Yogyakarta in My Mind Eps 9

All is in My Hand

Part 1 A decision to be a doctor

In my family, I was the only one who had the chance to qualify for college. There were so many people hoping for me, especially my parents. My mother and dad had blamed me about my decision to go to STERO. They said that I had spent so much money for that. I  was truely hurt because of those words.

            After STERO, my dad decided that I should go to a private college in my town, Cilacap. My parents surely would not agree if I go to another private college in Yoyakarta again. It would be more expensive. I was offered a scholarship. But it was granted by a Catholic private college. My parents would definitely against me taking up the offer.

            In Cilacap, I stayed in a dormitory with four roomates. My college was an islamic campus known as STIKES. I would be learning more about my religion, Islam. I didn’t know why I was happy to know more about my religion. It made me calm. I could only say it was a medicine for my soul.

            I was a pharmacy student. It was a new major in that college. I didn’t like it very much, but I had promised myself to do my best. There was no more reason to be lazy. I studied hard and had joined nature lover community.  

            Cilacap is a small town. There are no malls that I can go to chill out with an ice cream, no Mailoboro Street for me to wonder about without any purpose and no more spending a night in the city that never sleep.

I could not do many activities there. Every week I had to go back home. I didn’t have any motivation. There were no challenges. It was truly aimless.

Time flew by so fast. Everything in STIKES bored me. I became restless because STIKES could not fulfill my ambition to be what I wanted, a doctor. I had to do something. I had to make a change. I knew there was still a last chance for  me.

Plucked up all of my courage, I wrote a letter to mamah about my decision. I dared not tell her personally. I apologized to her for not following what she wanted. I told her I had chosen my own way. I told her that I wanted to go to Yogya again to fix what had gone wrong the last time for failing to get admitted into a university.

            I know it was not easy. I might succeed; I might fail too. Either way was painful. But    I had to face the challenges and I was ready.

            It was also a dilemma for my mother. She had to convince my dad who never understood about my studies. Surely, he would be angry and determined to put his foot down.

            Fortunately, Mamah kept supporting me. And with all her sacrifices, she made my father agreed with my decision. I believed with God’s blessing, Mamah helped me through.  

            With that, I dumped everything about STIKES and focused on going to Jogja again. I called up all of my Jogja friends to ask about the best tuition center in town to prepare me for the SBMPTN, the qualifying exam for university admission. And made preparation to leave home immediately.

….to be continued …Part 2.