Becoming the Best Graduate of UM Surabaya with a GPA of 4.0, This is the Inspiring Story of Ibnu Fari Nugroho, a Student Who Was Appointed as Principal at the Age of 23

Success in studying with a perfect GPA is the hope of many students, apart from making their parents proud, this will be a way for them to pursue a career after graduation. This inspiring story comes from Ibnu Fari Nugroho, a student from Kalimantan who succeeded in becoming the best graduate of the UM Surabaya Bachelor program with a perfect GPA of 4.0 on Saturday (29/10/22)

The man who is familiarly called Ibnu explained that he once targeted to achieve a cum laude GPA, and to achieve this he often looked for inspiration on YouTube, how to be a productive student so as to get a cum laude GPA.

"I'm grateful that I was able to make it happen, but to get a perfect 4.0 GPA I never thought of, because my target was only cum laude at that time," said Ibnu.

According to him, there were several tips that he did so that he would get the best grades among the thousands of students who graduated this year. Among them are active discussions during lectures, focus, discipline and responsibility are the keys to Ibnu completing his studies to the fullest.

Ibnu majored in Early Childhood Education Teacher Education (PG PAUD) UM Surabaya. If in general the PAUD teacher is a woman, apparently this man who also has a hobby of dance majored in PAUD because of his calling and the conditions of the environment around him.

"So it just so happened that after I graduated in 2018 in front of my house there was Aisyiyah Bustanul Athfal Kindergarten where the total number of students was only 18, and none of the teachers had graduated yet. All the teachers there are volunteers from the PKK," explained Ibnu.

According to him, in Bereng Bengkel Village, Sabangau District, Palangkaraya City, Central Kalimantan Province, in 2018 there were only 3 graduates who graduated from the PGSD major, and all of them worked in the city. As someone who is active in Karang Taruna and likes the world of children, he intends to only help teach for 1 month.

"When I wanted to stop teaching after 1 month, many of the 18 students' parents asked me to stay teaching children, they said the lessons I gave were always interesting and fun," said Ibnu again.

According to him, the opportunity that was offered to him to become a teacher produced a result called luck. In 2018 he received a 3T superior scholarship from the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) which was recommended by the Head of the Central Kalimantan Aisyiyah Region. The scholarship really helps him because he gets full tuition fees, living expenses and book expenses.

"Regarding education, my parents are very supportive, but to pay for it if you don't get a scholarship is very difficult because the father only works as a fisherman and the mother only helps sell fish, so getting the money is uncertain," he said.

He admitted that he was very grateful for being given the opportunity to become a recipient of the Ministry of Education and Culture's superior scholarship from the 3T region and was able to become the first Bachelor in his family.

Appointed as the Youngest Principal at the Age of 23

Ibnu explained that after he was accepted as a student at UM Surabaya, apparently he often went back and forth from Kalimantan to Surabaya to monitor kindergarten developments. Since deciding to become a teacher, he has always tried to get the children to come in every day.

"In the past, sometimes the school only lasted 3 days, sometimes the students didn't come. So the school is flexible and thankfully now there are agreed rules and it's better," said Ibnu.

He admitted that while he was in Surabaya he also continued to monitor the progress of the children in the whatsapp group regarding the lessons given and continued to give assignments.

Thanks to the simplicity and persistence of Ibnu Fari Nugroho in December 2021, when he was still a student he was appointed Principal of Aisyiyah Bustanul Athfal Bereng Bengkel Kindergarten School at a very young age of 23 years.

"Alhamdulillah, now there are 38 students, if you add up with the play groups, there are a total of 50 more," he explained.

According to him, the play group class that he initiated only entered 2 times a week, namely Friday and Saturday. He admitted that there would be a breakthrough idea from the Kindergarten he led, namely the addition of a special dance and scouting. Ibnu emphasized that he would apply the provisions he got while at UM Surabaya to serve in Kindergarten starting with organizational experiences and other experiences.

It seems that in completing his final assignment, Ibnu took the title of research that directly involved his kindergarten, namely "The Effect of Giring-dribble Dance to Improve Gross Motoric Children in Group A Kindergarten Aisyiyah Bustanul Athfal Bereng Workshop".

At the end of his presentation he advised to continue to improve achievements by being yourself.

"If you can't benefit many people, be useful for yourself and automatically your benefits will benefit those around you," said Ibnu.