KULON PROGO- The dream of Afriliani M Handayini to continue her study to tertiary education in at University dream finally came true. After taking the Independent Selection Test at UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta (UPNVY) with 5563 other participants on July 9th, 2017, Afriliani has successfully become a new student.

The waiting time for the announcement of the test results was a tense period for Afri. While waiting for the results of the test she spent time doing house chores and kept on praying. On the day of the announcement, accompanied by her younger sibling, Afri went to a “warnet” (internet booth) located not far from her house. Fortunately, this girl born in KulonProgo on April 17th, 1999 is now accepted in the Geophysical Engineering study program, her first choice.

“While waiting for the announcement, I allowed time to do tahajud prayers. I was petrified I would not be accepted. Alhamdulillah I am accepted, at last”, she told us via application message, Monday (19/7/2017)

Born in a financially less fortunate family does not make Afri lose her passion to continue her study to the higher education. After failing the SMPTN and SBMPTN tests she tried her fortune with the Independent Selection test at UPNVY via the Bidikmisi program. She says that she really hopes to get the scholarship to lessen her parents’ burden to pay for her study.

Afri told me via the telephone call, that her family is now living in her grand parents’ house in BotoKulon, Kembang, Nanggulan. Her father is a freelance car rental driver, without any permanent monthly incomes. Her mother is a fulltime housewife and has to take care of her grandparents. Her younger brother/sister is now still in third grade of High School. Her father has been the only financial source for the family.

“My grandmother has stroke and my father is also ailing and therefore my mom stays at home, take care of them. The family’s earner is only my father,” she softly said.

Afri was a Bidikmisi participant from State High School 1 of Sentolo with a cumulative performance index reaching 32.5. Since Junior High School this girl has been a good academic achiever in her school. She was even ranked first in the high school and always belonged to the 5 top students, in the parallel system. In the eye of her family, Afri is a docile and hard-working girl. Her father, Nurhandono, admits that his daughter is a diligent girl who studies hard.

Nurhandono says, “I am happy and at the same time sad now that Afri is accepted at UPN, I hope that she can manage her time well and succeed in her study. Hopefully, she will be able to help her parents.”

The success of Afri, a girl from a relatively poor family to be a student of UPNVY‘s Geophysical Engineering can become an inspiration and motivation (wwj/humas)