UNS — Being a student who actively participates in student associations is often underestimated. The activities in association caused unfinished duties. However, this common assumption was broken by an inspiring Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta alumnus, Greget Kalla Buana. The graduate of Management Program Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) UNS with plenty of achievements and organizational experiences.
The uns.ac.id team received an opportunity to communicate and heard Greget’s stories and his current career. Greget Kalla Buana pursued his bachelor’s degree in 2009-2013 and graduated with a GPA of 3.96 and completed his program in three years and eight months. He has actively participated in more than ten student associations at the program, faculty, university, and external university level during his student years. These associations are, among others, Student Executive Board (BEM) FEB UNS, Islamic Studies and Practices (BPPI) FEB UNS, Management Student Association, Islamic Economics Study (KEI) FEB UNS, UNS Nurul Huda Islamic Students Association, Student English Forum, and Putra-Putri Solo (Mr and Miss Solo).
Intention, Mindfulness, and Planning
“If someone says they want to participate in an organization to gain experience, it is quite common. At the time, I was encouraged by a great curiosity, like challenged. I wanted to has a comprehensive portfolio. Started from knowing then understanding,” the man who likes to write and run stated on Friday (9/4/2021).
Being an excellent student while actively participated in student association is not an easy task. Greget has a strategy to balance both his academic and organizational pursuits. First, the importance of intention. He is highly enthusiastic about his choices. He wants to provide a picture of leading Muslims, not only in reasoning but also in behavior. He intends to worship God. Second, fully attend to the activity he is doing and being mindful. He always concentrated entirely on absorbing information.
“I enforce totality to myself. In class, my focus is on the course. In organization, my focus is on organization’s interests. When I go out, I enjoyed it. Therefore, I do not need to redo one thing for the second time,” Greget explained.
Third, planning. Greget fully understands what he will be doing in the next week. Everything is planned. His life was orderly, but he thinks humans must be flexible and provide rooms for alternatives in their plans. Thus, no matter how hard the execution of a plan, one’s can always achieve his/her final objectives.
A purpose will always find a way
his packed schedule often ignites questions for people: how does he manage his time. Besides his planning, Greget has a priority scale, what he needs to prioritize, what can be represented, and what he can avoid as not beneficial. He believes in the blessing of time. Good deeds will always find a way and be supported by the universe, including time. His early student years’ principles were not to miss a class; in a case of he has multiple agendas to attend, he always put behind those that do not need his presence. He also read the minutes of the meeting or recap to catch up with what he missed. “I believe Allah manages all those,” he said.
With his tenacity, Greget continues to raise after he was announced as the Top 10 in the National Excellent Student (Mawapres) 2012. He also achieved many others accomplishments such as National Language Ambassador 2010, winning essay and writing competitions, and representing UNS or Indonesia in various international cultural, environmental, and youth exchange in South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, and Thailand.
Consistency is the Key
Greget started his career pursuit as a Cooperative Academic Education Program participant in Telkom, Indonesia, during his student year. After graduating, he was trusted to be the Overseas Scholarship Program Coordinator in Dompet Dhuafa when he prepared his plan to continue studying to the next level.
Before leaving his professional career to study in England, Greget also worked as Research Assistant in Sharia Banking Department in the Financial Service Authority (OJK). He selected Durham University, UK, because its Master in Islamic Finance and Management Program is one of the best globally. He is fully interested in sharia finance that he studied since 2009.
With his spirit to learn new things, he applied for the Dissertation Abroad Program at the University of Mannheim, Germany, from Erasmus+. He received numerous scholarships during his student years, such as Bakti Nusa, BRI, DataPrint, Turkey, and Education Fund Management Institution (LPDP). From LPDP, Greget received the Alumnus with the Largest Achievements Award directly awarded by the Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani.
Currently, Greget serves in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as an Islamic Finance Specialist. As a young professional at the national and international level, he has a principle that his works should not benefit himself personally or his institution particularly, but for a greater purpose, for people’s interests. “I am grateful to join the UN,” he said. He also shared his motto in life, “Chase for your afterlife; the world will follow you. When all efforts have been made to prepare the afterlife, a success at life will be easy to achieve.”
UNS and Noble Values
Greget life is inseparable from his learning process in UNS. He learned positive values from the university, the noble values from humanity, such as manners and the importance of courtesy before knowledge. In UNS, he was taught in an environment that emphasizes politeness. Knowledge strengthens one’s character and is implemented into one role to benefit the community.
Before closing the discussion, Greget reminded to Enjoy the moment, trust the process. “Enjoy whatever (you) faced. We need to have a purpose. From purpose, we made plans. When we are down, find something to learn and improve yourself. When you’re at the top, be grateful, and share. So trust the process,” he concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Zalfaa Azalia Pursita
Editor: Dwi Hastuti