Loneliness is something almost everyone feels at some point, yet it is rarely talked about openly. We tend to treat it as a sign that something is wrong with us, as if feeling lonely means we have failed socially. But research tells a different and more reassuring story. Loneliness is a normal human experience, and understanding why it happens can make it far easier to handle.

Gratitude can sound like a cliché idea, the sort of advice printed on a mug or a motivational poster. Yet over the past two decades, it has become one of the most studied topics in positive psychology, and the findings are surprisingly strong. Far from being just a pleasant sentiment, gratitude appears to measurably shape our mood, our relationships, and even our physical health.

We have all been there. A deadline approaches, the task sits untouched, and instead of starting, we reorganize our desk, scroll through our phones, or promise ourselves we will begin "in five minutes." The usual explanation is that we are lazy or simply bad at managing time. Decades of psychological research, however, point to a different and far more compassionate answer.

The International Undergraduate Program of the Faculty of Psychology UGM recently held a two-day Cross-Cultural Understanding (CCU) orientation to welcome its incoming exchange students. Designed to ease their transition into a new academic and cultural environment, the program thoughtfully balanced practical preparation with an immersive introduction to Indonesian life, giving students both the information and the sense of belonging they would need for the months ahead.

Dionisius Vincent Kurniawan, a student from the International Undergraduate Programme (IUP) of the Faculty of Psychology at Universitas Gadjah Mada, batch of 2023, has recently co-authored a research paper that has been published in an international journal. The study was conducted in collaboration with Ramadhan Dwi Marvianto, S.Psi., M.A., and Muhammad Nabhan Husein, S.Psi., M.Psi., Psikolog, both researchers from the Faculty of Psychology UGM.