International Women’s Day is a special moment to celebrate the achievements of women, reflect on the challenges they face, and recognize the importance of solidarity and support among women. On university campuses, these bonds of sisterhood are especially meaningful. At the Faculty of Psychology in Universitas Gadjah Mada, female students significantly outnumber male students, creating an environment where friendships among women become a vital source of support, understanding, and empowerment.
Afterward, they contacted the IUP administration to inform them they were interested in joining the conference and conducting the selection process. Naida, Aidine, and Radia conducted research with the same topic but a different sub-topic as they proposed to be in the same panel together related to character education and well-being, with the help of Ms. Elga and Ms. Yayi as the chair, and Ms. Mufit as the co-chair of the panel presentation. Naida researched ‘Effectiveness of School Routine Religious Rituals in Enhancing Students’ Psychological Resilience Conducted In Edu Global Middle and High School’. In contrast, Aidine conducted research about ‘Service Learning Experiences: A Study on the Awareness of Psychological Well-Being on Students in Jogja Green School’, and Radia researched ‘Exploring the Program of Special Interest Class on Students’ Character Development and Wellbeing in Jogja Green School’. After they finished the research, they analyzed their data to create their conclusion and wrote the abstract to be sent as material to the selection.
After enough time of waiting, they were informed through email that their research was accepted to be presented in TICP. They departed to Bangkok on the 2nd of August as the conference is on 4 August, at Chulalongkorn University. The conference started with opening speeches and a keynote speech from a source person with few insights. Afterward, the presenters entered the presentation hall and conducted their presentations alternately. In their panel, the first presenter is Naida, the second is Radia, and the last is Aidine.
Consequently, there was also a Q&A session, and they thoroughly answered all the questions. At the end of the session, they got a certificate as a form of appreciation from Chulalongkorn University. After successfully conducting their research presentation at TICP, they returned to Indonesia on 6 August.
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.
Around 350 students eagerly visited and collected information at our booth. Upon engaging with the students, we were delighted to learn that their initial understanding of Psychology encompassed various keywords such as “motivation,” “stress,” “counseling,” and “mental health.” However, we took the opportunity to inform them that the discipline of Psychology taught at Gadjah Mada University covers a much broader spectrum of topics, including the fascinating fields of neuropsychology and forensic psychology.
The initial discussion mainly focused on the roles of the community, teachers, and schools for their students. Olifant emphasizes that the students have a decisive role when they have Teaching-Learning activities. For example, teachers encourage students to make a target and agreement for the class by deciding on one behavior that everyone in the class has to improve. With commitment and responsibility, students are motivated to be committed to the class and take accountability for what they do in each class session. Students also favor active class participation as they engage in class discussions and introduce various new ideas to the debate.
Olifant stimulates self-expression and freedom where students can modify their uniform according to their interests but still in line with the social norms and uniform guides. This concept is developed into self-assessment, where students fill out their targets for the semester, and teachers will give a report to reflect on at the end of the semester.
From the experiences of one of Olifant’s students, she expressed that Olifant taught her to be respectful, value teamwork, and enhance her problem-solving and punctuality skills. During the question and answer session, a student from IUP Psychology asked about Students with Special Needs on their capacity and capabilities to handle stress. It turns out; olifant has facilities that help Students with Special Needs improve themselves with their peers’ help adapting to the environment—another question by an IUP Psychology student related to measuring students’ development throughout the semester. In Olifant, teachers observe students through class sessions and review their goals for the semester. In the final term, the students will have their reports from the teachers regarding their development throughout the semester. At the end of the session, one of the teachers from Olifant emphasized that love and care for the community are prominent aspects of character education.