Public Relations UPNVJ - M Arif Rahman Hakim, one of the Electrical Engineering students at the Jakarta "Veteran" National Development University, won the Karya Mahardika Award at the 72nd UPNVJ Graduation Ceremony at the Jakarta Convention Center building on Saturday, April 20 2024. The student who is familiarly called Arif successfully graduated with a GPA of 3.76 in a period of 3.5 years.
Arif's study journey at UPNVJ started from his hometown in remote Taluak, Batang Kapas District, Pesisir Selatan, West Sumatra. Studying at SMA Negeri 1 Batang Kapas, Arif managed to get the SNMPTN quota even though he was in last place.
Arif admitted that he had been in one of the lowest ranks, namely 32 out of 35 students in high school. However, thanks to his hard work, he managed to pass the first choice, namely the UPNVJ Electrical Engineering Bachelor's Study program.
"As the Minangkabau proverb says "karatau madang di Hulu, babuah babango balun, ka Rantau bujang first di rumah paguno balun" meaning that if in the village it cannot have an impact on many people, then Minangkabau youth should go abroad first to be able to develop into a better person. ," said Arif.
While studying at UPNVJ, Arif thanked the UPNVJ Student Consultative Council (MPM), UPNVJ FORMASIKIP, UPNVJ Mechatronik for being a forum for development in student organizations. During his studies, Arif was trusted to lead the UPNVJ Faculty of Engineering Student Senate.
The various twists and turns of being a student were passed with enthusiasm and curiosity. In the world of education, Arif met friends who had a positive impact and high solidarity, which encouraged him to explore himself more deeply.
In semester 3, Arif was trusted to be a Digital Systems Laboratory Assistant, and in semester 4 he had the opportunity to become a Laboratory Assistant in the Electrical Circuit Practicum course.
'Beautiful in its time'
Entering the 5th semester, Arif took part in the Independent Campus program and carried out independent studies at PT. Stechoq Robotics Indonesia in the Hardware Engineering course. There, he studied automation in the industrial world such as sensors, transducers and actuators with an emphasis on control, monitoring and control systems based on Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).
"This experience was very linear with the major I took in electrical engineering, namely Electronics and Control," said Arif.
Arif said that the large number of college assignments and organizational activities encouraged him to improvise and divide his time well. According to him, sometimes there are things that have to be sacrificed or postponed for the sake of more important activities without forgetting the responsibilities of the postponed activities.
One of Arif's side activities is taking part in various competitions, such as the national scientific writing competition, national essay and Indonesian robot contest. Through these competitions, Arif can build relationships and exchange ideas with outstanding students from various campuses throughout Indonesia.
Through the Mahardika Karya Award, Arif advised students to always be active in activities and try hard to achieve their goals.
"Never wait for everything to be beautiful in its time, but that time will be beautiful when we want to change it. This is a life motto that I always adhere to," said Arif.
"I believe that effort and hard work will fulfill our dreams. Even though the road we are on has lots of gravel or even large rocks blocking it, I still believe that effort never deceives the results," he concluded.
(*wit/PRUPNVJ)