Earning international achievements as an athlete and studying as a university student are not easy feats. However, Dinda Putri Lestari managed to do this exact thing as both a Taekwondo Athlete and a Student at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus). Recently, she has graduated with a degree in Bachelor’s Management.

By the time of the 82nd Graduation of Udinus, Dinda has garnered various accomplishments at international events. Her recent achievement was a gold medal at the 2024 21st ASEAN University Games (AUG), and the Kasad 6th Asian Taekwondo Open Championship.

During her interview, Dinda stated that she was proud of herself for finishing her studies among other great graduates. Dinda revealed that despite her busy hours as an athlete, she occasionally spared her time meeting and contacting lecturers.

“The distance between us is almost non-existent, as I often contact my lecturers to ask about any missing assignments or remedial. They also often asked about my well-being, as well as wished me luck every time I competed,” she revealed.

On that occasion, Dinda also represented all the graduates and hoped for Udinus to maintain its consistency in supporting and improving the latent potential of young athletes. According to her, there were lots of athletes interested in studying at Udinus for its excellent support.

“I hereby thank the chancellor, Student Affairs Bureau, and the whole academic community for supporting us. For now, I will also pursue my master’s degree at Udinus, so I will further represent the campus in the next sports events,” Dinda uttered.

At the 82nd Graduation at Udinus, a total of 989 students graduated from the campus, with the second session of the graduation being attended by students of diploma, undergraduate, and applied undergraduate departments. These students came from various faculties at Udinus, including the Economics and Business Faculty, the Humanities Faculty at Udinus, the Health Science Faculty, and the Engineering Faculty. The graduation took place at Patra Semarang Hotel & Convention, on Wednesday, November 6th, 2024.

The Future of the Athletes

As a whole, the graduates graduated from 22 different departments at Udinus, including a doctoral department, two postgraduate departments, 13 undergraduate departments, 3 applied undergraduate departments, and 3 diploma departments.

Dinda and others’ graduations were directly inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Ir. Edi Noersasongko, M.Kom., the Chancellor of Udinus, and other senate members. After the inauguration, the Chancellor encouraged the graduates to contribute to the development of Indonesia. On that occasion, the chancellor also gave words of appreciation to the athletes for completing their studies well.

Prof. Edi also stated that the campus supported the athletes to study at Udinus to provide them with a bright future. According to him, proper education would be important for these athletes to lead their lives upon retirement from sports, as it would help them sustain their careers as coaches or business owners.

“I shall congratulate all the athletes who graduate today. Hopefully, they will be able to implement the knowledge they learned on campus properly in the future. Their studies here will help them sustain their careers after they lose their physical prime and careers as athletes,” Dinda stated.

It is important to note that at the 2024 National Sports Week XXI of North Sumatera-Aceh, Udinus was one of the private universities in Central Java that sent the most athletes. A total of 36 athletes from Udinus were able to accomplish medals for their own contingent.

“These accomplishments are tangible proof that Udinus will always support its talented athletes, allowing them to be properly facilitated not only in the non-academic sector but also academic one,” the chancellor concluded.

Bhimo Widyo Andoho, S.H., M.H., the Head of the Service Agency at the General Directorate of Higher Education of the Region VI Central Java, was also present at the graduation to present a decree of professor appointment to Prof. Dr. Dra. Kusni Ingsih, M.M. This marks the number of professors at Udinus to be twelve. (Humas Udinus/Haris. Foto: Humas Udinus)