Studying abroad is a dream for many students including one from English Studies Program UGM, Benedicta Angie. Since childhood, she had been curious about how people live their lives abroad. As a result, she had been actively searching for an opportunity to study abroad. Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA), a program that is funded by the government that gives both vocational and undergraduate students a chance to study abroad in great universities across the world for one semester, was the perfect opportunity for Angie to make her dream come true. After a long selection process, Angie was successfully enrolled in IISMA fully funded program at Korea University, Republic of Korea (South Korea). 

During her stay in Korea University, Angie was enrolled in four courses: Media and Popular Culture in Korea, Criminology, Beginner’s Korean II, and Introduction to Applied Linguistics. One of the most interesting things she spotted while studying in Korea was the Korean students’ competitiveness. Angie realised this difference when she compared her learning experience in Criminology class, which is dominated by Korean students, with other classes that are mostly taken by international students. 

“In class, the local students were not very active in asking and answering questions, they are rather very quiet. But after going through the midterm exam, you can feel how serious they had been studying,” she stated, “Our professor curved our final grades, and must I be honest with you, it was very hard to keep up with them. The contrast is very visible to me, because in other courses, where most students are international students, the class dynamics and competitiveness are not different from the one that I have here in UGM.”

Overall, Angie enjoyed her academic journey in Korea. The classes were fun albeit challenging, and the professors were very helpful. She was a little bit disappointed because she was unable to join any clubs due to her short visiting period. However, she was still able to socialise and made friends through project groups and the buddy association gatherings. 

Besides in-class activity, Angie did many activities to immerse herself in South Korean culture. She visited many palaces, museums, art galleries, and festivals. Most of those places were free of charge, especially on Chuseok (Korean thanksgiving). The people were also very welcoming. Despite the language barrier, they tried their best to understand the foreign students.

From the exchange, aside from academics and multicultural insights, Angie learned to be patient to herself. This is a valuable insight that she would not have gained if she had not studied abroad in Korea. She stated, “Being in my comfort zone in Indonesia has made me forget that everyday is my first day of living. Sometimes I forget that as a human, I will make mistakes, there will be discomfort, and that life is not perfect. I learned so much that if I want to move forward, I must be patient with myself and enjoy the process.” 

After finishing the exchange program, Angie planned to finish her studies in time and enroll herself for a master’s degree abroad. In the meantime, she was eager to help friends who hope to go abroad by giving them advice that can help them with the preparation process. Aside from that, she also planned to use the knowledge she gained from the exchange program, especially Korean language, to fulfil her dream as a translator.

[Bachelor of English Literature, Sekar Ajiningsih]

One of the English Studies Program students, Azizah Putri Chandra Kusuma, spent a whole semester at Siena, Italy as an IISMA awardee. IISMA is a study abroad exchange program held by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek), which offers students to study in highly reputable universities from all around the world for one semester.

Azizah was eager to participate in this program because going abroad has been her dream since she was young. Due to financial reasons, she never had been able to take it into action. Upon discovering IISMA, Azizah thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to accomplish her dreams due to the great range of expenses the program offers. After going through a rigorous selection process, Azizah was finally declared as one of the awardees.

Azizah was very enthusiastic about the opportunity of studying abroad in Italy. She said, “Studying in Siena, Italy, as an IISMA awardee has been nothing short of transformative. Being in Italy means that the experience will be beyond just attending classes. It’s about immersing myself in a completely different academic environment and embracing the beauty of Italian cultures.”

During her academic journey in Italy, Azizah had an opportunity to collaborate with many other international students. This opportunity broadened her perspective and improved her communication skills. Besides the opportunity to study with many students from all over the world, Azizah also found the education system in Italy particularly interesting. In Italy, students have to take an oral exam in addition to the typical written exam. The oral exam is a one-on-one session with the professors discussing what students have learned during the class.

Beyond academics, Azizah also spent her time immersed with Italian culture. Siena was full of charming medieval streets and architecture rich in history. Azizah was particularly fond of Piazza del Campo. She used to sit in its front yard to have discussions with friends while enjoying local cuisines, such as pizza or gelato. Azizah noted that Siena differs in atmosphere from other big cities in Italy—it offers warmer and more intimate ambiance. The locals were friendly and welcoming towards Azizah, despite her struggles at communicating with the Italian language.

For Azizah, IISMA was a life-changing experience that had taught her valuable lessons inside and outside of the classroom. “Studying in Siena with classes that are mostly beyond my study field in English Literature has given me numerous insights that taught me to analyze topics from multiple perspectives and engage in discussion with confidence,” Azizah stated, “I also learned to appreciate cultural differences and embrace diverse environments, which also taught me the importance of cultural sensitivity or understanding that what is normal in one culture may be different in another.”

