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Thoughts on Mindfulness These days, I hear more and more about the concept of mindfulness and presence in all of our endeavors, daily. They say, meditate at least 10 minutes a day, empty your mind, be present with your sensations. Be aware and connected with your senses and surroundings, etc. Well I suppose this increasingly becomes a challenge when we're faced with so much information from the social media app, or just technological advancement in general. Sometimes our minds just buzz with things or thoughts that would never have been there otherwise. And it takes quality out of daily interactions, so they say. But then, here's the beauty of Islam (mashaAllah I always get so amazed no matter how much I feel like I've studied it). The concept of presence and mindfulness itself has always been embodied in this religion this whole time: in salah and prayers. How present are we during the recital of Al-Fatihah? How connected are we during the rukook and sujood? Do we understand wholeheartedly the du'as we're making post salam? Or do we just mumble it to get though it, just to get it over with? Astaghfirullahaladzim. Khusyuk in prayers teach us to pay attention to every thought that runs through our minds. The meaning of Al-Fatihah itself reminds us the true essence of the relationship we (abd /slave of Allah) with our creator. And acknowledging that at a minimum of 5 times a day should be more than enough to rid us of all our mental tiredness, anxiety, and corrupt thoughts that could damage the mental health. Since 1500 years ago, Islam has provided the solution to mental health disorders; if only we as muslims are willing enough to learn more from it. May Allah grant us the presence and tranquiltiy we seek during our prayers, may He always guide us through, no matter the challenge. And may we always be in state of hunger to learn more of this beautiful deen and the solutions it provides to our daily lives. Aamiin 😇

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:')

gonna miss you

The title is an understatement really.

After 17 months of living in a place I now consider as home, this is the first time I miss out on the welcoming home event. Usually, I would be one of the very few ksatiaras who had to stay at the dorm as our hometowns are too far and way too expensive for a week vacation. That’s why I was always there when it comes to welcoming party. It’s obviously one of my most favorite moments at the dorm.

Tonight, I could only smile silly, fond smiles upon seeing my friends’ stories on Instagram. It looked fun and they looked happy. And here’s where attachment works wonder: it made me happy too. Of course I was sad cause I wasn’t there, but I decided to stop the what-if thoughts and just accept my current situation (had it something in my power I wouldn’t have missed it for the world).

As our end is approaching in just a few months time, I can’t help thinking to when they won’t be by my side anymore. And here’s where attachment sucks: cause nothing lasts forever and for every meeting there waits a separation.

Seeing them from afar has made me realize that I’m already missing them. The feeling intensifies with the conscience of our said end. How much more do I have to endure when the premeditated goodbye is in front of my very eyes and on the tip of my tongue?

Frankly, I don’t even want to think about it. But I do. The end of one thing is the start of another, they say. And if it doesn’t end, I know I won’t go anywhere. Eventually, we all have to fly away to our own skies, chasing our own dreams and disasters.

As much as it sucks, the knowledge shall make us grasp the reality with more awareness, holding it closer to our hearts. The time limit shall make us all savor each and every moment, filling our boxes of memories to the brim. And when the time finally runs out, our tears will be that of happiness, for our time together was spent gloriously and we can let each other go with pride and the best of wishes.

I miss you, ksatiara, see you very soon :)

[sabrinamr07-blog]

Knowledge Sharing

Akhlak Nabi Muhammad saw.

Beberapa saat lalu, kami mendapatkan kajian mengenai akhlaq nabi Muhammad saw.

Tentu, sosok Rasulullah saw adalah panutan utama ummat Islam, jika ditilik segala aspek kehidupannya, niscaya tidak akan habis hikmah yang dapat diambil.

Salah satunya adalah adab berkomunikasinya.

Ketika ia berbicara, ia senantiasa memberikan jeda. Jeda ini membuat perkataannya lebih mudah dicerna dan dipahami oleh orang dari segala kalangan. Selain itu, ia juga terkenal akan keringkasan berbicaranya. Dengan sedikit saja kata-kata, ia bisa menyampaikan maksud yang begitu dalam dan menyentuh hati. Itulah salah satu kelebihan yang Allah swt berikan kepadanya. Bahkan, salah satu riwayat menyebutkan bahwa kata-katanya dapat dihitung. Ibrah dari karakteristik ini adalah perawi hadist yang dapat mengingat kata demi kata yang ia katakan, hingga akhirnya hadist tersebut menjadi pedoman ummat Islam dalam bertindak hingga beribu tahun setelahnya.

Seringkali pula, Rasulullah mengucapkan perkataannya 3x, sehingga orang-orang mudah mengingatnya.

Selain itu, body language dalam berkomunikasi yang diajarkan oleh Rasulullah saw juga menunjukkan betapa ia sangat menghormati lawan bicaranya.

Ia tidak pernah menarik kepalanya lebih dulu, atau berpaling. Jika seseorang membisikkan sesuatu ke telinganya, tidaklah orang tersebut menarik kepalanya duluan barulah kemudian Rasulullah melakukannya. Hal ini membuat banyak sekali orang tersentuh dengan tindak tanduknya, sehingga seringkali merasa mereka adalah orang yang paling dicintai oleh Rasulullah saw.

Tentu hal ini sangat berbeda dengan apa yang banyak dari orang melakukannya zaman sekarang. Banyak orang yang mungkin sering abai dengan lawan bicaranya. Bermain handphone atau terdistrak dengan cara lainnya.

Menelisik adab Rasulullah saw membawa hawa sejuk di tengah cara berinteraksi yang sering diperlihatkan oleh banyak orang zaman sekarang.

Sungguh, engkaulah teladan ummat hingga akhir zaman, yaa Rasulullah.

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Sesungguhnya, nikmat yang paling tinggi di dunia ini adalah nikmat menjadi seorang muslimah. Seorang perempuan yang memiliki iman terhadap Rabbnya, sehingga hal tersebut menjadikan segala aktivitas lainnya memiliki potensi ibadah. Iman adalah gerbang penentu utama antara seorangm ukmin dan seorang kafir, seorang yang memiliki kesempatan untuk berada di Jannah-Nya atau seseorang yang tidak memiliki akses samasekali terhadap Jannah.

Maka sejatinya, iman yang merupaka buah dari hidayah adalah seusatu yang harus dijaga erat-erat. Sesuatu yang sangat rentan berubah dan sangat bergantung atas ikhtiar kita untuk menjaganya. Kelalaian dan santai sedikit saja dapat sangat berpengaruh terhadap hal tersebut.

Dalam kehidupan sebagai muslimah, ada 3 hal utama yang harus senantiasa kita jaga dengan segenap usaha:

1.      Akal

2.      Jasad

3.      Ruhiyah

Dalam bab akal, seorang muslimah harus senantiasa menjaga dan menambah pengetahuannya baik terhadap pengetahuan agama maupun pengetahuan duniawi, terlebih jika pengetahuan tersebut berhubungan dengan profesinya sebagai lading kebaikan dan kontribusi untuk sesama selama berada di dunia. Membaca buku, berita, mendengarkan kajian dan menghadiri majelis ilmu adalah beberapa di antara aktivitas yang harus senantiasa dijalankan oleh seorang muslimah agara akalnya senantiasa terjaga, pengetahuannya bertambah, wawasannya menjadi luas, hingga akhirnya terimplementasi dalam berbagai aktivitas sehari-harinya.

