SLEMAN - Qoidul Masa'id, UPN "Veteran" Yogyakarta (UPNVY) graduate succeeded in becoming the best graduate with a value of 1377 points and led him to beone of the 10 Scholar Award winners. The Chancellor of UPNVY gave the awards to the graduates who had academic and non-academic achievements and were active in organizations.

Qoidul Masa'id graduated as a graduate from the Department of Mining Engineering with a GPA of 3.63. the Alumni of Madrasah Aliyah Riyadlotut Thalabah Sidorejo, Rembang had large numbers of achievements. He won the 1st place at Alamanda Islamic Competition, 1st  Place and 2nd  Place in Youth Mining Camp Competition 2016, 3rd  Place in Mining Competition Mine Evacuation Rescue, 3rd  Place in Face Tie in Sriwijaya Mining Games 2019, 3rd  Place in Underground Mine Survey Competition, 3rd  Place Micromine Competition and many of other achievements in the mining field. He was also n a practicum assistant and was active in student organizations.

In addition to lectures, Masa'id, his nickname was also a marbut or mosque caretaker. He spent time taking care of Nurul Hidayah Mosque worshipers in Puluhdadi Hamlet, Condongcatur, Sleman.

He recounted how he started being a marbut when he was accepted as a new student at UPNVY. After graduating from the madrasa, he ventured to continue his studies.

"My oarents gave the choices to continue my study in boarding school, work or get married. Yet, my desire was to go to college", he said.

Masa'id said very few of his village youths in Rembang went on to college. They usually work as cashiers at the mini market or security guard, while women choose to get married after graduating from school.

"I graduated at the age of 17, what I would do with what I had at that time. If I got married, I was still very young”, said the man born in Rembang, July 2, 1998.

His parents were worried when they found out about Masa'id's desire to study because his father only worked as a farmer who was not enough to finance his education.

Masa'id’s enthusiasm and strong desire to continue his studies melted the hearts of his parents.

"At that time I promised that I would not charge my parents. Alhamdulillah, there was a bidikmisi program so I could keep my promises”, said the first child of Mr.Ali Mustahar.

With the help of the school, he registered for the SNMPTN through the bidikmisi program, but he failed. Then, he tried to register through the SBMPTN.

"I doubt I can pass the SBMPTN track because the test was difficult, the problem was difficult. If I join SBMPTN and I had to take private lessons, the fees were expensive”, he said.

Luckily, he got the opportunity to attend tutoring without being charged from one of the Nahdatul Ulama organizations.

In addition to taking the SBMPTN exam, he also took an entrance examination at one of the state universities in Yogyakarta. At that time, he claimed not to have money to buy the registration form.

"I borrowed a friend for cost of going to Jogja and the registration fee of 300 thousand rupiahs. The clothes I wore during the exam were also lent by a resident near the mosque. While I was in Jogja, I lived in a mosque in Kentungan area, my friend was a marbut there”, he said.

Even when he was accepted at UPNVY and became a new student, he still lived in the mosque. For a month living in the mosque, he went by a bicycle to campus. One of the residents lent this bicycle to him.

Luckily, his friend introduced him to an ustadz at that time and offered him to live in a mosque close to his campus.

"Alhamdulillah, I got a place to live and the location of the mosque was not far from campus. The distance from the mosque to the campus is about 500 meters. I couldn’t afford a boarding rent", he said. (wwj / PR)