International Student Colloquium 2021 is one of the biggest events this year. It was held virtually through Webex on February 23 – 24, 2021. International Student Colloquium involved three universities to collaborate with namely Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, and Hiroshima University. The purpose of the event is to raise students’ awareness of sustainable development in each conference representative’s country.
To explore more about International Student Colloquium 2021, two delegates from Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Saprolla Rollie C. Deporos a doctoral student of the Educational Administration program, and Alfath Eka an undergraduate student of English Education explained what International Student Colloquium 2021 is. Refer to a short interview held on February 24, 2021, both delegates revealed that International Student Colloqium is an annual event that has been held for 9 years. At first, this event was only a collaboration between Universiti Sains Malaysia and Hiroshima University. Luckily, in 2020, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia agreed to join the conference. However, due to the pandemic, the event was finally held virtually in 2021. Therefore, the event held earlier was the first time for Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia.
Furthermore, the delegates explained, there were several issues that they discussed in this conference. Those issues covered many things such as politics, education, sports, social studies, even the environment. For example, they discussed deforestation in Kalimantan. They dig into how the Indonesian government prevents this because they know that it is harmful not only for Indonesia but also for the whole world.
Other than that, Saprolla and Alfath also revealed their point of view regarding the event. They unfolded that they learned new things; the concept of understanding each country through a wider perspective, and many others international understanding. Both delegates said they have their own experiences that they have never thought would happen before.
For Saprolla, he learned the importance of understanding the different perspectives from different communities and different countries. Here, he was able to compare thoughts and ideas from himself and others. “You cannot invalidate other ideas because you do not know what is happening from them. The only thing to do is to absorb it and understand what are they want to emphasize because at the end of the day what they want is to have unity and live a better place in this world,” said Saprolla. He also stated that each university participants did well because even though they are young, they can convey the messages they want to do.
Similar to Saprolla, Alfath also told about how excited she was for being able to participate in this event. She was happy for the fact that she is now knowing the cultures of each country such as clothes, food, and dances. By attending this international conference, she found it is amazing to see an international student from the Philippines to be a representative of Indonesia. She did not expect that through this event, she would hear and see how a Pinoy explained his point of view about Indonesia.
Alfath also explained that “At first, I thought this event would be very boring. I have read the rundown and so I did not expect that the event would be much better than my expectation. I was impressed by how the interactive students shared their opinions. Each of us did not contribute to achieving our goals. I have no regrets participated in the International Student Colloquium 2021. I got new knowledge as well as networking.”
To conclude the redaction, both delegates have messages for readers. Education is not just a book. It is all about the quality of learning and the quality of experience. Do not just sit in class, listen to your teacher and do the assignment. Explore more to get new experiences and understand more what is happening in your society and world. Be brave, do not hesitate to take opportunities. Be someone who is responsible not only for yourself but also for your society. Spread your positivity because the impact could be felt by many people.
F. Ghifarina & N. Assyifa