Dalam hal jasad, seperti tertera pula pada 10 Muwashafat seorang muslim ideal oleh Hasan Al-Banna, jasad atau fisik seorang muslim juga harus dijaga. Hal ini sangat penting karena jasad merupakan kendaraan dan modal kita dalam berbuat segala sesuatunya di dunia ini. Ibadah dan aktivitas kebaikan tidak akan maksimal samasekali jika terdapat keterbatasan terhadap jasad, semisal sakit. Maka, kesehatan jangka panjang sangatlah harus dijaga. Mengkonsumsi makanan bergizi, rendah lemak jenuh, mengatur porsi makanan setiap waktu makan sesuai anjuran ahli gizi. Selain menjaga makanan, juga sangat perlu untuk melakukan olahraga. Olahraga akan melatih otot jantung agar tetap kuat (cardiovascular exercises) sehingga bisa menopang metabolism tubuh. Selain itu, pola istirahat untuk tidur sebelum jam 11 malam dan bangun di sepertiga malam terakir juga sangat perlu dilakukan karena untuk regenerasi sel saat malam hari, tubuh harus berada dalam kondisi istirahat total atau tidur nyenyak sehingga segala prosesnya bisa berjalan maksimal. Jika tidak, maka akan terjadi penumpukan racun / toxic karena proses detoxifikasi terjadi juga ketika tidur

Kemudian, yang terakhir adalah perihal ruhiyah. Ruhiyah ini berarti hati, kondisi dan keadaan ahti sehari-hari yang sangat ditentukan oleh amal ibadah dan mindset kita sebagai seorang muslimah. Semangat beribadah bisa dijaga dengan memiliki ruhiyah yang baik, begitu pula sebaliknya, ruhiyah yang baik akan menjadikan seorang muslimah bersemangat dalam ibadahnya. Jikalau dilanda rasa malas akibat lelah, periksa lagi apakah itu akibat dosa yang menutupi hati kita dari menerima cahaya dan hidayah-Nya. Jika begitu, sesungguhnya hal yang harus kita lakukan adalah memaksa diri, agar tidak kalah dari hawa nafsu dan agar dosa itu juga bisa terhapus dengan ibadah yang kita lakukan. Maka, kemalasan tersebut insyaAllah akan luntur seiring dengan bertambahnya kuantitas dan kualitas ibadah yang kitai ikhtiarkan demi mencapai keridhaan-Nya.

Beberapa hal yang yang dapat kita senantiasa lakukan untuk membantu dalam perbaikan diri yang kontinu:

1.      Dzikrul maut

2.      Banyak berdoa kepada Allah, merasa butuh akan pertolongan dari Allah

3.      Muahadah, memperbaiki janji kepada Allah

4.      Muhasabah, mengevaluasi diri sendiri terhadap amalan yang telah dilakukan

5.      Mujahadah, bersungguh-sungguh dalam setiap aktivitas kita dan memastikan kualitas terbaik dari apa yang kita lakukan.

 Sesungguhnya Allah swt baru akan menolong hamba-nya setelah terdapat ikhtiar dari kita untuk mendekat kepadanya. Takdir berada di ujung usaha manusia, jadi tetaplah bersemangat dalam mengejar keridhaan Allah yang pintunya terbuka lebar namun apabila lalai akan tertutup selamanya terhadap kita.

[sabrinamr07-blog]

Sekilas Cerita dari Sesi Bersama Dokter Rio

2 hours worth of listening, alifetime liesson gained

Drg. Rio to me is one of the coolest dentists. He can balance the need to be smart and updated on the science (mewajibkan diri untuk selalu baca jurnal terbaru dan terupdateà jd klinisi juga harus paham banget the science behind everything we do to our patients1)

Well, he opened up the presentation with the want to make all of us use rubber dam for our future cases, especially once we enter coass world. It’sbecome a basic prerequisite, especially when it comes to treating endodontic patient. Without rubber dam, there would be no predicatable outcome. No rubber dam, no endo. Those were the words written on his slides. He mentioned about having integrity when treating our patients. Some dentists out there do malpractice because they don’t know the science, or sometimes they take things too lightly.

If we want to be the bes tin our fields, we gotta put in the work! do the reading, the studying, the practice, take everything into consideration. Though sometimes things might not be ideal, but we still have to manage the best care for our patients. The money will come on its own, but at least, when we understand the importance of all these little steps that we might not think as significant, it does pile up and it matters! It’s the fabric of success as dentists—when we pay attention to the little things.

Invest in the things that makes your life in the clinic easier—it will reflect in the case success, and patients happiness and well-being. Everything can be managed well if we want to. Study the sicence behind it, don’t just do something because a friend tells you, but really understand.

Lastly, writing. Write everything so that the legacy remains. Do our job as good as possible so that it would be worth to share with others. Share, so that your expertise shows. Jangan mager, take the simple time of 10-20 minutes of sharing and uploading the pictures, with high quality seriously. It’s a digital age where a professional needs a platform to showcase their expertise. So, really write.

[sabrinamr07-blog]

My Mapres Journey (3): The Finals!

So anyway, I started preparing for finals which was held one week after the finalists’ announcement. There were 2 things the 6 of us had to do, which was the KTI presentation and the English debate session.  There were a lot of things prepare for, from making PowerPoint Presentation, explaining verbally my idea in KTI, practicing my English for the debate session, timely measure every preparation,  and also create the physical version of the prototype.

So what I did is I wrote a list of all the things that I needed to do, and started formulating the approach of preaparation for each. This is to measure how long it will take and how ready I will be. There is absolutely no room for mistake, so I make sure I had everything under control.

For example, for the KTI presentation part, I would need to first make the outline on how to deliver the idea. Once I wrote the PPT outline, I asked some people if what I explained made sense. Always check with people, if people who have never heard of your idea before can understand, then you’re good to go! Because you do have to make sure the judges understand the point you’re trying to get across in only 10 minutes of the given presentation time in the final day. And then the presentation-making part; I also made sure my PPT was beautifully-designed.

As for the english debate session, I had help from a senior who usually wins at debating competition. I know him from Salam UI. He was from FISIP and must know a lot about social-economical-political issues which I have no idea about most of the time. The debate session didn’t discuss about issues in dentistry, it was mostly common things though most people have heard of, but that’s the tricky part. We do have to grasp a profound understanding of each issue well. So that is the hardest part, is to brainstorm and research about the current developing issues in social-political-ecnomical aspects. He agreed to coach me, and ee practiced for an entire day the day before the finals, and it just helped tremendously. The preparation process was actually a lot more complicated, exhausting, and involved a lot of other things besides what I just explained, but the point is the fact that I did not do all of the preparations alone. I definitely had a lot of help from people who cared, and I am just very lucky to have such kind people surrounding me.

