Author: Sarah Kamila
Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) is one of the flagship scholarship programs among the eight Kampus Merdeka programs launched by the Ministry of Education and Culture. This program offers new experiences for students to develop their potential through studying at the best international universities. Seeing the opportunity to study abroad, Rania, a student of Communication Science at the Faculty of Communication Science (Fikom) at Padjadjaran University (UNPAD), decided to apply for the IISMA 2023 program. Rania believes that pursuing education abroad has great potential to help her future career and further personal development.
Initially, Rania didn’t find a reason to study abroad and prioritize her career. This made Rania search for bigger reasons and motivations to apply for the IISMA 2023 program. After considering various factors, Rania finally decided to participate in the program and started preparing for the selection process. Amidst her busy schedule of attending classes and internships, Rania prepared for English language tests, wrote essays, and gathered the necessary documents. Rania’s decision to join the IISMA program this year was also fully supported by her fellow students and friends who were previous IISMA awardees.
Rania chose Japan and Taiwan as her study destinations, specifically Keio University in Japan and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech) in Taiwan. Rania placed Japan as her first choice because it has been her dream destination for a long time. As for the second choice, Rania chose Taiwan because she had already targeted the country after conducting extensive research. The reason for selecting these two prestigious universities is that both offer a comfortable learning environment and provide courses aligned with Rania’s interests in business and marketing. When the announcement came out, Rania felt happy and overwhelmed to learn that she had been selected for the IISMA program in her second choice, Taiwan Tech.
Through this program, Rania hopes to gain business and marketing knowledge that will support her academic and career path. Another hope is to build relationships with talented individuals who have their own unique abilities, allowing Rania to learn new things. Lastly, Rania expressed her wishes for a smooth and easy preparation, departure, and return from IISMA. She also wished good luck to future IISMA fighters, hoping to see more awardees from her field of study, Communication Management, and from the Faculty of Communication Science in the coming years.
