The dream to own a restaurant and develop tourism of Dieng Plateau in Central Java is on its way for Tiffani Febriana. One important step toward realizing the dream is her being accepted in Tourism Studies Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM.
Tiffani Febriana has been studying hard and praying to reach her goal. Currently after graduating from SMA Negeri 1 Wonosobo, she is accepted as a student at UGM through SNMPTN admission mechanism with scholarship.
“Continue to learn and learn, that’s what I did. Yes, I have limited conditions, but I have to be strong to continue to go to school,” Tiffani said.
Living in Sidojoyo, District of Wonosobo, Central Java, she lives under the bridge. She lives with her mother, Ani Sugiarti, and her sister, Denita Triwardani, in a 100 m² house.
Since her parents’ divorce in 2011, Tiffani has been staying with her mother and sister. While her sister, Dety Mulyaningrum, is studying with scholarship in Jakarta after graduating from a vocational school.
“My sister motivated me, I want to follow her footsteps to get a scholarship to college so my mother doesn’t need to worry about the funding,” Tiffani said.
With high motivation and economic constraints, Tiffani continued to strive. She took advantage of the books facilities at school and are not shy to borrow books from her friends.Therefore, it is not surprising that her grades were always above average in high school. With an average grade above 8 for all subjects, she also received scholarship when she was at SMA Negeri 1 Wonosobo.
“I get a 75 percent off, so I only pay 25 percent or 50 thousand per month. In addition, I got a BSM scholarship for 1 million rupiah per year,” Tiffani said.
While she was senior at high school, Tiffani claimed to give an extra effort to be able to maintain her grade, especially in maths which is a very dynamic subject.
She had no money to join tutoring class. However, she was in luck since one of her closest friends offered her free lessons.
“Yes, I finally joined a class, it belongs to the parents of my closest friend. I was lucky to get an extra lesson for free,”she said.
Tiffani who enjoys cooking now feels grateful to have the opportunity to study at UGM. She hopes her study would run well and she graduates early so she would not burden her mother any longer.
Tiffani’s mother is very thankful. It was unexpected for her that Tiffani could study at UGM for free.
Her income as shopkeeper would seem too small to pay for college. Rp1,200,000 income per month is already hard to live by. “I worked at two stores, in the morning until noon I work at the bookstore and at noon until late I work at accessories shop,” Ani Sugiarti said.
Ani claimed the salary was not enough to meet the needs of everyday life. Even so, she felt grateful for her family and her church community who sometimes offer rice and groceries.
“Thank God, I am grateful. I hope Tiffani could study well and quickly. I really pray she will succeed academically and spiritually,” Ani added.