So this is another thing that I’d like to highlight. I think one of the achievements you could get in college is not only the amount of competitions you win, or how many conferences you joined. Sure, those things are important. But this is what I meant in the beginning when I said we should grow completely, in all aspects, as a person. What kind of people we have as friends, how do we treat them and other people in general, how is the quality of our friendship, what kind of softskills have we gained; leadership, communication, empathy, having positive outlooks and develop in character. Because all this will prove to be useful in the Mapres journey itself. Moral support (though this might seem like a minor thing, it really is not).  People’s willingness to help and support you is tested. And if we have been good to these people since the beginning, we might be surprised how much of a help they can actually be.  We can see who is truly genuine and wants good for us.

So the day of the finals have arrived. The finals is held at 10 in the morning, after at 8 we had a class (DK1). There is a new thing this year, which is that each of us had to introduce ourselves in the most creative way possible, in only 1 minute. I remember because I was too busy the day before, I forgot to make this little piece of introduction. I had no idea, and so I panicked in the morning. Not only that, I haven’t even memorized what I was going to say in each slide exactly (This is horrible, I couldn’t believe after everything I still felt underprepared).

So, in the morning class, I asked to go to the toilet. I had to make this little introduction speech. As I was brainstorming in front of the bathroom mirror (LOL) the story of Ibn Sinna occurred to me somehow. So I decided to talk about that. Hence, my little piece of introduction went a little bit like this:

“I would like to start my introduction with an anecdote. A long time ago, there lived a great man. He was very full of passion for the science of medicine. He went to great lengths to find and discover the science of healing people. His name, was Avicenna, or in Arabic, more familiarly known as Ibn Sinna. He is considered as the father of the modern medicine. His work, the Canon of Medicine, is used as a reference in hundreds of medical schools around the world, until centuries later. His discoveries were a milestone in many fields of the medicine itself. Avicenna has been one of my greatest sources of inspiration. Being in the same field, medicine, dentistry, our hearts must go out to our patients. We must put forth the importance of being helpful and spreading as much good as possible. And that is exactly what being an outstanding student means. It is to always try to give back to society, and do things in the pursuit of causes greater than ourselves. I am Sabrina Amira, Faculty of Dentistry batch 2014, standing before you today as a finalist for Outstanding Student. Thank you.”

Seriously, I was still grateful I could still pull something off. I did say my introduction in English. Those were not the exact words I said that day, in fact I think I might have had it worse. But anyway, I took a couple more minutes to practice saying it in the mirror, and memorized it on the way back to class. Phew! (This is a highly unrecommended thing to do, by the way ^^”)

For this part, another finalist actually made a PPT and a video to grab the judges’ attention. Definitely be like that on this one, because everything should be flawless on the finals day!

So after class, we went to the auditorium. The finals was about to begin. I made sure my prototype was ready, and I braced myself. I kept muttering the Prophet Musa’s prayer, Robbissohri sodli, wa yassirli amri, wakhlul uqdatammillisaani, yafqahu qauli over and over again, more like reassuring myself that I was ready and that no matter what happens, juts stay calm.

We took the presentation order. I got number 2. Hmm.. okay. Ideally I’d like to be number 3, but oh well. Control the nerves, Sab, I kept telling myself. Though it was very hard. I remember my heart punded very fast the whole time. I was so afraid I’d forget the words! So when my turn came, I just told myself just give everything I’ve got. Nothing to lose, seriously. Bismillah.

I gave my presentation in the best way possible that I could. Much to my surprise, everything went smoother than I thought, Alhamdulillah. The question and answer part also went well, I tried to answer in the most reassuring way possible even though it might not have been all that satisfactory (I’d like to highlight a little bit about this; just try to look as convincing as possible, even If you’re not very sure yourself). All in all, I felt pretty well about the presentation. People also said that I was good, I felt very relieved. Alhamdulillah, again and again. Thank you for Your help in the time I needed it most, yaaAllah.

While the other finalists got up on the stage, I prepared for the English debating session by reading the research materials I had done the day before.

The whole time I kept thinking to myself to never let God out of my mind. Every single thing I said or will say depended on Him, and I wished for barakah and His ridha upon me. I kept my dhikr and the dua close with me the whole time. I texted my parents, giving them the news I just finished the presentation session without any considerable fault and I kept asking that they’d give me their blessings and prayers. This is what kept my nerves down the whole time, it kept my heart at peace and my mind able to think sharply.

After the presentation session, we had a lunch and prayer break. I kept asking Allah for the best, I did shalat hajat and I always tried to read as much dhikr as I was able. I think this plays a huge part in what kept me strong. It was a source of ease and peacefulness that I wouldn’t be able to attain otherwise.

In the debating session, we had 3 topics. They were about death penalty for corruptors, tax amnesty, and BPJS. The debate went a bit different than last year’s because it consisted of 2 rounds; group round and individual round. In the group round, everyone was paired up (I was paired with Jacky as my team mate, he finished as the 3rd Mapres, so proud of him!)

So in the beginning, we set that the debate wasn’t about making ourselves shine, it is to be able to work as a team, to support our team’s arguments together. Our individual abilities would still be able to shine through, anyway. Through that, individual capabilities will also show, so it shouldn’t have been that big of a problem.  We were the third team, so there was a moment where we were able to see and plot our opponents’ bar. The 1st and 2nd team went ahead with the topic BPJS. When it was our turn against the 1st team, we got the death penalty for corruptors topic. Each speaker was only given 2 minutes to deliver the argument, and was only able to speak once and ask or answer the other team regarding that same topic. The third session we went against the 2nd team with the topic tax amnesty.

After the group debating session, there was also an individual session where we were asked to deliver an argument about a random topic for 3 minutes (if I’m not mistaken). I got the topic online transportation (thank God!). It’s such a classic, who didn’t know about that. Again, another ease from Allah.

What I think about my performance in the debate is that I’m glad I maximized my speaking time. I think time management and knowing what to say in the very short amount of time given is crucial, because this shows our capabilities to really answer something in an effective way. Some of the other finalists had it undertime, and I think that should really be avoided. The key is practice, practice, practice. I’m quite lucky because I’ve had past experiences debating before. It was just for OIM, but we had training sessions from EDS kids and that tremendously helped. Researching about recent issues is also a necessity, that’s why I had help from seniors from the social faculties to help me better understand what these things are about the day before.

The winner’s announcement was on that same day. There was a short break, about 20 minutes for the judges to tabulate all the scores and pick the winner. In that spare time, I decided to go to the mushalla to pray Ashr, because my heart was racing so fast. I couldn’t handle just by saying prayers, I had to do the Salah, haha. ^^”

When I got back, it was just about time for the real announcement. It was such a nerve-wracking experience. I remember drg. Ria was the one reading the final result. She strated saying that basically all of us had something. Some of us were good at something, but not so good at the other. It was a tough decision, but it had to be made. She started from the 3rd place, Jacky Wijaya :D everyone cheered. My heart raced. The 2nd place, Aliya Chairunnisa. I’m so glad for her! She totally deserved this. Aaand it was time for the 1st place, Sabrina Amira!

I absolutely could not believe it. I remember thinking to myself, is this really happening. It was… I have nothing to say. This has been my dream since maba, and it actually came true. I did want it that bad, the whole time I’ve been praying for it and worked for it, and learned so much through the process. But.. yeah, it happened. I am so very grateful for everything, this is even beyond my expectation, I was happy enough to be in the top 3, but actually being the 1st Mapres FKG UI 2017 is absolutely beyond my imagination.

