Diligent, resilient, and outstanding are the words that represent Tio Saraswati Harefa, a student from Aceh. The student was born on December 6, 2005, in Aceh Singkil district, the southernmost region of Aceh and on the border of Aceh and North Sumatra.
The student who has just finished high school has successfully passed and received a scholarship at the Astra Manufacturing Polytechnic (Polman) in Jakarta.
“Praise be to God, I didn’t expect to qualify to enrol in Polman’s production and manufacturing engineering program. Next, I will be leaving for Jakarta this August,” she said proudly and enthusiastically.
The 18-year-old student admitted that she had long dreamed of continuing her education at this Astra-owned university, hoping to get a job immediately afterwards to raise her parents’ economic status and provide for her family’s needs.
Jasa Ikhtiar Harefa and Riama Berutu’s first child is known as a diligent and enthusiastic learning child. He took his education at TK Excellent Astra kindergarten, then continued at SDN 3 Silabuhan (now SDN Pandan Sari) Afdeling Alfa, Gunung Meriah sub-district, junior high school at SMPN 1 Gunung Meriah, and finally at the upper secondary level at SMAN 1 Gunung Meriah.
All of these schools are owned and assisted by PT Perkebunan Lembah Bhakti (PLB), a subsidiary of PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk (Astra Agro), the second-oldest palm oil company in Aceh Singkil. Tio was one of the PT PLB alumni who lived and grew up in oil palm plantations.
“My father has been working at PT PLB for 20 years as a driver, while my mother is a housewife. From my father working at PLB, we can survive until I finally graduate from high school and continue my studies,” said Tio.
At the exact location, Jasa Iktiar Harefa, Tio’s father, expressed his support for Tio. He said her success was due to Tio’s hard work and enthusiasm for helping her parents and extended family.
“Tio has always been passionate about pursuing her education, even when I told him just to work, not to go to college, afraid of the expensive tuition. After all, there are many younger siblings, there are 3, and she has also been helping her mother take care of her younger siblings,” said Jasa.
As a parent who is obliged to provide for his family, Jasa is often out of town; because of his profession as one of the drivers at PT PLB, he is also rarely at home, so he admits that the process of his eldest daughter can successfully pass even in a short time, because Tio tried to find information on her own starting from registration, tests until finally passed the selection.
Behind the Struggle
Tio said she was almost late registering due to the limited network and information she got because she was in the interior of the garden. When registering at Polman, she should not have paid the registration fee, a benefit targeted at children whose parents worked at Astra. Unfortunately, as she was late, Tio had to register for regular admission by paying a registration fee of Rp 300,000.
“A few days after successfully registering for regular admission, I was contacted by the Polman team. They offered to switch my regular admission entry to a scholarship entry due to my status as the child of an Astra employee, and I accepted the offer immediately, “explained Tio.
Not long after that, Tio continued, and they contacted each other again by providing a schedule for the online selection test. At that time, Tio experienced a challenge due to her lack of experience using online platforms. Still, the PT PLB team fully supported and assisted her needs.
“When I was told that Tio had to take an online test, my daughter complained about her difficulty. Moreover, it was also a challenge for me as we didn’t have a laptop, so I finally confided in my PLB friends. Thankfully, the PLB team was extremely supportive; even the head of business administration came down to help us,” Jasa said when her daughter told her about PT PLB’s help.
Tio, was very moved when she continued her story, especially when asked what motivated her to be so eager to pursue higher education and to migrate far from her parents and three younger siblings.
“At first, I was already pessimistic when my mother and father told me that if I failed to get a scholarship at Polman, my parents could not afford to pay for my education. I told myself that I must work whatever it takes to help my mother, father and younger siblings,” said Tio.
The child who loves to read, paint, and exercise is known as a quite accomplished academic student. She has several achievements, including participating in the science competition at the junior and senior high school levels, winning first place, and being selected to participate in the KSN (National Science Competition) in physics.
“If it weren’t for your team at PT PLB, I probably wouldn’t have passed; when I received the acceptance email, they were the first people I told; one of them was Mr. Catur from the PLB team, who helped me from the beginning of the test, teaching me to use zoom, lending me a laptop,” she explained.
Catur Wibowo, Assistant Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), on the same occasion said he has indeed paid attention to the child of Jasa Iktiar Harefa, a driver who is well known by all PT PLB employees. He expressed his emotion and pride, determined to make her parents feel proud by becoming an educated and outstanding student.
“I know very well how Mr. Jasa’s family lives, and I also know how hard it is to be a Tio, who, as the first child and a girl, is certainly expected to be the backbone to help both parents and a role model for her three younger siblings, regardless of her being the child of my best friend, my social and conscience are also moved to be determined to help Tio to succeed,” said Chess.
Although parents don’t want to burden their children, Jasa Iktiar Harefa and Riama Berutu feel the same way about Tio. They only wholeheartedly support whatever choices their children make.
“Sincerely and sincerely, as a mother, I am ready to let go of my first daughter to migrate far away in the city; I see her struggle every day, study hard while still having to help me and take care of her younger siblings,” said Riama, who could not help but shed tears.
While diverting her tears, Riama joked that Tio was so diligent that one day, when there was heavy rain and flooding, her parents asked her not to go to school. Still, Tio cried and sulked because she didn’t want to miss a day of lessons because she had to “skip” school.*
