Having a Disability Does Not Limit You From Pursuing Knowledge and Achieving: The Story of Ashar, a SPEL FCS UB Student

Universitas Brawijaya is a highly sought-after university. People from all over Indonesia are competing to get into this university. In addition, this university is also a major destination for prospective students with disabilities. This university is well known for its facilities in accommodating students with disabilities.
Meet Ashar, a second-semester student in the Study Programme of English Literature (SPEL), Faculty of Cultural Studies, Universitas Brawijaya. He is also one of the students with a visual impairment. But despite that, he is a very smart and intelligent student. Before he entered Universitas Brawijaya, he had represented his school in the Geography National Student Olympics (OSN) and he was also a speaker in an activity to increase awareness towards people with disabilities at SMA Muhammadiyah Kediri. At the event, he talked about how to respond to and treat people with disabilities.
In addition to excelling outside of SPEL academics, he is also a very good student in academics at SPEL Universitas Brawijaya. He said that she felt quite strong in speaking-based courses. In addition to getting very satisfactory grades in those courses, he also stated that he felt like he learned the most in those courses. “With speaking-based courses, I feel comfortable in learning English, besides that, I also get the most knowledge when I speak English,” he said.
From all of the many reputable universities spread across Indonesia, Ashar prefers to pursue further studies at Universitas Brawijaya for various reasons. Firstly, he chose Universitas Brawijaya because it is relatively close to his hometown in Kediri. In addition, this university has excellent facilities for accommodating students with disabilities so that they can feel comfortable when studying at Universitas Brawijaya. Not only the good facilities, but the people around him are also accepting and do not discriminate against him. He also has many close friends who are loyal to accompany him at any time. In terms of learning, the lecturers have also provided information and given him more attention so that he can easily grasp the material. But even so, that doesn’t mean the lecturers are favoring him. “Everyone is still treated the same, but indeed I am given more attention such as a special PDF so that I can read easily,” he said explaining the situation. (SPEL UB)