I thank Allah, for being so kind to me even though I’ve disobeyed many many things. Yaa Allah, You are most merciful and most giving, thank you for giving me the opportunities to meet the people who helped me, for giving me ease and strength when I was exhausted from the process, thank you for making me able to go through everything until the end. Thank you, I am forever grateful for this opportunity.

All in all, this is just the short version of how everything really went. I am forever grateful, and I realize there are things that I need to give back for having earned this title. Like how I’ve always put the mindset going into this, is that this is not the end goal. Mapres is a means of doing something greater, more.

So, for all of you out there, dare to dream big! Work through it all and always, always, niatkan untuk ibadah dan menggapai ridha Allah : )

Well, thank your for reading this. See you on the next post! Definitely if you guys want to ask me any questions, I’m always open. Just hit me up!

[sabrinamr07-blog]

My Mapres Journey (2): Since Oprec until the Finalists’ Announcement

So because I’ve always wanted to be a Mapres since I was a freshman (but I didn’t understand it fully yet then), I was always looking forward to it, and that day became so nerve-wracking. The day when drg. Erik came to our class and announced the department in which we are put for our thesis. I got Pedodontics. In the very same day,  when all of us are left dumbfounded, he mentioned that our batch should get ready for Mapres selection.

Okay, so our thesis coming up was already a big news to be given in one day. But Mapres, too? That just stirred my stomach. Well I’ve been waiting for this since forever ago. More like expecting really, I never considered myself ready though. I was a lot more nervous about the Mapres than I was about the thesis. I remember my stomach hurt with anxiety, then kind when you feel like you’re about to throw up. I started having all these questions in my head, will I actually make the cut?

So I gathered myself together. First things first. For the first phase of the selection, 2 things needed to be submitted, which is KTI (Karya Tulis Ilmiah), form, and CV (Curriculum Vitae). I’ve actually started organizing my certificates and filling last year’s form from during the holiday when I had nothing to do. The form turns out to be the same with this year’s form, so that was one wise decision. So the thing I really had to concentrate on is the KTI. Meanwhile, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to write about. I asked some people’s opinions. People majoring in Public Health, Industrial Engineering, Social Welfare, anyone that can give me a perspective as to what project could I possibly offer as a solution for the country’s problem regarding things that relate to dentistry. I finally also read some journals in dental public health. One of the journals that I found was WHO’s and it really set a light upon what topic I wanted. This thought about KTI bothered my mind a lot for a week or so.

I wrote a lot of the design in my notebook that I carried everywhere, and asked around some more, even Kak Avina, a senior who resides in the Netherlands currently through instagram direct message. This was the hardest part about writing the KTI, which is the brainstorming process. I knew that I had to deal with this topic for many weeks ahead, so I had to be content with it, I had to have my heart in it and really believed it could be a good idea and can provide solution the problem I was bringing up in the best and effective way possible.

So for all of you considering what topic you should choose for Mapres selection, here are a few things you need to keep in mind, make this a checklist, does your idea fulfill these, then inshaAllah the writing process will be easier. So here is the list:

1.       What is the most urgent problem currently everyone in Indonesia is facing? Don’t forget that this has to be a problem that your field of study can cover!

2.       What is the most effective, fast, feasible solution that can be done without a lot of fuss? (think of the simplest tool, easily made, easy to use, and easily distributed and adapted to). A lot of the KTI for Mapres, especially in dentistry, though the ideas are good, but are not quite feasible because it would need years and years of research, a lot of funds, and does not significantly solve problem in the short term. The ideas are good for a research project, maybe, but not Mapres selection. So keep this in mind!

3.       Think of how this would solve the problem, think of the technology aspect of it as well, how can this be magnified and distributed in the most effective way? Be critical to your own idea, ask the littlest details, and then discuss about your worries to your advisor or people from other fields as well.

4.       This is a bonus, but if feasible, make the prototype! This will show the judges how well-developed your concept and your idea is, and that is exactly what they are looking for. This will add more to the feasibility aspect of it.

Point being, a KTI for Mapres has to provide the easiest short-term solution that can answer a huge problem everyone is facing right now. I formulated the program, I made sure what I was doing would make sense and feasible. So that’s the thing about KTI, I think. It’s not about solving the biggest problems in the most sophisticated way that would make people think you’re smart. It’s about putting your own analysis to a certain problem, and try to solve that in a way that takes up as little resources as possible, therefore making it feasible and doable as a short-term solution towards the problem being brought up. Sometimes simple ideas would suffice better than grand ones. I might write another entry about KTI, if some people wish, especially ones that would satisfy the judges in FKG. After I was content with I was about to write about, the writing process began.

Anyway, back to my experience. Once I found the topic after days and days of researching and discussions, I contacted Prof. Risqa to ask for her professional opinion. Prof. Risqa is a professor in the Dental Public Health Department, and I asked her to be my supervisor. She is a very kind woman and always available at RIK (when a lot of the other professors mostly stay at Salemba), so it was fairly easy for me to reach her. She was very welcome, and she was always so informative as to what kinds of information should I try to get from journals and researches. She helped me with a lot of the questions that I had in mind. I just really couldn’t thank her enough.

Well basically, the date when all the files are due is on Monday, the first week of March it was I believe. So the weekend before that, being the deadliner that I am, I only slept for 3 hours during the whole weekend because by Saturday morning, I only had about 30% of it done. Winona, a friend from RK and I went to McDonald’s and spent the night there, working, to make sure we wouldn’t fall asleep because there would always be coffee available and no place to sleep. I didn’t sleep the whole day at all on Sunday, finishing my KTI, and I continued to receive revisions from Prof Risqa and my Dad. They both helped tremendously, and I spent the entire Sunday morning and afternoon drowsily fixing all the things that needed to be fixed. I was half awake, but the adrenaline rush knowing the deadline is getting closer kept me awake. So I did turn it in, with 3 minutes left until it was the deadline. I was relieved, though there were some things in my KTI I wasn’t completely sure about, I didn’t even spellcheck or proofread it. I only prayed to God the paper would still look decent in the judges’ eyes :’)

Well, though I wasn’t sure about the writing, I prayed that my paper still had its plus point. I asked a friend of mine, Heri (FMIPA 2014) to design a prototype of booklet for my idea. Because I couldn’t do photoshop, he was kind enough to lend me a hand. So when I turned my paper in, there were attachments of that booklet in the back. I think it contributed a lot to my chosen being in the finalists. Again, this is optional, but if possible then definitely make a prototype out of your idea, especially for the final presentation day! So again, thank you, Heri! : )

After the softcopy of everything is submitted to PendProf’s email, I had to print them out, 5 copies of each: CV, Form, certificates, and KTI. I had to go to Pandawa (thank God for Pandawa) at 9 at night and finished around 11-ish. It was still unorganized (because I had to insert it into 5 different envelopes for all the 5 judges), but because I was exhausted from the 2 days of no sleeping and extreme pressure, I decided to put everything off until tomorrow morning .

The next morning, everything needed to be set and I had to do everything by myself. It was just a huge pile of paper and I had to devide them into 5 copies and it was a really panicked morning. I actually ended up being late to class. Afterwards, I gave all 5 copies to Darwin from pendprof (while also hoping I didn’t miss any important certificate or misplaced a piece of paper, because that would be very silly).

After everything is submitted, I had the week free. It was time to wait for the finalists announcement. There were 12 of us who ended up submitting paper and form for Mapres. Only 6 is chosen to compete in the finals. I was anxious and nervous the whole week, while also thinking about my competitors, who were the judges, etc. until the day of the announcement of the finalists.

I remember that day of the finalists’ announcement. I was actually a lot more scared about the finalists’ announcement that the announcement of the real winner, because I had no idea what to expect of the other competitors. Like I said before, I’m nothing like you would picture a Mapres. So I felt like the underdog that everybody underestimated. Which didn’t really bother me, because I know what Mapres is looking for anyway. I kept my eyes fixed on the prize.  (That’s another thing that I learned, by the way. To not care too much about your competitors, just focus on all the things you can improve for yourself. That way, even if you end up not getting the prize, you’ll still have a lot of learning done so the process isn’t wasted.)

The awaited day has finally come. That day, the Friday of the same week at 4 PM, a poster by PendProf was finally released. In the body of the writing, there was my name: Sabrina Amira, as the 5th person to have made the cut. I also saw the poster. There was a photo of me in the yellow jacket which I have given to the committee on Monday, along with my files submissions. I was sitting with my dearest friends; Kiky along with other people from BPI’s BLS. When I saw the jarkoman, I jumped and immediately told Kiky. She was so happy for me, and I couldn’t think of a better person to share the news with. It was one of the most wonderful moments! I also immediately called my parents and told everyone who has been supporting me about the wonderful news. I know the competition was supposed to get more tough, but somehow my heart felt a lot more at ease knowing I’d passed the hardest phase of the selection.

Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah. Laa haula wa la quwwata illaa billaah (no strength except by Allah)…

[sabrinamr07-blog]

My Mapres Journey (1): The Reason Why

So a lot of people often ask me, “Why do you want to become Mapres FKG in the first place?” I could think of a million reasons to answer this question. I’m really not the typical Mapres person. If you see me in my faculty, you wouldn’t think I’m the ambitious or the scientific kind, I actually spend so much of my time in organizations and other things that are more fun than making research papers or write a literature review. My hobby is singing, I like to cook, and I pay a lot of attention to what colors I wear for the day (really not the kind of person you’d think fit for Mapres). But Mapres is just one of those things I’ve wanted since I heard about it in Mabimwa 2014. I remember drg. Dinda was the one giving the talk about Mapres, and I thought it would be such a fun thing to be one. But as I venture more into what Mapres really is, I discovered there are layers and layers of unknown dimensions, more complex than what people seem to make it out to be on the surface. Mapres doesn’t have to be the one with the perfect score in every subject, nor does he/she have to be a certain thing. I think Mapres has to be someone who has the whole package, not just the smarts (or more familiarly known as Intelligence Quotion). Rather, the selection process tests other aspects of your quotions as well (Emotional and Spiritual), even more than the Intelligence Quotion, in my opinion. This is where everything could go right, or it could go wrong. This process is what made me realize, only focusing on one aspect in life (academics, for example) is never a good idea. As a person, we need to develop and grow in all areas; are we more mature as time passes by, or are we able to see what we lack socially, do we actually get closer to the life we aspire to live. So I think this holistic approach is what is tested. So many things and factors can determine the final outcome. So, keep that in mind, because I will elaborate what I mean as this writing progresses. However, in the end of it all, I discovered that Mapres is just a means, not the end goal, to achieve greater things that really matter. Jim Loehr in his book The Only Way to Win says that a lot of the top CEOs or internationally acknowledged athletes around the world are actually not happy because they are chasing this blind ambition towards a certain achievement in hopes of finding true happiness. But oftentimes, after they get what they have wanted so badly and worked so tirelessly for, it doesn’t feel right. It’s nothing like what they’d imagined would feel like, because they are making that achievement the end goal. Meanwhile, there is always going to be a superior thing. So an achievement can never be an end goal, it would just lead to more ambitions to chase. More money, power, a bigger house, a prettier wife, for example. There is always something better than what we already have. The neighbor’s grass is always greener, they say. And that’s exactly what I don’t want happening to me. Because, Mapres, though it seems so shiny and cool from the outside, wouldn’t give you much unless you do other great things as a result of attaining that prestigious title. Being a Mapres means that you can spread a certain message, maybe something you truly care and are genuinely concerned about. Being a Mapres means your opinion will matter more, people listen. So, use that for the greater good. Stick to your values in life and spread that message with heart. That will actually give more contentment and fulfillment than just proving to people that you are better than them (which maybe a lot of people think being a Mapres is about). I’m not going to say that self-pride is always a bad thing, but too much of it is never good. True happiness will be attained when you have a greater purpose in your life, grander than yourself. So that’s kind of the philosophical discussion as to what Mapres is to me. As I said before, there are other reasons, but that’s probably the biggest one. If I continue, this writing shall end up being 10 pages long. So we will carry on. The reason why I want to write this Mapres Journey is because I don’t want to forget the fight. The help. The sensations. The people. The emotions. The support. The self-discovery. Everything is blended into one, the most absurd one and half months of my entire college life. I rediscovered myself, the people around me. I’m afraid I will take them for granted if I don’t hold dear in my heart what they actually mean to me and what they’ve done. So to anyone reading this and have taken part in my Mapres journey, I can never say enough thank you, but I’ll say it anyway. Thank you. :) Enjoy the rest of the posts!

[sabrinamr07-blog]

Mencari Model Muslimah Modern

(Pelajaran dari Bunda Yoyoh Yusroh)

Assalaamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.

Sabtu dini hari, 21 Mei 2011, anggota Komisi I DPR dari Fraksi Partai Keadilan Sejahtera, Yoyoh Yusroh, menghembuskan napas terakhirnya setelah mengalami kecelakaan lalu lintas di Cirebon. Dalam waktu singkat, kabar duka itu menyebar ke seluruh negeri. Beragam tokoh dari lintas komunitas menyampaikan belasungkawanya. Ust. Hilmi Aminuddin, Ketua Majelis Syuro PKS, bahkan mengatakan bahwa wafatnya Yoyoh Yusroh adalah kehilangan yang dialami oleh dakwah internasional.

Ruhut Sitompul dari Fraksi Partai Demokrat dan Tantowi Yahya dari Fraksi Partai Golkar termasuk di antara hadirin yang menyampaikan rasa kehilangannya pada hari itu. Dari dunia internasional, tak kurang dari Prof. Dr. Muhammad Badie, orang nomor satu di Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimun Mesir yang menyampaikan pesan duka citanya. Belasungkawa juga disampaikan oleh berbagai komunitas lainnya, antara lain dari masyarakat Gaza, yang mengenal almarhumah sebagai salah seorang tokoh yang konsisten memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka.

