Kinarya Setyaning Tyas, an English Department student, shows that her major isn’t a limitation for learning and exploring her myriad of passions. As she entered her sixth semester, she was driven to seek an internship opportunity aligned with her interests. Her choice then fell on PT Taman Wisata Candi (TWC) Borobudur, Prambanan & Ratu Boko, which she believes can accommodate both her abilities as an English Department student and her particular interest in culture and arts. From there, she took initiative and applied for an intern position, where she began her delightful journey at Satuan Kerja Teater & Pentas Ramayana Ballet Prambanan.
In Ramayana Ballet Prambanan, Kinarya is part of the Sales and Attraction division, where she takes charge of uploading documentation and handling guests for the Ramayana Ballet. She explains her role thoroughly, from creating advertisements, handling social media—especially TikTok—and reporting social media performance. Kinarya noted that one of her accomplishments was when her TikTok content reached more than 340k views, attracting more people to attend the show. Outside of marketing, she is also responsible for reservations and being an usher, or among tamu, for the guests.
So much to be done, so much to learn too. Kinarya confessed that when first applying, her motivation was to improve speaking and listening skills, which can only be polished by practice. Answering many questions and listening to the foreign tourist, she senses an improvement in her communication skills. “Especially when I handle British tourists, my listening skills are being tested because of the accent. So I’ve improved a lot,” she admits.
Although she deals with a lot of tasks, she had so much fun during her internship experience. In fact, she even plans to extend her internship that was supposed to end in late April. Kinarya recounts the social environment in TWC, especially in the Ramayana Ballet Prambanan unit, which she describes as very friendly and supportive—from the staff, supervisor, and other interns. Having met her fellow interns from different majors and universities, she gets to share a lot of meaningful experiences together.
Nonetheless, it doesn’t mean that Kinarya didn’t face any difficulties. During the first month, she doubted whether she could do this job alone. There is a lot of information that she needs to memorize: the flow of the show, the show’s schedule, the seating system, and even how to input the reservation data. “I also need to adapt quickly because I was only given three months here,” she utters. The struggle continued until the second month, during the peak season. “Because there is Eid Al-Fitr, we can even hold a show for eight days in a row, ” she explains.
After almost three months, Kinarya has gained many benefits from the internship as she gets to learn various skills outside of her major. She learns to analyze and report the social media performance of Ramayana Prambanan. “There are reports for Instagram and TikTok performance every month, their analysis, and also about marketing. It was quite apart from English Literature, but I learned a lot here,” she reflects. Kinarya also delves into content creation deeper, from planning to editing. She confesses that she never really did editing in a professional context, so she has improved a lot, “I learned so much in editing—the tools—and also about tech content like where to shoot, etc.”
Kinarya also adds that, relating to her study, she gains a practical experience of interpreting and translating Indonesian—especially Javanese—culture and tradition. “So how do we translate the [cultural] terms to English? Then there’s the tolak bala procession, arak-arakan, we have to explain it to foreigners with an accurate interpretation,” she explains further. While she admits that it’s a bit challenging, it also fosters her cross-cultural understanding. “It makes me appreciate our culture more, especially Javanese culture,” she adds.
Her internship experience in PT. Taman Wisata Candi (TWC) is part of her effort to preserve our culture and heritage. “It’s like being a bridge, a mediator, an agent in cultural preservation,” she says. Furthermore, Kinarya notes how she also considered her future career when starting this internship. “I feel like I want to seek a career where it’s beyond handling a job desk; I want something more purposeful, meaningful, valuable,” she declares.
Thus, Kinarya also shared her principle, “As an English literature student, don’t be afraid to explore more about other subjects. Don’t rely too much on one skill.” She chose her place of internship not by a matter of convenience, but she deliberately sought a gap where her interests met her skills and competence, which she found at PT. Taman Wisata Candi (TWC). Kinarya is aware that to explore and master other fields, learning by doing is the way to do it. “If I had never tried, I would have never known. If I didn’t make mistakes, I would never learn,” she concluded.
Penulis: Gulma Zahra Auradatu
