UNS — Young and excellent are two words reflected from Zalfaa Azalia Pursita, a student of Special Education Program (Pkh) Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, who is also Duta Bahasa Jawa Tengah 2021 (Central Java Literary Ambassador 2021) who represented her province in Pemilihan Duta Bahasa Nasional 2021 (National Literary Ambassador Selection 2021) on Thursday – Tuesday (14-19/10/2021).
Zalfaa’s interest in literature grew from a young age that during her university days, the 7th-semester students who have a myriad of achievements started an online library named Sanbukis and initiated a free tutoring community; Rumah Mentari. On Tuesday (26/10/2021), Zalfaa shared her journey in the literature fields with the uns.ac.id team.
Love for Reading
Little Zalfaa was introduced to books by her parents, starting from picture books, comics, folktales to the old-famous-children magazine-Bobo. Now, in a month, she could finish three books, fiction or non-fiction. She thinks that reading brings many positive impacts for her.
“I feel that reading is fun; it could fill our free time and could train our imagination,” she said.
Due to her high interest in reading, Zalfaa often visited her school library and was even nominated as a student who visited the library most often in her Junior High School (SMP). Zalfaa also likes various book genres, from self-development, romance, adventure, and religious books.
Favorite Books and Writers
The Literary Ambassador’s favorite writers are Alvi Syahrin and Tere Liye because she thinks both writers always promote positive values in their books that could empower someone to improve their quality of life. One of her favorite books is Jika Kita Tak Pernah Jadi Apa-Apa (If We Never Become Anything) by Alvi Syahrin, which mentioned that one’s does not need to be great before being useful for others.
“We do not need to be green or fruity trees before being useful. We cannot suddenly become a great person and useful for people without starting from the small things. I feel that Alvi successfully makes readers who lose their hope towards life and feel useless to be a more meaningful personality in a modest way,” Zalfaa said.
Sanbukis and Rumah Mentari
In her lifetime, Zalfaa had completed many books which when she cleaned them at the end of 2020, she remembered all the positive lessons she learned and her wish that others could learn the same things. There were 70 books in her possession that were in good condition, and they encouraged her to open an online library named Sanbukis. The books were uploaded to Sanbukis’ Instagram account, and people who are interested in borrowing those books could make an appointment.
“Alhamdulillah, it garnered positive responses. My friends are borrowing the books, and even a friend who was just graduated from university and worked in Batam, when they did not have any idea what to do with the 30 books, they deposited their books to Sanbukis,” Zalfaa said.
The borrowing process in Sanbukis is free, and the borrower only needs to fill a direct message form on Instagram, then the book is delivered through a direct meet with the borrower. The borrower has one month period that could be extended. There are two programs offered by Sanbukis. Give Happiness is for people to donate their books to be lent in Sanbukis. “Second, Sharing Happiness, for people who want to deposit their books to be lent in Sanbukis,” Zalfaa added.
Zalfaa’s other program, Rumah Mentari, runs in the educational field and provides free tutoring for Elementary School (SD) students in the village. The program is run by Zalfaa and her friend weekly and is still effective to this day.
The Beginning of Duta Bahasa
The student from Boyolali stated that one of her reasons to participate in the competition was to find friends who share her vision and mission in the literature world so that she could collaborate in many activities. Her objective is achieved because currently, Zalfaa and Shella (3rd place winner in Central Java Literary Ambassador) have an Instagram live program that discusses books they just completed. “We want to share the goodness from the books we read. I also want to channel my literature hobby, (because) I do not have a means, so when I became the ambassador, (I) could be useful for more people because of the wider networks,” Zalfaa stated.
This program combines her love for reading and writing, Sauna Citra: Sahabat untuk Pecinta Literasi (Fellows for Literature Lovers). Although she does not study literature, Zalfaa is not disheartened and wants to learn more to improve her language skills. Her learning outcomes were proved through an excellent level in Uji Kemahiran Berbahasa Indonesia (UKBI) (Indonesian Language Proficiency Test).
Impression as Duta Bahasa Jawa Tengah
When asked about the impression she has as ambassador, Zalfaa mentioned that she feels happy and honored to be trusted as a Central Java representative at the national level. “But behind that, there is a long and tiring process, like public speaking training, preparing Gim Sima, not to mention when (competing) in pairs, need adaptation, adjusting with one another to build chemistry,” Zalfaa said.
Zalfaa also did not expect to win 1st place in the competition because during the Best 3 from 10 finalists, she was mentioned last. When two names were announced, she did not expect that the last person would be her.
Achievements
Zalfaa has a myriad of achievements, including the 1st winner in the Indonesian Language Debate Competition for FKIP Students in Indonesia 2021, Best Speaker in 4 KDBI FKIP in Indonesia 2021, Student Exchange ICT Kemendikbudristek Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2021, Top 5 Grab Tempo Editor’s Chair by Tempo Institute 2021, and 1st Runner-Up Excellent Student Selection FKIP UNS 2021.
Areas of Improvement
Following her win at the provincial level, Zalfaa received various assistance to improve various aspects of her skills. Zalfaa mentioned that she learned three lessons from the competition. First, she received assistance from Ikadubas and Language Office in preparation for the national round. “From that, I wanted to return their kindness by doing good for other people,” Zalfaa said.
The second lesson she learned was she wants to be consistent in anything in life. She believes that constant 1% improvement is better than one time 50% improvement without follow-up. Nothing is instant; everything needs to be prepared, planned, and enjoyed the process. Her last lesson is that winning is not the end of the journey. Zalfaa recalled the time when she did not feel fulfilled with her achievements.
“Because I was far from God. So, no matter where we are, in whatever peak of success, we should always involve God in our every action,” she said.
Messages and Wishes
Concluding the interview with the uns.ac.id team, Zalfaa shared her messages and wishes. She hoped that she could minimize her expectation and be useful through small things. “Whatever (I) face, (I) need to enjoy, do it to my best of ability, there will be good things waiting afterward as long as we believe in the paths prepared by God,” Zalfaa stated. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti