I feel delighted to know that duniasantri.co is entering its 3rd anniversary in 2022. As a santri who has asked for guidance, I am so grateful. Because many things have been given by duniasantri.co that saved me at the right time (by Allah’s permission and help).
I’ve been writing poetry more since I graduated college, and I’m less trained to write short stories and opinions. Even though there were such assignments in college, the desire to be skilled at writing was lacking, plus there was very little information and knowledge.
My urge to write is actually more of an “only (writing)” job that I can do. I feel like I don’t really feel like working other than writing. I have experienced this since I became an Indonesian teacher at one of the junior high schools in my village. Of course, teaching science is a noble activity. However, I feel inappropriate as a teacher, and my college base is not from education.
Slowly, my anxiety deepened. I seem to have lost hope of what and how to do it. I try to prove myself by continuing to write and send it to the mass media, both newspapers and online websites. At first, all this was fruitless. I waited while continuing to hone my skills, reading books, saving to buy books, and thinking about every moment in language. Everything really feels long and quite tormenting me.
On the other hand, I feel less and less comfortable teaching. Not because of the children. Of course, I’m glad I got to meet them, which reminds me of my teenage years. However, the displeasure arises from the uniform school environment, plus textbooks which, in my opinion, are not good in content (Indeed, this has been the case for a long time. The quality of textbooks in schools is always poor in terms of paper and content. This can be checked in old essays like the one by Mahbub Djunaidi et al.). We all know that books are projects and have entered into many dimensions of our lives. And what is critical is precisely in our education world.
Long story short, I decided to stop teaching after less than a year as an Indonesian teacher. So I finally went to Yogyakarta to gain knowledge, explore myself, and study at the Maulana Rumi Islamic Boarding School nurtured by Kiai Kuswaidi Syafi’ie.
I did not read as many books as before but rather “experienced” life there. I have no doubts because Pak Kiai Kuswaidi Syafi’ie (familiarly called Cak Kus) was also a famous poet in the 1980s and 1990s in Yogyakarta. Even though I didn’t study there for long, the scars are still felt in my heart, giving rise to ideas and enthusiasm to get back to writing.
If I’m not mistaken, the end of December 2020 was my first time writing on duniasantri.co. As I said earlier, I started with poetry. Others don’t. Incidentally, I heard the information from my sister. She was managing the treasury department at duniasantri.co at that time.
I must admit, duniasantri.co is indeed a perfect space and feasible from various aspects, both content and financially. I find it very helpful to write on duniasantri.co. Unfortunately, I’m just a student who demands urip and has not been able to contribute generously to duniasantri.co.
However, that “open space” always calls me to actively learn and develop creativity in writing across various topics and genres that I was not used to before. For that, I thank you very much. I hope that duniasantri.co can continue to be victorious. All the administrators, including the editors who are patient in selecting and editing each incoming student’s writings, will be given blessings in the world and the hereafter.
Once again, I wish you a happy birthday; I hope duniasantri.co will become an unforgettable history. Because I’m sure so many writers who incidentally are santri feel lucky to have the opportunity to continue learning and reflecting while being creative in “culture mysticism” through the writing medium. They must feel very grateful and remember their teachers and pesantren, who were instrumental in forging and shaping them to become what they are today.
Everything is wholly connected via Duniasantri.co. So it can be said that duniasantri.co is a place where we rely on our teachers to the Prophet and our homeland of knowledge (pesantren). Here, duniasantri.co is not only wasilah for the world, but especially for the hereafter. Wassalam.
Note: translated by editor from https://www.duniasantri.co/wasilah-ruang-terbuka-itu-bernama-duniasantri-co