FKIP – Proud news comes from Yokanang Chandra Arfiansyah, a Study Program student (Prodi) Natural Science Education (IPA) Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP) Sebelas Maret University (UNS) Surakarta who was appointed as the representative for the Alumni of the Free Student Exchange Program to share their experiences in Bali on Monday (14/11/2022) at the event Merdeka Campus Festival which is a side event of the G-20 event. His experience in the program brought him to a stage with the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Mendikbudristek) of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), Nadiem Makarim.

The student, who is familiarly called Yoka, is an Alumni of the Independent Student Exchange Program at Tadulako University, Central Sulawesi. Previously, he was appointed as a resource person at the socialization of the Independent Student Exchange Program. Yokanang was contacted by the Ministry of Education and Culture via a direct message on Instagram. He is considered to be active in creating content related to the Merdeka Learn Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) programs and this is considered positive by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

At the Merdeka Campus Festival, Yoka admitted that he had the opportunity to expand his comfort zone which taught him good things.

“I am Yokanang Chandra Arfiansyah from Sebelas Maret University Science Education, an alumnus of the 2021 Merdeka Student Exchange, I have the opportunity to expand my comfort zone to Tadulako University, Palu, Central Sulawesi, which teaches me the values ​​of diversity while learning across studies,” he said in a pitching session

On this occasion, Yoka also shared his flashback of when he joined the Student Exchange Program at Tadulako University. Yoka once met a friend from Batak. At first, he was quite surprised by the way he spoke.

“In Palu, I met a Batak friend. At first, I was surprised by the way he spoke. After living in one environment and having dozens of interactions, I realized that it was just a difference in speaking volume and not the way I thought it would be. Harmony was created, we are all friends and several times I even facilitated a vehicle to go to church services. The difference is beautiful,” said Yoka.

Furthermore, quoted in the uns.ac.id news article release, he also shared his story while participating in this program. Yoka revealed that he had met the Chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Palu.

“In Central Sulawesi, I also met with the Chairman of the Palu MUI. He explained the recipe for how Palu remains safe and peaceful amidst the much diversity. The key is to forge good relations with diverse groups, religions, and cultures. Become a moderator of diversity that creates harmony,” said Yoka.

Not only that, but Yoka also said that the natural conditions of Central Sulawesi have various characteristics. This initiated him and some of his friends to carry out a social project of planting 1,000 trees to make Sigi Regency green. In Palu Bay, they also planted mangroves as a concrete form of disaster mitigation and maintaining the climate and ecosystem.

Having the opportunity to share the stage with Nadiem Makarim, Yoka felt it was an extraordinary experience. Yoka, who is also a member of the FKIP UNS Outstanding Student Family (Mawapres), advised students to continue to develop their potential and not just study in class.

“Lecture is not only in class, learning can be anywhere. Customize what you want. You can expand your comfort zone by exploring the programs available at the Merdeka Campus. You can choose what you want because the Merdeka Campus program is here, in addition to increasing student capacity inside and outside the classroom, it is also an alternative for those of you who feel you are in the wrong major to still have the opportunity to explore things you are interested in for your future career paths,” explained Yoka.

Yoka hopes that more students will want to leave their comfort zone to explore many things.

“Hopefully more students will have the courage to get out of their comfort zone to explore. The future can be bright if we dare to take steps from now on,” hoped Yoka.

FKIP PR

Reporter: Rosantika Utami
Editor: Aulia Anjani

https://fkip.uns.ac.id/
https://instagram.com/fkipuns.official/

#fkipuns
#fkipbagus
#uns
#unsbisa