Inside the International Student World: Opportunities, Challenges, and Realities
Ciao, Ragazzi! I am Miftah Mardhatillah Mukammil, known as Tata, a third-year International Law student at Universitas Syiah Kuala. In 2022, I got the opportunity to represent Universitas Syiah Kuala as one of the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) awardees at the University of Pisa, Italy. This program allows me to study and adjust myself to Italian culture for approximately 5 (five) months. To maximize this opportunity, I took three courses which are the Italian Language and Cultures, Introduction to Medieval History, and Introduction to Aesthetics.
Studying in Italy was like an unimaginable dream which came true. It is proven by the fact that I have experienced countless opportunities from both academic and non-academic parts. In the class, I have noticed a huge difference from Indonesia. Here, a class is only filled with a maximum of 20 students so it is easier for them to observe the growth and development of the students. The lecture applies the student-centered learning approach that allows students to express their opinions related to a specific subject delivered by the Professors. Furthermore, although I am an international student, all professors are so kind. They often asked me whether I understand the study materials or not. One of the most amazing things is that after an hour of the lesson, the professors give 5-10 minutes for students to have a break time. I think it’s a considerate idea to refresh our minds before students continue to another chapter. Another difference is that the professors don’t give the students many assignments, but students will have oral exams at the end of the class. During the oral exam, the professor will ask students three questions regarding the topic that have learned. Then, students will be given some moments to tell professors about everything students know which will be followed by some follow-up questions by them. Though it seems scary, I feel less worried because the professors are kind and the students there are very welcome to assist me.
Unfortunately, the University of Pisa doesn’t have any extracurricular activities to join. As an exchange, I love to participate in Erasmus activities such as Tandem, Catch-ups, Eat-Italia, and others to expand my networks with people from all around the world. From these experiences, I have gained numerous experiences on how to make friends with the locals and international students, like how to sort my priorities, arrange good time management so that I can still focus on my studies, learn new cultures and languages, and other countless things to nourish.
To sum up, being an exchange student here in Italy has given me things that I will surely cherish forever. One of the most exciting things of all was when my friends and I arranged the Modern Heroism party. During that time, I got the responsibility to cook Indonesian foods such as Bakwan, Pisang Goreng, Goreng, and Nasi Goreng. When the event was nearly coming to the end, many visitors said that the cooking was amazing. They were also curious about the ingredients and wanted to know more about the cuisines. With the best feeling and gladly, I explained to them about the foods as well as the introduction to the Indonesian culture. Since they were so interested, they invited me to have some catch-ups for another gathering. That was the moment when I realized that the people here are unimaginably kind, helpful, and highly appreciative.