Yoyoh Yusroh adalah sebuah pribadi yang menghentak kesadaran semua orang. Sebagai da’i perempuan, jadwal kegiatan dakwahnya tidak pernah kosong. Terlebih lagi semenjak ia diamanahi jabatan sebagai wakil rakyat. Namun di antara seluruh amanah yang dibebankan di pundaknya, Yoyoh telah menerima amanah sebagai ibu dari 13 orang anak.

Yoyoh adalah 1 dari 5 orang perempuan yang termasuk dalam 50 orang pendiri Partai Keadilan (PK). Saat PK baru berdiri, ia diangkat sebagai Ketua Departemen Kewanitaan. Setahun sesudahnya, ia mundur dari jabatannya di Departemen Kewanitaan untuk kemudian menerima amanah di Majelis Pertimbangan Partai (MPP).

Ketika ia diminta untuk menggantikan rekannya dalam periode PAW di DPR, Yoyoh segera mengontak Hidayat Nur Wahid, Ust. Rahmat Abdullah (alm) dan Ust. Hilmi Aminuddin untuk menanyakan alasan pengangkatannya, sebab ia merasa khawatir tak mampu menjalankan tugas lantaran punya banyak anak. Akan tetapi, jawaban dari ketiganya tetap sama: hal itu adalah keputusan jamaah (ittifaq jama’i).

Di luar kegiatannya sebagai anggota DPR, setumpuk amanah dan prestasi lainnya telah diukir oleh beliau. Aktif sebagai anggota Dewan Pakar ICMI (2005-2010) bidang Pemberdayaan Perempuan, Anak dan lansia, penerima tanda jasa dari International Muslim Women Union (IMWU) dan Mubaligh Nasional dari Departemen Agama Pusat tahun 2001. Namun kiprah paling heroiknya yang dikenang oleh masyarakat Islam internasional pastilah keikutsertaannya dalam rombongan Viva Palestina yang dikoordinir oleh Komite Nasional Rakyat Palestina (KNRP) yang telah melalui perjuangan berat hingga akhirnya mampu menembus Gaza dengan kawalan tentara Mesir.

Di tengah kesibukan yang luar biasa padatnya, Yoyoh tidak pernah meninggalkan kewajibannya sebagai seorang Muslimah, seorang istri dan seorang ibu. Mempresentasikan suatu kajian sambil mengasuh anak adalah pemandangan yang biasa bagi mereka yang kerap menyaksikan ceramah-ceramah beliau. Padatnya kegiatan juga tidak mengurangi kemesraan beliau dengan Budi Darmawan, suaminya. Sejak awal, seluruh amanah yang diembannya diterima dengan dukungan kuat suaminya, dan ditanggungnya bersama-sama. Ibadahnya pun tidak kendur, sehingga ia dikenal sebagai Muslimah yang selalu mengisi waktu senggangnya dengan tilawah, membaca tafsir, atau menghapal al-Qur’an.

Begitu kuatnya interaksi Bunda Yoyoh – demikian sebagian orang memanggilnya – dengan al-Qur’an, sehingga ia sendiri menetapkan kewajiban tilawah harian hingga tiga juz per hari. Salim A. Fillah, seorang tokoh penulis muda, pernah ‘memergoki’ Yoyoh bersama suaminya tengah bergantian menyimak dan saling mengoreksi hapalan al-Qur’an-nya di sela-sela kesibukan. Bagi beliau, aneka ragam persoalan yang semakin banyak dihadapinya dari hari ke hari justru merupakan alasan penguat untuk mempertinggi intensitas interaksi dengan al-Qur’an, bukan sebaliknya.

Sederet kesaksian lainnya diberikan oleh para tokoh. Lili Nur Aulia, misalnya, menjelaskan berbagai sifat keutamaan dalam diri beliau, antara lain selalu tersenyum, meski dalam keadaan paling kecewa sekalipun, tidak pernah mengeluh ketika menerima tugas-tugas dakwah, konsistensi dalam kesederhanaannya, selalu berbicara dengan kata-kata yang dalam dan sarat makna, ‘keras’ dalam membina diri sendiri namun ‘fleksibel’ dalam membentuk dan membina objek dakwahnya.

Tidak diragukan lagi, umat Islam telah kehilangan seorang tokoh Muslimah yang begitu perkasa, bahkan ia pantas untuk menjadi ikon keperkasaan seorang Muslimah di era modern. Kehilangan semacam ini mungkin yang pertama kalinya dialami oleh umat Islam Indonesia sejak era Cut Nyak Dhien.

Tidaklah berlebihan jika nama Yoyoh Yusroh diucapkan pada tarikan napas yang sama dengan penyebutan nama-nama harum lainnya seperti Zainab al-Ghazali, tokoh Muslimah Mesir yang bukan hanya mencicipi intimidasi karena kegiatan dakwahnya, melainkan juga hingga siksaan fisik. Yoyoh telah membuktikan bahwa identitas dirinya sebagai Muslimah dan da’iyyah tidak sedikit pun menjadi penghalang untuk berprestasi, sedangkan prestasinya tidak terbatas pada pengajuan wacana di mimbar-mimbar belaka, melainkan hingga pembuktian secara nyata di lapangan. Berapa banyakkah tokoh nasional – laki-laki atau perempuan – yang berani menerjunkan dirinya ke wilayah rawan konflik seperti Gaza?

Kisah hidup Bunda Yoyoh adalah sebuah kesaksian panjang tentang keperkasaan seorang perempuan yang membaktikan hidupnya untuk Islam. Perempuan tidaklah lemah, hanya saja ia memiliki kekuatan yang berbeda dengan kaum lelaki. Untuk membangkitkan keperkasaan yang hanya dimiliki oleh perempuan itulah Islam menggariskan ajarannya, yang diikuti dengan sangat baik oleh Bunda Yoyoh.

Ketika beliau diminta untuk menjadi anggota DPR, itu adalah karena keputusan jamaah. Partailah yang telah memutuskan bahwa kehadirannya di gedung wakil rakyat sangat dibutuhkan, bukannya semata-mata untuk memenuhi kuota jumlah anggota legislatif perempuan sebagaimana tuntutan kaum feminis. Begitu besar kepercayaan partai pada kapabilitas dirinya, sehingga amanah tersebut tidak dimundurkan barang seinci pun meski melihat kenyataan bahwa ia adalah ibu dari 13 orang anak!

Untuk eksis di segala lini, Yoyoh tidak pernah harus menggadaikan agamanya sendiri. Ia tidak pernah merasa perlu untuk tunduk pada standarisasi kaum lelaki hidung belang yang menghendaki para Muslimah untuk membuka auratnya masing-masing atas nama ‘kebebasan’ atau sekedar ‘tuntutan pekerjaan’. Yoyoh hidup dalam keadaan senantiasa memelihara kehormatannya, kemudian wafat dalam keadaan yang sangat terhormat pula.

