For many students, learning is usually conducted inside the classroom. But for Radya Nasywa Zahira, joining the SMI Youth Exchange Singapore–Malaysia–Thailand opened the door to lessons that stretched across borders, cultures, and new experiences.

The SMI Youth Exchange is a program that brings together selected individuals to learn about diplomacy, education, and culture across three countries. Radya was chosen as a fully funded delegate for Batch 10, and for her, the program was an opportunity to gain real international exposure. She shared that it was not only about cultural exploration but also academic visits and meaningful discussions on global issues like the Sustainable Development Goals.

A new semester means new faces on campus, and this time, one of them has come all the way from Myanmar to join the IUP Psychology program! Her name is Julia and she is here to explore a new country, meet new people, and experience student life in Indonesia.

Julia chose Indonesia because of its rich diversity, filled with culture and traditions. She mentioned that the people here are friendly and some of our customs such as the way we show respect to elders, holding our hands in front of our chest as a form of greeting or showing gratitude reminds her of Myanmar. 

Almeira Hadi, known as Mella, was a student at IUP Psychology from batch 2018 who is currently pursuing her masters degree in School Psychology at Leiden University, Netherlands. 

When asked on why she decided to pursue School Psychology, a rather rare choice for Psychology undergraduates, Mella revealed that she had always been passionate in teaching since high school. During her time as an undergraduate in IUP Psychology, she had the chance to become a lecturer’s assistant for 4 times, and she enjoyed giving feedback on students’ assignments as well as the dynamics of teachings. Following her graduation as an undergraduate, Mella had the experience as an intern for 6 months at Sekolah Cikal, where she then continued to be a teacher there. read more

Gendis Puan, often known as Dissy, is a student from IUP Batch 2020. Recently, Dissy joined a committee and internship program at HIMPSI, with guidance from Dr. Edilburga Wulan Saptandari from the Educational Psychology Course. Before becoming an intern, Dissy joined a committee for an event at HIMPSI. There are various benefits to joining this committee, from gaining experience and enhancing relationships with people in the field of psychology. After the committee, Dissy got offered to join an internship program as an assistant for Dr. Edilburga Wulan Saptandari in HIMPSI. Therefore, Dissy got to work in Compartment B at HIMPSI. The workloads involve a variety of tasks that comprise the essence of what a proficient assistant would undertake, which include composing letters, organizing comprehensive rundowns, refining documents, making reservations, taking notes, and ensuring that the flow of communication between both parties remains efficient during meetings. read more

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