The Psychology Department at State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta, conducted a writing competition for the year 2023. The writings are incorporated in a journal titled Jurnal Psikologi Integratif. One of the IUP Psychology students batch 2019, Beatrice Febe Fedolina, with guidance from Mrs. Edilburga Wulan Saptandari as her supervisor, participated in the competition and successfully won the 2nd Best Article. The title of her article is “Perceived Social Support as a Predictor of Acculturative Stress Among Indonesian Exchange Students in Europe.” Although studying abroad seems very interesting and exciting, the number of changes and differences students need to adapt to could make them feel overwhelmed and eventually stressed. Acculturative stress is a decrease in ethnic minorities’ mental health and well-being that occurs throughout the process of adapting to a new culture. Many factors affect students’ acculturative stress levels; one example is the social support they receive from their surroundings. The findings from prior studies have demonstrated that social support is a positive coping mechanism for dealing with stress and psychological adjustment by improving functioning and acting as a buffer against adverse outcomes. To fill a gap in the literature on Asian international students’ acculturative stress levels, specifically those who originated from Indonesia, this research was conducted to determine whether perceived social support predicts students’ acculturative stress levels. read more

Three students from IUP Psychology 2021, Naida Ghozalba, Radia Maharani, and Aidine Afiga, successfully took part in the 2nd Thailand International Conference (TICP) to present their research findings. In March 2023, they got a broadcast from WhatsApp regarding the conduct of an international conference that will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on August 4, 2023, titled the 2nd Thailand International Conference on Psychology (TICP) 2023. The conference’s main topic is Psychology for Health and Well-being in the BANI World. They must join a selection to be the presenter by conducting research, creating the abstract, and sending it as the selection material. They can present their research at the event if the abstract is accepted. At first, Naida was interested, but she felt hesitant about joining the event. A few days after getting the broadcast message, Naida was talking with Aidine and Tani about the conference, and it turns out they were interested in joining it. read more

Masniary Hapsari ‘Oik’ was a student in IUP Psychology from Batch 2017. After graduating from IUP Psychology in 2021, she needed clarification about the career she wanted to pursue. She tried to explore career opportunities in Psychology and finally became an assistant psychologist at Biro Psikologi Intuisi, Yogyakarta. Nearing the end of the contract, she realized that she loved working with children, especially those with disabilities. This aligns with her prior motivation to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology in the first place. On the other hand, she also wanted to continue further education and immediately recognized the urgency of finding a financial sponsorship to ease her parents. She tried to apply for the Chevening Scholarship, but it didn’t turn out how she hoped. Feeling down, she realized that experiences are necessary for pursuing a master’s degree.  read more

One of the IUP Psychology students batch 2022, Asma Ningrum Abdurrahman was given the incredible opportunity to compete in a prestigious Model United Nations (MUN) competition in Singapore. Asma is a member of the UGM Model United Nations Community. She registered with the International Delegation in Singapore MUN and was appointed World Health Assembly. The delegates must create a resolution related to ‘The Question of Substandard and Falsified Drugs’ and ‘The Question of the Protection of Healthcare Workers. Asma is assigned as the delegate of the Republic of Mauritius. The conference lasted four days, from 6 until 9 June 2023. After speeches and debates, Asma is overjoyed to be chosen as a competition winner, being the first Honorable Mention in the World Health Assembly Council. For Asma, it was a challenging and rewarding experience that required her complete commitment and participation throughout the event, primarily since she represents herself as a Gadjah Mada University student. read more

Manar Al-Ogaidi is an exchange student from Macquarie University. Manar’s student exchange program was at the international undergraduate psychology program in Universitas Gadjah Mada. Courses she completed included: Community Empowerment and Psychoeducation, Psychology of Communication, Mental Health, Psychology of Marriage and Family, Psychology and Culture, Psychology of Disaster and Crisis, Psychology of Emotion and Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

She really loved the new learning environment! She felt extremely welcomed and comfortable from the first time she arrived. She really appreciated how they were given the ‘feels at home away from home’ T-shirts when they first arrived too! Those kind, unforgettable gestures from both peers and teaching staff continued throughout her time at Jogja and in UGM. She also found the classrooms really interesting as they reminded her of a highschool layout. She loved that since the class seemed close together, which is different to her uni classes in Sydney with a cohort of over 1000.  read more