UNS – Young and achiever are the characteristics attached to the figure of Imam Arifin. Born in Purbalingga, 5 Mei 1998, he is currently a 6th-semester student of Soil Science Program Faculty of Agriculture (FP) di Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta. He was selected as the Outstanding Student (Mahasiswa Berprestasi – Mawapres) Utama UNS 2020 last week. This means that Imam will represent UNS in the National Outstanding Student Selection (Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi – Pilmapres).
In the Pilmapres, he brought the idea of a coastal sand-based irrigation monitoring system based on an android application. Imam stated that coastal sand area has large opportunity to be developed as agricultural cultivation place.
“Sandland has great potential for agricultural cultivation, but the obstacle is the management of irrigation. Coastal sand land faces problems concerning low nutrient content, the low ability to exchange cation and to store water. Thus, I brought the idea of an irrigation system that can be monitored through a smartphone,” Imam explained to uns.ac.id, Wednesday (17/6/2020).
Coming from a village is not a barrier for Imam to carve out his achievement. Up to now, he has achieved many national and international level accomplishments. Last year, he was selected to join the ASEAN International Mobility for Student (AIMS) program for a semester in Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia. Other accomplishments that he achieved are, among others, first place in National Essay Competition Universitas Bengkulu 2019, first place in Essay Competition Universitas Lambung Mangkurat 2019, the first place of Quiz held by Universitas Padjajaran 2019, second place of National Essay competition Universitas Negeri Semarang, and many others.
The process that he went through the achieve the Mawapres Utama UNS predicate is not easy. The 7th child of 8 siblings has the principle to always try every opportunity that comes to him. “I never dreamt of reaching this point. My main objective is to enrich my knowledge and experience, the achievements are a bonus for my efforts. Thus, every opportunity that comes to me, I will always try it out,” he said.
The Bidikmisi awardee does not waste the opportunity to provide his best as a form of his service to alma mater. All of his six siblings only graduated from the Junior High School (SMP); thus, he is determined to be able to finish a college degree. Support from the family plays an important role in Imam’s life. “My family always support, my older siblings always said that I have to keep studying. They will take care of the costs, that what they said. Alhamdulillah, I also got bidikmisi scholarship so I don’t have to ask my family for living expenses during my study,” he explained.
The preparation that he will make to reach the national level are improving his English skill and his writing. Besides that, his idea has been implemented in the form of application, but he will try to optimize the utilization of the app. Humas UNS/Bayu/Dwi
