Latifah Rachmalia Eko Basuki from the Early Childhood Education Study Program, Faculty of Education and Psychology achieved the highest undergraduate grade point average with a GPA of 3.93 in the graduation of UNY doctoral, master, bachelor, applied bachelor and diploma programs. The girl born in Yogyakarta on May 26, 2001, besides studying, she is also active in various organizations on campus such as the Faculty PKKMB Committee, Research Student Activity Unit, Student Cooperative Student Activity Unit and Student Executive Board. According to her, participating in extra-curricular activities makes her more enthusiastic in undergoing lectures and motivated to try new things besides just attending lectures. It turns out that participating in committees, UKM, and competition is very fun. "I learned how to manage my time, how to divide my time between lectures, competitions, and work, how to maintain/increase my GPA, how to improve my soft skills, and how to expand my network," said Latifah on Monday (27/2). In addition, the resident of Karangbendo Kulon Banguntapan Bantul also participated in the Kampus Merdeka program, the KMMI Course SDG4. Latifah passed and was accepted at Padjajaran University for 2 months to study with the lecturers of Padjajaran University and also members of UNESCO. In this program, Latifah was very happy to be able to learn and understand more about SDGs 4. Not only that, Latifah also had the opportunity to participate in Kampus Mengajar Batch 3 which was placed at SDN Caturtunggal 4 Sleman.
At first Latifah was surprised by the lectures that were far different from what she had experienced in her vocational school. "I majored in Business Travel or Tourism at SMK," she said. At the beginning of the semester, the alumni of SMKN 7 Yogyakarta began to feel the world of early childhood education because she only knew very little material about the world of children. However, the covid-19 pandemic hit Indonesia in early 2020, making the learning process online. This further made Latifah experience culture shock because she had never experienced learning from home before. Finally, Latifah began to learn using several learning applications that had never been used. "It took me a few months to adapt to the situation, until I got used to it," she said. During the pandemic Latifah kept her target in mind by listening to the lecturers' explanations, inputs, and advice carefully. In addition, she remained focused on learning the material presented.
The daughter of Basuki, a private employee, and Supartini Eko Siwi, a kindergarten teacher, completed her thesis in 4 months and 20 days and did not do any Community Service Program (KKN) because it was converted into Campus Teaching activities. Latifah successfully completed her studies at UNY in 3.5 years with the title Cum Laude as well as being one of the best graduates. In the future, Latifah hopes to continue her master's degree. "I will look for scholarships first. While looking for scholarships, I will try to find teaching experience in kindergarten," she concluded.
