Indonesia
Prof. M. Mas’ud Said, PhD, Director of Unisma’s Postgraduate Program, offered motivation and practical advice on achieving success before hundreds of new students on Tuesday, September 21, 2021, stressing the importance of both prayer and genuine effort in shaping one’s future.
“Life is a process. Within that process lies learning. That’s why, even after nearly reaching every academic milestone, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, even professorship, learning itself never truly stops,” said Prof. Mas’ud Said, who also chairs Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Sidoarjo’s (UNUSIDA) Board of Trustees.
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As an organizational leader, he has remained an activist since his days chairing IPNU. The same holds true in his bureaucratic career, from serving as Presidential Special Staff to his current role as Special Staff to the Governor and expert council member for East Java Provincial Government. Throughout, he says, he has continued to treat it all as part of an ongoing learning process, half joking that one day he might even take on the role of a district special staff.
“Coming home late at night from English courses, I remember seeing my mother still holding her prayer beads, reciting dzikir. That’s a reminder that a parent’s sacrifice should never be underestimated.”
Never Dreamed of It, Yet Embraced the Process
“I never once dreamed of becoming a bank commissioner, because I always felt my math skills were weak back in school,” said Prof. Mas’ud Said, affectionately known as Cak Ud.
He shared this story while gesturing toward Hj. Ainun Jariyah, Chairwoman of Muslimat’s regional branch and his old schoolmate from SMP Hasjim Asy’ari Tulangan, who was present at the event.
Among the many positions he has held, one stands out as particularly meaningful: when officials from UNU Sidoarjo’s Executive Management Board traveled to Malang to ask him to serve as Chairman of UNU Sidoarjo’s Board of Trustees.
As a native son of Sidoarjo, he felt a genuine sense of obligation to help grow this university, a source of pride for the local NU community.
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He recalled a moment 20 years ago at an IPNU event, meeting KH Abdi Manaf, then Chairman of the local NU branch, who once raised the idea of NU Sidoarjo establishing its own university.
Today, that vision has finally come true. Witnessed by NU branch Chairman KH Maskhun, Secretary H Suwarno, and leadership from UNU Sidoarjo’s Executive Management Board alongside the university’s rectorate and deanship, he pledged his continued commitment to building the institution together with them.
He expressed confidence that within the next decade, UNU Sidoarjo will stand as the best NU affiliated university in the country.
His final piece of advice for new students: nothing achieved today comes without the prayers of one’s parents.
Prof. Mas’ud Said recalled once again how, returning home late at night from English courses, he would see his mother still holding her prayer beads, quietly reciting dzikir, a moment that underscored just how much a parent’s devotion deserves recognition.
This story was also published on ngopibareng.id