Muslimah, berjilbab, menutup aurat dengan sempurna, sibuk luar biasa, aktif di dalam dan di luar rumah, ibu dari 13 orang anak, istri yang berdedikasi tinggi, pecinta al-Qur’an yang sulit dicari tandingannya, pembelajar yang tangguh, wakil rakyat yang sederhana, fungsionaris partai yang kehadirannya sangat signifikan, da’iyyah yang senantiasa sibuk dengan agenda dakwah, perempuan dengan segunung prestasi, mujahidah dengan keberanian yang telah dibuktikan di daerah-daerah konflik, dan intelektual yang kata-katanya senantiasa didengar orang. Tidak diragukan lagi, Bunda Yoyoh adalah mimpi buruk dari segala wacana yang dikumandangkan oleh kaum feminis-liberalis. Dengan kehidupannya, Bunda Yoyoh telah membuktikan bahwa seorang Muslimah tak mesti mengabaikan keluarga untuk menjadi seorang aktifis, tidak perlu merasa terkekang dengan kewajibannya mengurus anak, tidak perlu merasa lemah hanya karena ia perempuan, tidak perlu mengajukan batas kuota agar diakui pantas menduduki jabatan yang terhormat, dan seterusnya.

Selamat jalan, Bunda Yoyoh. Sungguh kami merasa begitu kehilangan ditinggal olehmu. Kami adalah saksi betapa engkau telah memenuhi kewajiban-kewajibanmu dengan baik, dan sebaik-baik istirahat adalah di sisi Allah, Dzat yang tak mungkin menzalimimu.

Wassalaamu’alaikum Wr. Wb.

9 Januari 2017 (Akmal Sjafril)

[sabrinamr07-blog]

Teruntuk Ust. Musholli

Ini tentang reputasi. Ini tentang integritas suatu lembaga yang telah dibangun dengan darah dan air mata para pendirinya. Lembaga yang bagaikan paru-paru yang hampir habis napasnya namun disuntik 200 kali agar tetap bertahan. Dan nyatanya, 1046 alumni sudah, 7 regional, 9 PTN terunggul, dan 15 tahun yang telah terukir dalam sejarah institusi PPSDMS-NF (RK). Integritas, tetap harus dijaga. Teladan yang ditunjukkan langsung kepada para calon pemimpin ini. Teladan. . Lebih rajin lagi ibadahnya, lebih dekat lagi sama Allah. Saya hanya nitip, di malam-malam panjang kalian, doakan Ustadz. Doakan agar tetap istiqamah membersamai kalian, karena sejatinya Ustadz yang butuh kalian. Ustadz butuh kalian untuk merealisasikan mimpi besar membentuk negara yang pemimpinnya berkualitas, memimpin negara dengan jumlah ummat muslim terbanyak di dunia hingga mencapai tingkat kemakmuran yang seharusnya. . Ustadz belum sampai menjual rumah Ustadz. Hanya rumah kontrakan saja, itupun senilai 300 juta. Belum cukup untuk memenuhi uang beasiswa kalian semua full. Padahal bisa saja Ustadz lakukan, kemudian mengontrak. Tapi iman Ustadz memang masih sekecil itu, sekecil itu. Bahkan Abu Bakar r.a. memberikan seluruh hartanya, pun dengan Umar r.a. Memang itulah sejatinya perjuangan. Ketika berjuang, benar-benar dengan harta dan jiwa. Benar-benar itu sejatinya yang harus dikorbankan, jika memang perjuangan kita ingin berakhir manis. . Jadi ini tentang agama. Sulit sekali memahaminya, apalagi merealisasikannya. Menjadikannya napas setiap detik hidup yang kita jalani. Maka jadilah orang yang memahami agama seutuhnya, sebaik-baiknya, dalam setiap aspeknya. . Yaa Allah. Mungkin itu bukan kata-kata persis Ust. Musholli, ketua dewan pembina Yayasan Bina Nurul Fikri tadi ketika mengisi acara Kajian Islam Kontemporer di asrama kami. Sudah terlalu kalut, terlalu teriris hati ini mendengar kata-kata beliau. Pandanganpun sudah kabur karena air mata tidak lagi terbendung. Namun itulah kira-kira pesannya tadi, ketika beliau berbicara dengan mata memerah dan suara yang hampir parau, aku selalu bertanya dalam hati, apa yang telah aku perbuat untuk pantas mendapatkan ini? Bukan uangnya, bukan prestise RK. Tapi 1 dari sekian banyak pelajaran berharga di instutusi tercinta ini. Jika aku membandingkan apa yang telah aku perbuat dalam hidup ini, samasekali tidak sebanding. Pengorbanan orang-orang dengan mental baja dan iman yang tertancap kuat di dalam hati selalu menamparku bertubi-tubi. Memang hidup ini adalah suatu hal yang singkat, 1,5 jam saja jika dibandingkan dengan negeri akhirat. Maka apakah pantas kita membuang waktu barang sedetik? Apakah pantas ketika kita menolak untuk berjuang? Perjuangan, keindahannya telah ditunjukkan oleh generasi terbaik ummat ini. Dan 1 hal sama yang bisa dilakukan oleh setiap orang tanpa pandang bulu dan lintas zaman, untuk kembali terhubung dengan Rasulullah, sahabat-sahabatnya, tabiin tabiat, dan salafus saleh, adalah perjuangan itu sendiri. Perjuangan yang benar-benar meminta harta dan jiwa kita. . Catatan hati yang tertampar oleh minimnya kontribusi sementara dihadapkan pada sebuah teladan yang luar biasa. Asrama Rumah Kepemimpinan R1 Jakarta, 25 Januari 2016.

[sabrinamr07-blog]

Don't you just hate it when you feel like you haven't done enough? Like the opportunity to excel is there, but it's just that you don't push yourself hard enough. In the end of the day, you end up hating yourself. Because something big could've been yours, it can change your life partially or entirely, but it's worth fighting for. . You see, that's the science and reasoning behind a to-do list. It's not to control you so that you feel like a robot, or to dictate you. In fact, it's quite the opposite. It's a tool that can be key to your success. It's a tool that's supposed to make it easier for you; in reminding, keeping track, and making sure you've done what you need to do, so you're ready for whatever events come next, and you've proven your capability in completing your tasks, no matter how challenging. . But there is one prerequisite you need: discipline. The urge to always do what is right in the exact time. Not to postpone or do other unnessecary things first, but really to push yourself (you might need to push in your early efforts), to do the right thing! Just because a youtube video seem more interesting doesn't mean it should come before your homework. Really all the small things build up overtime and in the end of the day, it just makes you achieve what you achieve. Be strong, do what's right and not what you feel like doing. #Curhatanakhirsemester #liveupthenewyear

[sabrinamr07-blog]

Give. Just give, unconditionally. Give love, give spirit, give out even the tiniest smiles, just give. Never expect anything in return. Because you're never going to know, which deed in the end is gonna save you. So you're there to keep their sanity. You're there to be their ultimate go-to when they are sooo confused about life and their amanah. You're there to straighten things up when things are biased. You're there to make sure they do their job to the best of their abilities, while also always reminding that whatever we do here, we might not get the prestige the BEM kids do, or the certificate and trophy and pride you get from competitions. But no. BPI is something greater than ourselves. Its demands might be many, but the coming rewards might just surpass our imagination, only later on in life. Afterlife, to be exact. So never ever ever feel degraded by serving Allah's deen. The road to Allah is not easy. It is a road that made Musa had to face the scariest most powerful villain in all of history, it's a road in which Abu Bakr ra gave absolutely everything in his possession towards the needy, it's the road which caused Ibrahim had to make peace with his own mind that its okay to kill his long-awaited son, its a road that caused prophet Muhammad saw to be thrown out of his homeland, beaten up, called with names. So who said it was easy? Its not. So just be grateful that at least your obstacles are not those like the previous people had. Your obstacles come from your own mind most of the time. As long as there's a steadfast heart residing in your chest, you will always find the motivation back to get up and get work done, for the sake of dawah. So yeah. Now that you dont have to carry out all the different technical stuff thats soooo complicated, doesnt mean you can give less effort out for BPI. Pray to Allah that He will take your life away when you've got enough to face the real problems of the afterlife.

