Attending the 131st Graduation Ceremony, Two Alumnus Give Inspirational Testimonials for New Graduates of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta
Auditorium Harun Nasution, Berita UIN Online - Two alumni, Irpan Hilmi and Ahmad Shonhaji, represented the alumni at the 131st undergraduate graduation of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta on February 24 and 25, 2024. Both were present to provide inspirational testimonials, their experiences in pursuing careers, as well as providing motivation for new undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral graduates of UIN Jakarta. Irpan Hilmi, M.Pd., G.Coach. is a 2004 graduate of the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Keguruan (FITK) UIN Jakarta who is actively involved in the world of education and development of children's interests and talents. He is the Founder and Coach at Pride Home Schooling (PHS). Ahmad Shonhaji, S.Ag., M.M. is a graduate of the Faculty of Da'wah and Communication Sciences (FDIK) UIN Jakarta class of 1991. He is active as a reliable da'wah activist and philanthropist, in addition to his love of pursuing arts and culture. He has served on the management and board of directors of Dompet Dhuafa. He is currently the Director of Social Services, Da'wah, and Culture of Dompet Dhuafa.
In his speech on the first day, which was attended by 744 graduates, Hilmi not only expressed his pleasure at being invited, but was also surprised because he did not feel like a smart alumnus with a cumlaude grade point average. He was even left behind by business partners, fired from the institution he pioneered and developed and rejected when applying as a lecturer, he recalled. However, over time, as the founder of the Pride Home Schooling institution which was pioneered and developed since 2017, it now has 10 branches in various cities and in 2035 targets the achievement of 100 branches. In addition, together with fresh graduate alumni of UIN Jakarta there are 3 more companies that have been pioneered, one of which is PT Kreasi Indo Sejahtera which has been running for 4 years with company turnover that tends to move up every year, he said.
He also shared the story behind the establishment of the Pride Home Schooling institution, which began with the aspiration to become a soccer player, but there was no serious effort from educational institutions that could develop his talents and aspirations from elementary, junior high, to high school. Finally, when he graduated, he did not become anything and the desire to become a national team at the age of 17 was dashed, just because there were no supporting facilities. At the age of 17 and after graduating from high school, he then changed his dream to build and open a service that focuses on developing children's talents and interests. This is what prompted him to enter the Bachelor of Education Management at the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Keguruan UIN Jakarta and continued to the Masters level of Educational Research and Evaluation at UHAMKA Jakarta. Ten years later, this goal was achieved precisely in 2017, the establishment of an institution called Pride Home Schooling under the Khazanah Iman Science and Charity Foundation, which was granted and endowed for the advancement of each child's potential and talent. Alhamdulillah, now there are 10 branches and next year's target can reach 10 thousand students with various backgrounds of interests and talents.
Lessons or insights that can be learned for life in the community, graduates may be proud today to achieve good, commendable or cumlaude grades armed with a piece of diploma. But the real struggle will only begin. Friends, starting tomorrow, ask yourself whether you are ready to return to the community? If you are ready, what productive activities will you do tomorrow at the same time? Then 5 years, 10 years, and 15 years to come, what big goals or big goals do you want to achieve? if tomorrow is still confused about what to do, then 5 years, 10 years, 15 years to come do not know what goals will be achieved do not blame the campus and anyone, if the goal will never be achieved. Two messages for graduates for career and society. First, graduates must focus on one field (initiate, develop, grow). Second, they must continue to strive to continue to grow and develop (balance the provision of diplomas with the ability and personal development independently), he concluded.
On the second day of the graduation ceremony, which was attended by 716 graduates, Shonhaji began his remarks by reminiscing 33 years ago, when in 1991 he began to set foot on the campus that was the pride of intellectuals and scholars, at that time still called IAIN, as a second batch of students of the Faculty of Da'wah. He recalled that among the students of the Faculty of Da'wah at that time there was one big question addressed to the lecturers or faculty leaders, namely where is the da'wah laboratory that can be used to implement the knowledge gained? The answer is being prepared. But as the years passed and time went by, we did not get the place physically. Apparently what needs to be prepared is the value and mission, namely the intellectual preparation for the students at that time. It turns out that the UIN Jakarta campus later proved to be a breeder of intellectual seeds and da'i seeds that can answer the problems of the community.
Since the year 2000, I have served in the philanthropic organization Dompet Dhuafa which is also a partner of the Social Trust Fund (STF) UIN Jakarta, a strategic partner of Dompet Dhuafa in implementing its humanitarian mission. Da'wah in the current context is da'wah that can solve the problems of the community, da'wah with a transformative approach. Da'wah that is no longer just a pulpit approach, but da'wah that enters into strategic issues in society. Science and religion become one package in carrying out humanitarian missions based on religious values. The education obtained at UIN Jakarta is an implementative and pragmatic education that can be used as capital in community development. Therefore, to the graduates who today will release their student status, the challenge in the future is how to uphold the good name of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, implementing to the community the knowledge that has been obtained by bringing religious values, he said excitedly.
Currently, my friends and I are trying to create a da'wah laboratory by mobilizing da'i, spreading and globalizing da'wah on five continents (Asia, Africa, Europe, America, Australia). We spread da'i who are qualified to spread the religion of course with a strong basis and knowledge base. The current challenge is how students and alumni are able to answer the problems of the community. The challenge of our da'wah is still far away and still long. People in rural areas also still need the touch of Muslim intellectuals and scholars who want to care about humanitarian missions and values, including in hospitals, correctional institutions, and in all fields are the fields of struggle for alumni to show their best role and dedication as students and graduates of the best campuses in Indonesia and hopefully the best in the world. Our hope for all graduates is that the next generation will emerge and invite collaboration again. Let's show the world that UIN Jakarta alumni can penetrate the world to answer the problems of society with the basic values of science and the basic values of religion as our moral responsibility to follow up the mission of the struggle and the footsteps of the Prophet's da'wah. Thank you to the campus for giving the opportunity to provide inspirational testimonials, there is still a long way to go, keep fighting, the spirit must not recede, challenges are ahead, keep moving forward and develop and don't forget to instill the values of the human side as a strength to take part in society, he added optimistically. (Agus Salim/Muhammad Furqon/Zaenal Mutaqin/Novia Syifaputri Ramadhan)