.”

She also had a longstanding interest in science and mathematics. So in April 2022, she went back to university. As one of the first students in a newly established programme, Lay Soo Yuen had no senior students to turn to for advice. Her lecturers filled that gap.

“Whenever we had any problems, they were always willing to help us.”

She enjoyed many of her courses, from mathematics and programming to statistics and artificial intelligence. Her favourites were Big Data Analytics and Advanced Data Analysis, where she explored how different kinds of data could be processed, modelled and interpreted.

Data, she discovered, was much richer and more complicated than she had expected. It was not simply numbers in a table. Images and other forms of information could also become data, each requiring different ways of processing and analysis.

When she talked about what she had learned, Lay Soo Yuen became noticeably animated.

The classroom was not the only place where she learned from others. In group projects, she was often the “big sister” of the team, bringing her years of professional experience into discussions. Her teammates came from China, Indonesia and other countries, and their different perspectives gave her new ways of looking at things too.

Over four years, her interests ranged from statistics and machine learning to artificial intelligence. She worked on projects involving e-commerce user behaviour and even built an AI agent for a pickleball competition.

For her final-year project, she turned to something with a wider public impact: heatwave prediction.

Using international climate data and machine learning, she explored ways to improve heatwave forecasting in Texas and better understand the effects of extreme heat.

“AI is gradually being applied to weather forecasting systems, but you can imagine how complex weather is, and how demanding it is in terms of data quality.”

“If we can improve prediction and forecasting capabilities, we can better protect people around the world.”

Enjoying university did not mean it was easy.

Lay Soo Yuen was studying while continuing to manage her work and family responsibilities. Time was always limited. Her answer was simple: focus.

At the beginning, she found herself having to spend extra time catching up with new knowledge after being away from formal education for many years. So she planned each semester carefully, breaking her goals into short-, medium- and long-term tasks and crossing them off one by one.

Every spare moment became study time.

Even her long commute turned into a mobile study room. Instead of scrolling through her phone, she would take out her study materials and read.

She believes being older actually helped her.

“When I was in my twenties, I felt that my time belonged entirely to me. I didn’t have the same sense of responsibility or urgency.”

“But now I know that I have other things to do afterwards, so I study very seriously and with much more discipline.”

“There was definitely pressure, but I was very happy because I was learning new knowledge and new technologies.”

Lay Soo Yuen completed her studies in April and has since returned to her usual work and family life. On the surface, little has changed. But she now has more choices.

“I will apply what I have learned here to my current career. I am also considering entering the field of data science.”

A master's degree is another possibility, and if she decides to pursue one, XMUM would still be her first choice.

Four years ago, XMUM had been her choice for a simple reason. It was a chance to study at a Chinese university without leaving Malaysia.

“I felt close to Chinese culture, and I had confidence in the Xiamen University brand. When I learned that I could study at a Chinese university here in Malaysia, I was very happy.”

That decision gave her the courage to begin again.

Now, four years later, she has something else to leave with: a new set of skills, new possibilities, and a place she knows she will miss.

On a bright Saturday morning, sunlight falls through the windows of the study area on the second floor of the library, one of her favourite places on campus.

She looks out at the familiar view.

“It would be a lie to say I’m not going to miss this place. My four years here were far more wonderful than I ever expected.”