Alumni Sharing Session: International Environment at President University

Source: President University

Being exposed to the international environment makes students at President University develop many skills and interests in the fields of culture and language. This was revealed by Andrea Saputra, an alumnus of Management, International Business batch 2009 in a sharing session entitled "Summer Weekend in Seoul, Korea" (6/6). "During my study at President University, because of the international environment, I meet Korean friends and I had the opportunity to learn the Korean language. When I learned Korean, I found it interesting and in my opinion, this language is charming and grammatically unique," he said.

Andrea's interest in the Korean language brought him to enroll in a Master's program in Korean Literature at Korea University, one of the top universities in South Korea. Andrea, who currently works at a game company in South Korea, revealed that his journey to get to South Korea was not easy. Before got selected among 700 applicants as the grantee of the Korean Government Scholarship Program (KGSP) in 2014, Andrea had experienced a failure when he registered himself in a scholarship program through the university in South Korea in the previous year. Failure did not discourage him, he continued to study and improve himself while working in Jakarta at that time.

Comparing the first and second application processes, Andrea said that the study plan and essay played an important role in determining the acceptance of scholarships. "Even though you can speak Korean, but if you don't have a clear goal or study plan, then everything will be useless," he said. He explained that the essay we wrote has to elaborate ourselves well. Not just telling general facts of the reasons why we are interested in studying in Korea, but how to study in Korea can realize the goals/study plans that were mentioned. 

To study abroad, Andrea mentioned that English also plays an important role because we will meet many people from various countries. He mentioned that was the reason why he chose President University. He admitted that it was certainly not an easy choice to leave his hometown, Jambi and study at President University. However, because President University provides a safe and comfortable dormitory, his parents never had a single doubt to let him go.

Besides English, Andrea said that the compulsory internship program at President University also helped him greatly. "I feel like I have a higher value than friends who graduated from other universities. Because there is an internship program, I can write on the resume that I have experience exposing myself to the work environment," he said. In fact, he had signed a contract with an employer prior to graduating and was scheduled to start working afterward.

Andrea advised all students to make the most of their study time at President University. Meeting other students from various countries and backgrounds, he suggested that President University students should expand their networks because it would be very useful when they are working or continuing their studies. (SL)

Alumni Sharing Session: Lingkungan International di President University Membawa Andrea Mendalami Bahasa Korea

Terekspos dengan lingkungan internasional membuat mahasiswa di President University mengembangkan banyak skills dan minat di bidang budaya dan bahasa. Hal ini diungkapkan oleh Andrea Saputra, alumni Manajemen, International Business angkatan 2009 dalam sharing session bertajuk “Summer Weekend in Seoul, Korea” (13/6). “Selama kuliah di President University, karena lingkungannya internasional, saya jadi kenal orang Korea dan saya punya kesempatan untuk belajar bahasa Korea. Saat belajar bahasa Korea itu saya menemukan ketertarikan akan bahasa ini dan menurut saya bahasa ini charming, secara grammatical unik menurut saya,” ujarnya.

Ketertarikan Andrea akan bahasa Korea ini membawanya untuk kuliah pascasarjana jurusan Korea Literature di Korea University, salah satu universitas terbaik di Korea Selatan. Andrea yang saat ini bekerja di sebuah perusahaan game di Korea Selatan mengungkapkan bahwa perjalanannya untuk sampai ke Korea Selatan tidaklah mudah. Sebelum berhasil mengalahkan kurang lebih 700 pelamar dan meraih Korean Government Scholarship Program (KGSP) di tahun 2014, Andrea sempat mengalami kegagalan saat mendaftarkan diri ke beasiswa melalui jalur universitas di Korea Selatan di tahun sebelumnya. Kegagalan tidak membuatnya patah semangat, ia terus belajar dan memperbaiki diri sambil bekerja di Jakarta saat itu.

Membandingkan proses aplikasi pertama dan keduanya, Andrea menyebutkan bahwa study plan dan essay itu berperan penting dalam menentukan penerimaan beasiswa. “Walaupun kamu bisa bahasa Korea, tetapi jika kamu tidak punya goal atau study plan yang jelas, maka semuanya akan sia-sia,” tuturnya. Ia memaparkan bahwa essay yang ditulis harus menceritakan diri sendiri dengan baik. Bukan hanya menceritakan fakta-fakta umum alasan mengapa kita tertarik belajar di Korea, namun bagaimana belajar di Korea dapat mewujudkan goal/study plan yang sebelumnya telah dibuat.

Untuk belajar di luar negeri, Andrea mengaku bahasa Inggris juga memiliki peranan penting karena nantinya kita akan bertemu dengan orang-orang dari berbagai negara. Ia menyebutkan karena itu juga ia memilih President University. Ia mengaku tentu bukan pilihan yang mudah untuk meninggalkan kampung halamannya yaitu Jambi dan berkuliah di President University. Namun, karena President University menyediakan asrama yang aman dan nyaman, orangtuanya tidak pernah khawatir untuk melepasnya pergi. 

Selain bahasa Inggris, Andrea menyebutkan bahwa program wajib magang selama kuliah juga sangat membantunya. “Saya merasa memiliki nilai yang lebih tinggi dari teman-teman yang lulus dari universitas lain. Karena ada magang, saya dapat menuliskan di resume bahwa saya sudah berpengalaman mengekspos diri saya ke lingkungan pekerjaan,” ujarnya. Bahkan, ia telah menandatangani kontrak kerja sebelum ia diwisuda. 

Andrea berpesan kepada seluruh mahasiswa untuk memanfaatkan waktu kuliah di President University dengan baik. Bertemu dengan mahasiswa dari berbagai negara dan latar belakang, Ia menyarankan mahasiswa President University untuk memperluas network-nya karena akan sangat berguna saat bekerja ataupun melanjutkan studi. (SL)