IISMA (Indonesian International Student Mobility Award) is a student exchange scholarship program offered by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The purpose of this program is to allow students to study the cultures of other countries while promoting Indonesian culture.

To participate in the IISMA program, registrants must draft their resume/CV, academic transcript, English language assessment certificate, as well as an essay about their achievements and plans in their chosen university. Then, selected candidates will be notified for an interview.

One of the pieces of advice shared by Harry is to choose the university not only by its ranking, but also by its country, culture, offered courses, and available quota. Like the SNMPTN and SBMPTN college entrance selection process, interested students must choose their exchange university wisely.

Harry experienced many once-in-a-lifetime occasions in Spain. His most memorable one is organizing the Cultural Night event with his IISMA friends to commemorate Youth Pledge Day. They introduced Indonesian culture through cooking, re-enactments of Indonesian legends, and singing folk songs such as “Yamko Rambe Yamko”. There were around 200 people who came to watch, consisting of UGR students and professors.

Harry himself was one of the singers in the choir. He admitted that he did not expect the audience to enjoy the show; they were excited to the point that they turned on their cell phone lights and waved to the tune of the song. The moment the choir sang “Indonesia Raya”, Harry felt immensely proud as an Indonesian.

During his stay, Harry went through a very different learning experience. As an informatics engineering major, the courses he enrolled in were mostly inclined to the social and cultural aspects of the studies. Thus, the load and form of the assignments are different from his home university.

In terms of communication, the gap between students and lecturers is smaller compared to Indonesia- discussions tend to go more smoothly with both parties freely expressing their opinions towards the topics taught. Both students and professors educate one another, in which this two-way learning process is still uncommon in Indonesia.

Throughout the exchange program, Harry gained many unforgettable experiences and valuable lessons. He felt accepted by his IISMA peers and students in UGR. According to him, this program shaped his confidence, mindset, and motivation to pursue further education in Europe.

Reporter: Maria Khelli (Teknik Informatika 2020)
Translator: Ruth Nathania (Teknik Lingkungan, 2019)