UNAIR NEWS – Face the trouble first, have fun later. That was the journey of Khoirun Nisak, SE, M.SEI., to undergo a master’s study at Universitas Airlangga. The cultural difference between Malang and Surabaya required her to adapt to the surrounding environment. However, the student born in Trenggalek, August 22, 1992 successfully ended her studies and appointed as the best graduate of Postgraduate School with GPA 3.8.
Regarding the final assignment, Nisa studied the model of zakat empowerment in higher education: a case study of LAZ el-Zawa State Islamic University (UIN) Malang. In this thesis, Nisa discussed the management of zakat in higher education. According to her, the topic is something new and rarely discussed by other students.
“I don’t want my thesis only end up dusty on the library shelf, but it can be a recommendation and give benefit for the institution in managing zakat and other universities that want to create similar zakat institutions,” she added.
Nisa said, in managing zakat in higher education, zakat money comes from campus employees. Then from the fund collection, a larger portion of the zakat is channeled to the less fortunate members of academic community.
Nisa said, while being busy with her academic, Nisa was also a supervisor of Etos Scholarship in Surabaya. Nisa was also an activist of #IndonesiaTanpaJIL chapter in Surabaya, a community that focuses on studying Islamic thought. In certain events, Nisa also participated in several international conferences in the field of Islamic economics and became one of the recipients of Leadership Scholarship from Dompet Dhuafa.
“Initially there were some things that were not in line with expectations in Surabaya and made it difficult but I tried to adapt,” she added.
Nisa admitted that she had to adjust to Surabaya culture that was different from Malang. In addition, she must also manage her time between college and work.
“But that’s the art of learning, Imam Shafi’I said “if you can’t bear the fatigue, then you have to bear the bitterness of ignorance, ” she said.
Nisa is still an Etos Scholarship supervisor in Surabaya and is a research assistant for several researches. In the future, Nisa planned to be a lecturer in campus.
“S2 students should have a different mindset with S1 students, the portion for research, scientific discussion, reading books, and writing must be greater. Don’t become an instant master whose scientific capacity is not yet qualified when graduated, ” she concluded.
Author: M. Najib Rahman
