Two UB students, Shafira Rafa Ardhani (FISIP) and Muhammad Isykar Siregar (FP) undergo the Independent Learning Independent Campus (MBKM) program of IISMA and PMM programs for one semester. Shafira hosted the University at Michigan State University, United States of America, while Muhammad Isykar Siregar at the University of Borneo Tarakan, North Kalimantan.
Rafa, nicknamed Shafira, said that her background in participating in the Indonesian Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) program was due to her desire to gain experience studying abroad and expand networks with teaching staff.
“I joined IISMA program because I wanted to expand my connections to meet new professors, friends, and mentors, to take new courses that could not be found at my home university and outside the communication science study program and to practice being more independent,” said Rafa.
The last child of two siblings revealed that during three weeks of studying at Michigan State University (MSU) he had gained a lot of experience.
“At MSU itself, there are many events held every week such as orientation, sparticipation (student fair for clubs at MSU), sports competitions with other universities, study tours with international students from various countries and lessons with different learning systems from UB. ,” he said.
She revealed that one of the subjects that was interesting and felt different according to him was when he took a social studies class.
“One of the things that impressed me was when I took a social studies class when discussing social issues but using comedy media. So, each class watches comedy episodes on netflix, each episode with a theme about social issues such as racism. Then we had a discussion at the end of the class. It’s very interesting, because in Indonesia there is rarely such a thing, so many people like this class because it’s fun,” she said.
In line with Rafa, Muhammad Isykar Siregar who had the opportunity to study at the University of Borneo admitted that he had learned many lessons from the Independent Student Exchange (PMM) program.
For him, one of the interesting things that he got while participating in the PMM program was getting the Nusantara Module course.
The Nusantara module is a four-credit course that is the focus of the Ministry of Education and Culture for student exchange activities.
“There are many activities in the Nusantara Module, such as Diversity, there are 17 activities to explore historical areas in Tarakan and North Kalimantan. From these activities, we can learn about the historic areas of World War II, the history of oil, and the legacy of Japanese, Australian and Dutch colonialism,” he said.
Isykar added, not only about Diversity, the Nusantara Module also teaches the cultures of the tribes in Kalimantan.
“We were immediately deployed to the area in Tanah Tidung Regency, which has its own Tarakan tribe,” he said.
Isykar hopes that PMM can be continued because it provides many opportunities to learn and get to know culture for students in all regions in Indonesia. (OKY/Humas UB/ Trans. Iir)