Azizah also noted that the exchange experience had increased her independence and resourcefulness. She also realised that her stay in Italy has also helped her improve her proficiency in Italian. Azizah was grateful to be participating in IISMA, which had become a journey of self-discovery as a learner with a mission to be an ambassador of Indonesian culture.

After completing IISMA, Azizah planned to apply what she had learned during her exchange program in her academic and professional journey. For short-term planning, Azizah was excited to help fellow students who also want to study abroad but unable to afford preparation courses by being an IELTS mentor without charging a fee. For long-term planning, Azizah hoped to enrol in a master degree program abroad in order to further broaden her horizons. She mentioned, “Ultimately, this exchange has given me the motivation to pursue bigger goals, and I am excited to know where this experience will lead me next.”

[S1 Sastra Inggris, Sekar Ajiningsih]

On Tuesday, April 30, 2024, the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM, held a Technical Guidance on Preparation for Submitting Articles to Scientific Journals in collaboration with the Association of Indonesian Archaeologists (IAAI) Regional Commissariat of IAAI Yogyakarta Special Region-Central Java Province. The technical guidance aims to prepare technical drafts of prospective articles for undergraduate and postgraduate students and participants from IAAI to be submitted to scientific journals. The agenda of the activity is divided into two sessions, namely Session 1: Janus Journal Article Structure (OJS submission process) by facilitator Adwidya Susila Yoga, S.Pd., Session 2: Article Review (discussion of articles per author) by facilitator Dr. Daud Aris Tanudirjo, MA…

In his presentation at the Article Review session, Dr. Daud Aris Tanudirjo, MA, as the facilitator of the activity session presented material on matters that need to be considered in writing and preparing articles before submission for publication in scientific journals. On this occasion, he emphasized that the quality of written work depends on the mastery of understanding scientific article materials, the ability to structure ideas, how to formulate problems well, and how to convey objectives clearly. The role of keywords in the structural parts of scientific journals such as abstracts must also be considered with the presentation of sentences, a maximum limit of two hundred words, and the content of a complete concise report as an outline of the main content of the article.

The presentation of the article review session also provided examples of scientific articles as material for discussion studies. “Actually, it will be more interesting so that it can arouse a certain curiosity if there is a new element, whether it is an improvement or whether it is a development,” said Dr. Daud Aris Tanudirjo, MA.

On Tuesday, March 19, 2024, the UGM Japanese Language and Culture Study Program held a socialization of working in Japan together with Marimo Group. The activity which was carried out on the basis of this collaboration was attended by representatives of Marimo Group, Manager of International Human Resource Development Marimo Holdings Inc. Kanakuchi Yuya and Tatang Hariri, Ph. D. as Head of the Japanese Language and Culture Study Program along with final year students and alumni of BKJ Study Program.

The activity began with the introduction of Marimo Group to the socialization participants. Marimo Group is a company engaged in the property sector with headquarters in Hiroshima City, Japan which now has more than 21,000 mansion units throughout Japan. Currently, Marimo is opening opportunities for final year students or alumni of BKJ Study Program who are interested in working in Japan. Marimo can assist applicants in finding suitable jobs according to their interests and talents. Jobs that are generally in demand are in the field of translation and hospitality, but it does not rule out the possibility if you want to apply in a field that is not offered.

Being with Marimo as a partner in working abroad can certainly make a sense of security and comfort when working. Feelings of homesickness while working can also be relieved because, with connections from Marimo we can still meet with Indonesians. This good opportunity is expected to be utilized by academics and alumni to gain experience in the world of work.

The Middle Eastern Culture & Religion Issues (MECRI) journal of the UGM Master of Middle Eastern Cultural Studies Program has officially signed a cooperation agreement with Ittihad Mudarrisi Al-Lughah Al-Arabiyah (IMLA) Indonesia on Friday, March 8, 2024 at Discovery Hotel, Ancol Jakarta. The signing was attended by Prof. Dr. Sangidu, M.Hum. as the ex-officio Chairperson of the Master of Middle Eastern Cultural Studies Program and Dr. Imam Wicaksono, Lc., M.A. as the Managing Editor of the MECRI Journal, while from the IMLA side it was attended by the Chairman, Prof. Dr. Uril Bahruddin, M.A.

MECRI Journal and IMLA Indonesia establish editorial board cooperation in the form of involving IMLA Indonesia as a bestari partner and quality assurance of national and international journal publications online and Open Journal System (OJS). In this historic moment, the Professor of UIN Malik Ibrahim Malang said that the association of lecturers with Arabic Language and Literature journals needs to synergize in improving the quality of education in Indonesia. The entire academic community is obliged to make research-based innovations in the study of Arabic language and literature. With this collaboration, it is hoped that the UGM MECRI Journal can become one of the platforms for the development of scientific publications in Indonesia so that academics and researchers will find it easier to publish scientific papers in the future.