Stories of Outstanding Students Studying in Japan

ilustrasi kampus di jepang (sumber:https://pixabay.com/id/photos/universitas-kuliah-kampus-105709/)

Bagas, a UTD alumnus, had never thought about continuing his studies abroad. Yes, now Bagas will continue his Masters studies at Tokyo University of Science in September 2023. Bagas, who graduated with a thesis free in February 2024, feels happy and grateful to be able to continue his Masters with the Advanced Indonesia Scholarship from Puspresnas-Puslapdik-Kemdikbudristek telling about his experiences while studying at overseas.

After graduating, Bagas immediately rushed to take the JLPT test and scholarship. At that time Bagas only had about three months to practice and had to immediately take the JPLT test while looking for campuses and scholarships. Bagas, who comes from Yogyakarta, has to go back and forth between East Java and Jogja. take care of diplomas, letters of recommendation, graduation administration and campus registration requirements and scholarships. He did everything even though he had to struggle to divide his time studying JLPT. "Fortunately, the lecturers and staff at Utd were willing to help and provide support to me," said Bagas, who was previously accepted at three Tokyo campuses.

After being declared to have passed the JLPT in August 2024, Bagas began his new journey as an international student in Tokyo. He experienced many new things, such as learning culture shock. “I call my lecturer by his first name, without calling him Prof or Doctor. "At first I felt like that was rude, but it turns out that's the custom here," said Bagas. Apart from that, Bagas also talked about his class which only had 16 postgraduate students. He felt happy because he could be one of the students studying Saint Technology who was in the top 10 in Tokyo and ranked 60th in the world. "The research here is 4 of the best in Tokyo, so the laboratory is super sophisticated like in the Avengers films. "My lecturers are famous scientists and their research is with world institutions," said Bagas, who was very happy to study each teaching module from the lecturers to expand his knowledge theoretically and practically. Even though the study program he took was under the auspices of the School of Physics, Bagas had the opportunity to learn a lot about nanoscience from other schools and faculties, such as the School of Chemistry and the Dental School. It should be noted that his love for science began during his undergraduate studies. Bagas also often conducted research on carbon nanodots with lecturers in the laboratory. He noticed that there were many positive and broad potential impacts from nanoscience.

Bagas also talked about his daily life as a boarding house student in Tokyo. "Usually when I go to UTD, I often stop by a student-friendly food stall. Here I often cook for myself to save money." To get to campus, you usually walk or take public transportation by bus. If he doesn't have classes, he usually spends his time studying in the library or study room. "The library here is open 24 hours every day. "In the study space, some of them provide free snacks and drinks," said Bagas. Occasionally, it's also good to take a trip to museums, galleries, exhibitions and cherry blossom gardens to refresh/heal to get rid of boredom after racking your brain while studying theory in class or practicing in the laboratory.

Writer : Ilham Nurhakim,mahasiswa s1 Informatika