Ten Indonesian Fulbrighters recently participated in a conference in Ohio, US as paper presenter and moderator. Feeling that their participation has enriched their academic and professional skills, the Fulbrighters encouraged their fellow Indonesian grantees to participate in such academic shall such opportunities available.

Rudi Hartono, a Fulbright MA grantee who is studying in Indiana University of Pennsylvania, was among the ten Indonesian Fulbrighters who participated in the 7th Annual Conference of Asian Society for International Relation and Public Affairs (ASIRPA). 42 papers from Indonesian scholars and students were presented in the conference, which run from October 23-25, 2015 at the Ohio State University Columbus, US.

“I presented my nearly finished master degree thesis […] I intended to share the result of my research and I hoped I could get feedback from audience,” Rudi said, citing that he was chosen over hundreds of call-for-paper applicants.

In the conference, Rudi shared his paper “Indonesian EFL Lecturer’s Perceptions and Experiences of Professional Development” with the audience. Besides gaining public speaking experience, Rudi said that joining the conference also enriched his professional skills.

“I learned so much about criteria of abstracts and papers acceptable to be presented in a conference,” said the Fulbrighter, who is a lecturer at Global Mandiri University in Palembang, South Sumatera, Indonesia.

Rudi, who happens to be one of the committee of the conference, actively publicized the conference in various social media. As the result, he managed to attract the attention of seven other Indonesian Fulbrighters to participate in the conference.

Nur Hamidah, another Indonesian Fulbrighter, said she joined the conference because she wanted to learn how to be a presenter in a conference.

“Another motivation is I like to travel to new places and to have experience of fall season in another state, and travelling for conference will reduce my guilty feeling for skipping classes,” she also said, jokingly.

Nur presented her independent research entitled “The Yogyakarta Earthquake: Opening Window Opportunity Towards Sustainable Development in Dusun Serut, the District of Bantul, DIY Province, Indonesia”.” She is currently finishing her master’s degree study in Urban Planning at the Texas A&M University, US.

The two Fulbrighters expected that in the future, more Indonesian Fulbright grantees would join such conference or other enrichment activities because joining such activities would bring more benefits for them.

“[It] will improve [students’] professionalism and expertise. They will also be able to build networks [with fellow scholars] … maybe they can even publish their research in an academic journal in the future,” said Rudi.

Rudi and Nur, who will soon complete their Fulbright grant, also expected that AMINEF could arrange similar event for them after they have completed their grants and arrived back in Indonesia.

“[Such event] opens windows of opportunity to collaborate. I am looking forward to collaborate with other Fulbrighters in a research or a project,” said Nur, adding that it can also be a reunion event with fellow Fulbright alumni.

photo courtesy : Ardiyanto, Ohio State University