Persistence and struggle are the keys to success. Like the story of an inspiring family who managed to graduate from the University of Indonesia (UI) in a short period. Muhammad Rais Rahmatullah from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia won a Bachelor’s degree and graduated at 2021/2022 Even Semester Graduation Ceremony.
At the same time, his parents, Dr. Suhartono, S.IP., M.PP and Dr. Anna Armeini Rangkuti, S.Psi., M.Sc. also managed to get a Doctorate degree from the Faculty of Administrative Sciences and the Faculty of Psychology UI. The three of them also underwent graduation at the Odd Semester Graduation for the 2022/2023 Academic Year.
Winning a degree from a leading university in Indonesia is certainly a matter of pride. Moreover, being able to achieve a degree in the same period as loved ones. Rais and his family shared their interesting stories of achieving success in the world of education.
“The positive environment instilled in the family led us to achieve our individual goals. My parents always encouraged me and taught me to be persistent and independent. The journey began when they put me in a modern Islamic boarding school to be able to focus more on studying and understanding that material is not everything. “Alhamdulillah, education like this has led me to study 4 years at DTSL FTUI and graduate on time,” said Rais.
Rais is very grateful to be able to have parents with the fighting spirit of completing their education to get a doctorate degree. “As a child, seeing their parents still have enthusiasm in completing their education up to the Doctoral Program is something to be grateful for. During my education period, I often helped them, especially with homework. Even though at that time I was also stuck on the topic of my thesis, MBKM internship, and other activities at FTUI. But, Alhamdulillah, I graduated on time and satisfactorily. My way of solving problems during those times of struggle seemed to be their motivation and enthusiasm to graduate from the Doctoral Program soon,” said Rais.
Dr. Suhartono said, “We believe that the keyword for all of this is ‘balance of life’. When participating in the doctoral education process, we try to divide our time to fulfil all obligations: horizontal obligations (related to the rights of children, parents, extended family, and community environment) and vertical obligations (related to the rights of Allah SWT).”
“There are certain days that we focus on doing dissertation assignments, even before the pandemic we were usually in the S3 cubicle at the UI Central Library until 21.00 WIB. Then, we allocate a few other days to take care of the needs of our family (including our parents and extended family) as well as our community environment. Usually, especially on Fridays, we focus on increasing worship as one of our ways to relax,” continued Dr. Anna.
Rais also expressed his pride for his parents. “Until in the end, they were able to graduate within 3 days of the hearing. After the trial was over, I was also successfully accepted to work as a private contractor. Thanks to our shared persistence, the dream I dreamed of could come true. My goal was to sacrifice time at that time. I just want to be devoted to my parents. Because I don’t know when the time is right.”
Rais’ educational journey at FTUI has shaped him into a person who can solve problems well, struggles hard, and is willing to keep learning. According to him, 4 years of studying at FTUI was the best journey in his education. The environment at FTUI which is very positive to keep up the enthusiasm in any way is also a driving force for completing my studies. Both from academic and non-academic activities, such as organizations and committees. He expressed his gratitude for FTUI, especially for the supervisor during his thesis, namely Dr. Evi Anggraheni, S.T., M.T., who was so patient in guiding and supporting him.
“This inspiring story from Rais and his family proves that an environment that instils a high level of persistence will encourage the spirit of achieving goals. Managed to pass contiguously with satisfactory results from the UI. Hopefully, the story of Rais and his family’s struggles can provide inspiration and motivation for students from the Faculty of Engineering and the University of Indonesia to continue trying to complete their education,” said the Dean of FTUI, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, ST., M.Eng., IPU.
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Bureau of Public Communications
Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia