Inclusive Friendship

This time, I want to tell you how Natalia and I first became friends and are now best friends, as many people ask: 'How can Budi Wicaksono from the Faculty of Education be friends with Natalia from the Faculty of Language and Arts?' Hehehe, well, that's us. I first met Natalia during the new student verification at Semarang State University in 2014. Coincidentally, I was manning an advocacy booth at the time. She emerged, pushed by her father in a wheelchair, heading towards the special booths for new students. At that moment, my heart stirred, thinking, 'This is it, the opportunity God has given me to get to know her.' I couldn't hold back my tears seeing Natalia's spirit, though I didn't know her yet. My initial introduction was by asking for Natalia's BBM PIN from one of her classmates, who happened to be my dormmate. I invited her PIN, and not long after, I was accepted. From there, I had a long conversation with her, asking about her feelings on being accepted into UNNES, her first impressions of college, and so on, until I finally decided to meet her in person. Yes, Natalia said: “Mas, if you want to meet me, I happen to have class tomorrow, Saturday, at B5, and my father will drop me off. Come if you want.” I immediately replied: “Okay, Nat, consider it done.” The next morning, after my friends and I from the volunteer difable care community gathered to discuss a social service event, I invited my most 'over-the-top' partner, Ratih Hidayah, to accompany me to meet Natalia. Initially, I felt awkward greeting her father, who was sitting and waiting for his daughter to finish class. Eventually, I introduced myself to her father, whose name is Pambudi Herlambang. Wow, he is a father figure I truly admire. How could I not? Mr. Herlambang willingly drives Natalia to and from campus and even waits for her until her classes are over. It's not uncommon for him to wait for his beloved daughter just so she can chat with friends, like us. Yes, I used my time to ask Natalia's father many questions. I didn't note much, but one hope he entrusted to me was: 'My daughter needs access to make her college experience easier,' that's roughly what he said. Beep...beep...Natalia's father's phone rang; it turned out Natalia had finished class. Her father rushed to pick her up from the 3rd floor. I just waited for her father to return. How my eyes couldn't hold back tears when I saw Natalia being carried by her father. Subsequently, one of her classmates brought her wheelchair down to the ground floor. I was stunned and asked Mr. Herlambang: 'Sir, is Natalia like this every day?' Mr. Herlambang replied: 'Yes, this is how it is, Mas. What else can we do? The important thing is that Natalia is enthusiastic about her studies.' Ah, it was so nice to finally meet Natalia in person. After all our 'over-the-top' antics on social media, her 'over-the-top' side was finally revealed in real life. Hehehe. In our first meeting, I didn't discuss much; I just handed her a bundle of phone numbers for the volunteer difable care community who were ready to accompany her to class. Yes, it felt heartbreaking to read Natalia's text message to me like this: 'Mas, I'm alone on the 3rd floor, confused about how to get down. I feel bad for my father if he has to go up and down.' One week passed, and I received good news from Natalia. What was it? Yes, all the classes she was taking were moved to the 1st floor. Phew, Alhamdulillahirrabil’alamin. UNNES FAIR A mandatory event for new UNNES students. At that time, Natalia was confused about how to get to UNNES FAIR because her father, who would drive her, didn't know the exact location map. Alright, I decided to accompany her. Coincidentally, I had no classes that day, so I didn't hesitate to invite Petrick and Micin, two of my friends who are also UNNES disability community volunteers. Yup, we waited for Natalia to finish class until 12:30 PM, which was her faculty's visiting hour. Immediately, Petrick, Micin, and I followed Natalia's father, who was pushing her wheelchair. Upon arrival, the queue at the entrance was extraordinary, like a singing contest audition. I decided to ask the organizers to let Natalia enter first to avoid the congested queue. Yes, it worked. Once inside UNNES FAIR, I accompanied Natalia, or more precisely, cleared a path for her to pass through, because it was so crowded. After 30 minutes of walking around UNNES FAIR, we finally decided to rest in front of the open stage until Natalia's phone vibrated; she had a class at 1:00 PM today. Wow, we immediately rushed back to the faculty because there was a sudden class. Patience, patience. STUDIUM GENERAL Well, this event was no less cool. Yup, a studium general event intended for new UNNES students. Coincidentally, Natalia asked me to accompany her to the event. Why, you ask? Hehehe. No problem, I asked about the schedule and it turned out she was assigned to the second session. Guess who the speaker was? Mr. Ciptono, a recipient of the Kick Andy Award. He is an advocate for disability education in Semarang, and the second speaker was Dr. Gamal. My focus was on Mr. Ciptono, and I told Natalia that if she wanted to, she could ask him a question later. 'Of course, Mas,' she replied confidently when I asked. Unfortunately, that day Natalia was not accompanied by her father but by her neighbor, Mas Imam. Wow, it was clearly a hassle, but Budi had no choice but to push Natalia's wheelchair into the UNNES auditorium. The joy was worth it when we got the front-row seats, yay! The long-awaited event began, and Mr. Ciptono delivered his inspiring speech. One message I noted was: “Children with special needs do not require pity but need to be given opportunities. They are not God's failed products because God never creates failed products.” Natalia and I couldn't hold back our tears as we watched the performance by the students from the special needs school led by Mr. Ciptono. Subhanallah, how just You are in creating humans with all their shortcomings and strengths. As promised earlier, Natalia asked Mr. Ciptono a question, roughly like this: “Sir, how can friends like me (Natalia) be given the opportunity to receive an education like mine?” Mr. Ciptono replied, 'Don't look at children with disabilities for their shortcomings, but look at the potential they possess.' And so, after the event, Mr. Ciptono invited Natalia to meet him in the transit room. Although it was just a brief greeting and congratulations, it became a great motivation for Natalia. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OFFERING FROM CAP KAKI TIGA I never expected to be one of the main winners, whose hopes would be realized. It started with a casual suggestion from my dormmate; I entered a photo storytelling competition. Yes, I thought this competition was really cool. Besides having their hopes realized, the main winners also had the chance to participate in a meet and greet with Choky Sitohang. Ah, actually, that wasn't my main goal; I just wanted my new friend to have an easier time with her studies. Yes, I deliberately wrote about her and attached a photo from the studium general event. A one-month voting process was opened to determine the favorite, entertainment, and main winners. I admit the jury rigorously selected from the many participants who submitted photos. On Friday, I received a call from Ms. Ranny from Cap Kaki Tiga company, informing me that I had won the competition. Ahh, I was still in shock and it felt like a dream. 'Is this a scam?' I fretted internally. It turned out it wasn't. I believed it wasn't a scam after Ms. Ranny sent me 3 plane tickets, an invitation, a hotel room, and our pick-up tickets. Subhanallah, what a blessing You have bestowed upon me. Immediately, I informed Natalia that I had won the Cap Kaki Tiga competition and would have the opportunity to meet and greet with Choky Sitohang. Natalia was also surprised, suddenly receiving such news; she was confused about what to say. I reassured her that this was part of God's plan that we didn't know about. Finally, we departed for Jakarta. At the airport, Natalia received easy access for air travel. Alhamdulillah, I was able to take Natalia and Mr. Herlambang on an airplane for the first time. The journey took 50 minutes to reach Jakarta. Upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta terminal, we were picked up by the team and taken on a tour around Jakarta. We didn't know the areas; all we noticed was the traffic. After enduring the traffic, the team invited us to have dinner together at a restaurant, which had a wide variety of food. Natalia ordered ramen because she said she hadn't had the chance to eat ramen yet. I ordered nasi goreng, my favorite food, while Mr. Herlambang ordered pecel. Hehehe. We also met two other winners from Surabaya. We gathered and had a pleasant chat. At 11:00 PM WIB, we finally arrived at the hotel and quickly rested to prepare for the series of events the next morning. Dharmawangsa Venue witnessed Natalia's tears of joy and emotion as she recounted her struggles studying at UNNES, sharing her journey to achieve her dream of becoming a translator. Emotional tears filled the series of events for the most beautiful offering from Cap Kaki Tiga. Especially during the handover of the electric wheelchair for Natalia, a request I had written in the 'most beautiful offering' competition. Alhamdulillah, I am grateful that the presence of this electric wheelchair can now facilitate her college studies. This concludes the story of the friendship we forged this odd semester. We hope for many more experiences in the coming semester. Let's keep this friendship strong, Natalia.