A dream come true might be the perfect sentence to describe the success of Muhammad Wiskha Al Hafiidh Suskalanggeng who managed to be enrolled as a student at the Faculty of Medicine of Universitas Gadjah Mada. Wiskha, as he is often called, achieved his dream to enter the Medical Education Program.
Both Wiskha’s parents, Permana Suskalanggeng and Dwi Asih Prihati, said that they are proud of Whiska. Sus, Whiska’s father, belong to poor families. During this time, Sus does not even have a place to stay. Sus and family only live at the house belonging to his brother who now works in Kalimantan. Sus is the backbone of the family. Sus has been working as a scavenger since 8 years ago. Every day, Sus goes around to find wreckage from one village to another village with his old bike. Typically, Sus will pick up garbage that he sees on the road or stop at the some people’s houses that need his services.
According to Sus, he did not have money to buy the junk. People often give him the junk for free and asked him to do clean up. By cleaning up the mess, Sus gets extra money. Within a month, he usually gets the average of Rp900,000 for his wife and three children.
Despite the mediocre income, Sus still wants the best education for their children. Fortunately, his children are diligent and high achievers. His children earned scholarship so he does not need to pay for their school tuitions. In fact, since elementary school, Wishka often became the best student. Wiskha even graduated from high school with honors with highest examination scores in Sleman regency and ranked fourth in Yogyakarta Province. In addition, Wiskha had won two Physics Championship for Java-Bali in October 2015.
Doubtful Moment
At first Wiskha had hesitated over his choice to enter Medical School. This is caused by the high passing grade of Faculty of Medicine However, his mother kept reassuring him. “At first he was skeptical, but I continued to assure him that he was able to enter medical school,” Dwi said.
Although previously Wiskha had failed to enter Faculty of Medicine through SNMPTN mechanism, he did not give up and decided to also do the SBMPTN mechanism. Wiskha finally passed the test. “When I was not accepted through SNMPTN, I studied harder in order to pass SBMPTN. Thank God, I was finally accepted in Medical School UGM, ” Wiskha said.
Currently, Whiska is trying to get a Bidikmisi scholarship. Because, with his current family’s income, he could not afford the medical school. “I’m collecting the files needed for the scholarship requirements. Hopefully, I can get the scholarship,” Whiska said.
Mother of Wiskha hopes that someday the knowledge he gained can be useful for many people, especially his younger sister. His sister’s illness contributed to Whiska motivation to enter Medical School. She is now undergoing long-term treatment related to pain in the abdomen’s nerve. “Hopefully, someday Whiska can take care of his sister with the knowledge that he has,” Dwi said.
In line with his wife, Sus hopes Whiska is not only useful for the family and other people but can also change the life of his family for the better. “For me, the most important thing is that he can be useful for many people, and that’s enough,” Sus added.