A total of 92 Universitas Brawijaya (UB) students passed the 2024 Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) Program. These students will study at foreign universities for one semester.
Lintang Ken Rania Saraswati was not born into a family with lots of wealth. However, the IISMA UB Awardee has a very strong desire to study at a world university. “Studying abroad has become an inseparable part of my hopes and dreams. From notes in diaries to corners of textbooks, I always wrote ‘Bismillah Study Abroad’. This dream continues to surge within me,” said Ken Rania.
This student from the Faculty of Administrative Sciences (FIA) admitted that she had not been able to meet the financial and mental requirements to study at a foreign university. “I planned every step carefully, from summer school to a full four-year college. However, Allah knows that at that time I was not capable, especially mentally and financially. I believe that Allah placed me at UB now because Allah knows when is the best time for me to develop,” she said.
Ken admitted that he was called when there was an announcement about IISMA scholarship at UB. “By saving and improving my English skills, I managed to raise funds to take part in this program selection,” she said.
Ken passed the IISMA program at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Ken chose Yale University because the programs offered were interesting, especially regarding government issues, the Climate Crisis and the Environment. “I was very interested in the connection between this course and my interest in governance issues, climate and environment, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yale University was my first choice,” she said.
Yohana Beatrice Nainggolan has also had the desire to study abroad since she was a child. “Since I was little, I have dreamed of studying abroad, especially in Europe. So in this odd year, I want to maximize the MBKM program through IISMA activities. The opportunity to get an IISMA exchange scholarship doesn’t come twice. So it is really worth trying,” said Yohana.
When there was a socialization of the MBKM program which presented IISMA alumni as speaker, this student from the Informatics Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Computer Science (Filkom) started asking questions and discussing with the alumni. Finally, Yohana was interested in starting to study, looking for a mentor, and practicing writing essays to English tests. “I did this activity a few weeks before IISMA registration opened,” she said.
Yohana passed the 2024 IISMA program at the National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics, and Optics or ITMO in Russia. For one semester, Yohana took a program or course Network security, Mobile Systems Security, Control Systems Programming, and Environmental Design. “I took this study because it suits the background of the study program I am currently pursuing. I want to deepen my knowledge and also seek IT learning experience from universities and faculties other than FILKOM. In addition, this course can be converted because it is suitable and similar to several courses at FILKOM,” she said. (OKY/UB PR/ Trans. Iir).