[sabrinamr07-blog]

Gregetttt love it :3 makasi ya luv ❤

Memaknai Penghujung Kesempatan

Hitungan waktu enam bulan memiliki arti tersendiri bagi mahasiswa, layaknya arti sembilan bulan bagi seorang ibu hamil. Normalnya, setiap mahasiswa memiliki delapan kesempatan untuk mengulang siklus enam bulan ini. Yang menjadi pertanyaan adalah, terlepas dari beban studi yang wajar saja kalau semakin tua semakin berat, apakah di setiap kesempatan kita sudah memaksimalkan waktu yang ada? Atau justru pola kebiasaan yang sama terus berulang di setiap semesternya sehingga tidak ada perubahan yang berarti?

Memasuki minggu-minggu ujian terasa seperti mimpi buruk. Beritahu saya kalau ada yang tidak sepakat. Belum pernah saya temui kawan mahasiswa yang menjalani masa UTS dan UAS dengan bahagia. Kalau jadi sering tertawa saking stresnya sih jangan ditanya. Setelah memasuki siklus enam bulanan yang kelima, saya menyadari bahwa kebanyakan kita belum mampu memahami dan memaknai esensi dari ujian. Jika standar yang digunakan untuk mengukur keberhasilan dari proses belajar hanyalah berupa IP dan IPK, maka jangan salahkan siapa-siapa kalau kita gagal memaknai dan mengevaluasi usaha kita dalam proses belajar tersebut.

Banyak di antara kita yang setiap akhir semester memiliki kebiasaan SKS (Sistem Kebut Semalam) yang sama, lalu saat nilai SIAK keluar mengeluhkan hal yang sama, dan kemudian sama-sama bertekad bahwa semester depan performa akademis harus lebih baik. Semangat ini kemudian bertahan hingga dua-tiga minggu pertama perkuliahan di semester berikutnya, lalu sedikit demi sedikit terkikis entah karena alasan sibuk mengurusi organisasi, sibuk menjadi relawan, sibuk naik gunung, sibuk turun ke jalan, sibuk pacaran, sibuk ini, sibuk itu, dan tentu saja sebuah penyakit yang paling sering ditemui: sibuk mager (malas gerak). Saya curiga sejak perwujudan katanya muncul ke muka bumi, penyakit ini menjadi lebih menular, terutama di kalangan mahasiswa yang sebagian besar dengan sangat bijaknya berpandangan bahwa pemakaian jatah absen harus dimanfaatkan dan bukannya dihindari.

Mungkin tidak hanya saya yang bertanya-tanya, apakah ini “takdir” mahasiswa? Apakah memang seperti ini prototype mahasiswa di negeri ini? Apakah memang “udah dari sononya” yang namanya mahasiswa selalu identik dengan huru-hara SKS saat UTS dan UAS? Kalau jawabannya iya, maka wajarlah negeri kita menjadi seperti yang kita lihat hari ini. Saya bukannya memandang Indonesia dengan kacamata pesimis, namun realita berkata ada lebih banyak hal yang perlu dibenahi dibandingkan yang bisa dibanggakan. Kalau memang peran mahasiswa adalah seperti tiga poin yang selalu digembar-gemborkan saat turun ke jalan, maka saya rasa pembuktiannya bisa dimulai sesederhana dari refleksi diri atas status kita sebagai kaum terpelajar: bagaimana mindset kita terhadap jatah absen, seberapa sering kita menunda-nunda pengerjaan tugas (karena rasa malas dan enggan yang dibalut dengan berbagai alasan pembenaran), seberapa sering kita mengesampingkan urusan akademis dengan dalih amanah organisasi, dan yang paling penting, seberapa banyak waktu kita terbuang untuk hal-hal yang entah dimana letak faedahnya.

Setiap mahasiswa memang memiliki delapan kesempatan yang sama untuk berproses selama enam bulan, namun tidak semua mahasiswa memiliki kesadaran bahwa banyaknya kesempatan tersebut tetap akan habis juga. Bahwa hakikat waktu adalah habis dan ketika itu terjadi, kita hanya bisa berakhir di salah satu dari dua muara: kepuasan atau penyesalan. Di ujung siklus satu semester nanti, jangan salahkan siapa-siapa jika hasil yang dicapai tidak seperti yang diinginkan. Klise, tapi hasil tidak pernah mengkhianati proses. Kita merasa sudah belajar mati-matian, tetapi coba berhenti dan lihat baik-baik. Kebanyakan kita memang sungguh-sungguh belajar, tetapi hanya dalam dua minggu terakhir. Lalu kemana kita selama minggu-minggu dan bulan-bulan sebelumnya? Kebanyakan kita memang menghadirkan raga dalam kelas-kelas, tapi apakah keikhlasan dalam menuntut ilmu juga sudah turut menyertai?

Sebagai mahasiswa, saya (yang juga masih sering dihinggapi penyakit mager ini) berharap pemaknaan singkat ini tidak hanya sampai ke labirin kognitif di kepala, tapi juga mampu menggerakkan segenap diri untuk beringsut ke arah perbaikan. Semoga ketika delapan kesempatan berlalu dan sampai hari kita mengenakan toga, kita bisa bercerita tentang waktu yang hilang dengan lebih banyak kebanggaan dibandingkan penyesalan. Selamat merayakan UAS, semoga Anda dan saya sama-sama keluar dari mimpi buruk ini hidup-hidup :)

Lenteng Agung, 15 Desember 2016 | Mutsla Qanitah Thahadi

[sabrinamr07-blog]

They become an island of excellence in the sea of mediocrity. And it's contagious.

Steven Covey's The 8th Habit

[sabrinamr07-blog]

Have you ever wondered why we start our prayer with “Allahu Akbar”? Why don’t we say “Subhanallah”, for instance? “Allahu Akbar” is the key phrase because with it we affirm that Allah, before Whom we are about to stand, is greater than anything occupying us at that moment. He is greater than our job, greater than our business, greater than our sleep, our bills, our family and our children, greater than all that troubles or preoccupies us. And why do we raise our hands with it? We raise our hands to throw all of that behind us. We raise our hands, as a gesture of complete surrender

Love of Allah

[sabrinamr07-blog]

Their disliking of doing first things first is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.

[sabrinamr07-blog]

Just wondering while making these checklists for monthly money-collecting.. when the time comes where all these empty tables are filled.. January next next year, where would these Tiaras be? What changes are made, what dreams have come true, and where would everyone stand? . And I can't help but to think.. January next next year will, in fact, come by in a flash.