There is a saying that goes "seek knowledge even if you have to go to china". It is a saying that is very famous here in Indonesia and based on hadith of Islam's prophet Muhammad. It tells people that you should always learn no matter where you are and have to be better every day. We are also advised to look for answers and knowledge to the experts, no matter where they are.
I think that this concept is not limited to religious live but also in worldly matter such as business, politics, and engineering. Education facility is one of those places we can seek for knowledge of those said experts, and we have to understand that places such as schools, colleges and university is not one colored.
we can take University as an example of a mini Indonesia, where there are so many people with different backgrounds and religions from all over Indonesia gathered upon one place in order to learn together. Differences within learning environment cannot be a hindrance to seek a knowledge, but rather can be a media to learn and bringing colors within learning environment.
In this place, we can accept differences and helping each other without differences to gain knowledge. Truly, it is possible to make Indonesian slogan "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" which means "DIfferences in Unity" a reality here.
In Indonesia, the spirit of seeking knowledge and tolerance is growing really fast. It is not rare nowadays, especially in Yogyakarta to see a moslem students taking their higher study in a Christian University, or vice versa. They believe that there will be no discrimination upon minorities as they are there to learn.
Such prime examples of such cases can be found on Universitas SanataDharma or Universitas Islam Negeri  in Yogyakarta. Based on some story, they respect each other religion and even will remind them about it.  It is very apparent during fasting month in Holy Ramadhan for moslem students, where the non moslem student will respect them by not eating in front of them.
Students are given their rights for praying as usual even when the majorities are not the same religions as them. You may not expect it, but some christian university even provided a praying room for moslem students there. In religious classes, it is possible to held a discussion about religions that enable students to know other's believe and help them respect it.
It is more and more common for university to gain more students with different backgrounds, and it is a media that should be utilized to grow differences and our love for Indonesia even more.
Let's learn tolerance and never let differences be a hindrance for you to seek knowledge. I believe that by learning to a higher degree ,encountering many others, knowing our differences and accepting it will lead to a more tolerant individual when they go back to society. References
