Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) held its 235th Academic Graduation Ceremony on Saturday (2/12/2023), held at Airlangga Convention Center (ACC), MERR-C Campus. The graduates' faces were filled with emotion and joy.

Robi'atun Wulandari Sa'adah from the Faculty of Public Health (FKM) proudly delivered a speech as a representative of the graduates. She expressed her gratitude to UNAIR and gave special appreciation to her parents who always gave support and encouragement during her educational journey at her beloved campus.

"Finally, all our hard work while studying at UNAIR has been paid off and we have to take a big step towards the future," said Robi'atun.

The Beginning of Exploring

Robi'atun invited all graduates to be proud to be part of a university ranked 345th in the world and 2nd in Indonesia. She encouraged all graduates to continue their journey in their respective fields of knowledge and to remember that graduation is not the end, but the beginning to contribute to society.

In her speech, she reminded his colleagues about the uncertainty of life and how life plans can change. Although many things did not go according to plan, with determination and passion, they managed to finish what they had started.

"The world is as wide as a footstep, explore it and never be afraid to take a step. Only then can we understand life and become one with it. Let's keep going together, even if it's with small steps. Because small steps taken continuously will lead us to our destination."

The Importance of Life Proposal

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of the Central Board of Alumni Association Universitas Airlangga (PP IKA UNAIR), Dian Heri Setiawan S Si motivated the graduates to determine their life goals and dreams in the future. "There is an interesting research conducted at Harvard Business School for 10 years. Only 3 percent of people in the world have clear life goals and write them down. There is an emphasis on the writing itself. Meanwhile, 13 percent have goals and dreams, but they are not written down. The majority, namely 84 percent of people, do not have clear life goals, just pursuing college, graduation, and work," Dian explained.

It is evident that 13 percent of these people earned twice as much as people without a life purpose and 3 percent of people with a clear and written life purpose earned 10 times as much.

"That means, if you don't have a clear life goal, try writing it down. What we write down is a prayer and God willing, it will be in the sky forever. And we are just waiting for the Almighty, Allah SWT to answer our prayers," Dian said in the graduation procession.

Writer: Maissy Ar Maghfiroh

Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia