Alumni Sharing Session: Encourage You to be a Better Version of Yourself

Source: President University

President University held an online Alumni Sharing Session recently. This time, two Management study program alumni that are currently residing in Europe were invited to share their experiences studying at President University, as well as continuing postgraduate studies and working in Europe. The two alumni are Ivan Risaldi, Management alumni batch 2008 and Cynthia Puteri Suprihanta, Management alumni batch 2015.

Currently, Cynthia is doing her Master's studies by taking the Master in Business Analytics program at Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Meanwhile, Ivan, who has finished his Master's program in Business Administration at the University of Antwerp, Netherlands, is currently working as a Digital Account Manager at A.P. Moller - Maersk, an international transportation and logistics company in Belgium.

On this occasion, Ivan shared his experience of studying in the Netherlands with a full Dutch language program, then pursuing careers in the Netherlands and Belgium. He said that at that time he had friends who were very supportive. "Right now, I still have a lot of friends from President University who are still in contact with me. We support each other and we are pushing each other to be a better person than we are right now," he said. Answering a number of questions from audiences related to lectures using English at President University, he revealed, "I send this message to all students or prospective students of President University. The campus is actually set up for you to speak English. Back then, when I was at President University, I speak English all the time. You need to surround yourself with people who actually encourage you to do that. Because who you surround yourself with is literally have big influence on your life," he said.

Supporting Ivan's statement, Cynthia also shared her story on how friends at President University changed her life. "I was very lazy at first. But seeing my friends actively join university organization, I was encouraged to develop myself by becoming a member of the student association at that time," she recalled. As the Head of  Student External Activity Division at the Management Student Association in 2017, she developed a variety of soft skills, and time management is one of the skills that is very useful. She also mentioned that her studies at President University had helped a lot in the process of applying for master's program scholarships from her current university. "In the scholarship application process, the GPA is adjusted to the university's accreditation. For example, a GPA of 3.5 at a university with B accreditation, will have different points with a GPA of 3.5 at an A accreditation university. Since President University has already obtained an A accreditation, of course, that would be a good point for me," she said. In addition to accreditation, the mandatory internship program at President University has brought more value to the scholarship application process. "Even though I continued my postgraduate study right after graduating from the undergraduate program, I wasn't worried. Because I already have work experience," she said.

In contrast to Cynthia who was active in the study program and university level organizations during her study at President University, Ivan developed his soft skills by opening a business during her study. He revealed how lecturers at President University were very supportive in the effort to realize that dream. “Me and my friends have a really good relationship with our lecturers. We started to discuss business opportunities and they encourage us to do that," he said. He learned about work ethics and how to manage time between college and business. Moreover, he learned to manage the people he hired at the time.

From Ivan and Cynthia, all of the audiences got so many valuable lessons about choosing universities to study in, as well as how to organize and do business to develop themselves better. (BZ/SL)

Alumni Sharing Session: Kelilingi Dirimu dengan Orang yang Mendukungmu untuk Terus Menjadi Lebih Baik

President University kembali mengadakan Alumni Sharing Session yang diadakan secara online baru-baru ini. Kali ini, dua alumni Manajemen yang saat ini sedang tinggal di Eropa diundang untuk membagikan pengalaman mereka berkuliah di President University, serta melanjutkan studi pascasarjana dan bekerja di Eropa. Kedua alumni ini adalah Ivan Risaldi, alumni Manajemen angkatan 2008 dan Cynthia Puteri Suprihanta, alumni Manajemen angkatan 2015.

Saat ini Cynthia sedang menjalani studi master-nya dengan mengambil program Master in Business Analytics Aston University, Birmingham, Britania Raya. Sementara itu, Ivan yang telah usai menjalani program Master in Business Administration di University of Antwerp, Belanda, saat ini sedang bekerja sebagai Digital Account Manager di A.P. Moller – Maersk, sebuah perusahaan transportasi dan logistik internasional di Belgia.

Dalam kesempatan ini, Ivan menceritakan pengalamannya berkuliah di Belanda dengan program yang full berbahasa Belanda, kemudian menitih karir di Belanda dan Belgia. Ia menyebutkan saat itu ia memiliki teman-teman yang sangat mendukung dirinya untuk mengembangkan diri dan menjadi lebih baik. “Saat ini, saya masih memiliki banyak teman dari President University yang masih aktif berhubungan. Kami saling mendukung dan mendorong satu sama lain untuk menjadi lebih baik dari keadaan kami saat ini,” ujarnya. Menjawab beberapa pertanyaan calon mahasiswa yang hadir terkait kuliah menggunakan bahasa Inggris di President University, ia mengungkapkan, “Saya mengirim pesan ini kepada seluruh mahasiswa atau calon mahasiswa President University. Universitas telah diatur untuk membuat Anda mampu berbahasa Inggris. Saat di President University dulu, saya selalu berusaha berbicara bahasa Inggris setiap saat. Anda perlu mengelilingi diri Anda dengan orang yang sesungguhnya akan mendukung Anda melakukan itu. Karena, dengan siapa Anda bergaul, itulah yang akan berpengaruh besar terhadap hidup Anda,” jelasnya.

Mendukung pernyataan Ivan, Cynthia juga menceritakan bagaimana teman-teman di President University mengubah hidupnya. “Saya awalnya agak malas ikut kegiatan kampus. Tapi melihat teman-teman aktif berorganisasi, saya jadi ikut terpacu untuk mengembangkan diri dengan menjadi anggota himpunan mahasiswa saat itu,” kenangnya. Menjadi Ketua Divisi Student External Activity di Himpunan Mahasiswa Manajemen pada tahun 2017, ia mengembangkan berbagai soft skills, salah satunya time management yang sangat berguna saat ia menjalani studi pascasarjananya ini. Ia juga menyebutkan studinya di President University telah membantu banyak dalam proses aplikasi beasiswa S2 dari kampusnya saat ini. “Dalam proses aplikasi beasiswa, IPK itu disesuaikan dengan akreditasi universitas. Misal, IPK 3,5 di universitas dengan akreditasi B, poinnya akan berbeda dengan IPK 3,5 di universitas akreditasi A. Karena President University telah mendapatkan akreditasi A, tentu itu jadi poin baik untuk saya,” ujarnya. Selain akreditasi, program wajib magang di President University telah membawa nilai lebih dalam proses aplikasi beasiswa. “Meskipun langsung melanjutkan studi S2 setelah lulus S1, saya tidak khawatir. Karena saya sudah punya pengalaman kerja,” tuturnya.

Berbeda dengan Cynthia yang aktif di organisasi tingkat prodi dan universitas selama berkuliah, Ivan mengembangkan soft skills-nya dengan membuka bisnis rumah makan selama berkuliah. Ia menceritakan bagaimana dosen-dosen di President University sangat supportive dalam usaha mewujudkan impiannya itu. “Saya dan teman-teman memiliki hubungan yang baik dengan para dosen kala itu. Bersama dosen-dosen, kami mulai mendiskusikan kesempatan bisnis yang ada di ruko dekat kampus kami dan mereka mendukung kami menjalankan bisnis tersebut,” ungkapnya. Ia belajar tentang etika bekerja dan bagaimana mengatur waktu antara kuliah dan berbisnis. Terlebih, ia belajar untuk mengatur orang yang ia pekerjakan saat itu.

Dari Ivan dan Cynthia, seluruh peserta yang hadir mendapatkan begitu banyak pelajaran berharga tentang memilih universitas untuk kuliah, serta bagaimana berorganisasi dan berbisnis dapat mengembangkan diri menjadi lebih bail. (BZ/SL)