ITS University Summer Program Reflection

Before I start my reflection on the BUILD summer program that I participated in at Indonesia, I would like to thank UTS for providing me this opportunity and allowing me to be part of the BUILD program.

It is extremely hard to describe the wonderful time that I had during this program. Attending this program was like a life changing experience as it was my first time to visit Indonesia so every day during this program was a new experience for me. I went to Indonesia two days before the program started. Mr Wahyu who is the supervisor of the Commtech program, was with us throughout this program. He organised two people to take us from the airport to the hotel. Mr Wahyu was at the hotel waiting for us where he allocated the room already. He then invited us for dinner, despite it was a bit late the city was so crowded. It was a good opportunity to see what Surabaya is like and I had a great time as well, as I started to know the surrounding places around our hotel. After dinner I went straight back to the hotel because I was so tired.

Next day, I was introduced to new volunteers that will be with us throughout this program, and I was informed that there will be approximately 40 students in this program coming from 15 different countries. For me, this was absolutely a great opportunity to meet new people and learn about their culture, education and lifestyle.

The next day at around 8:30am we went to ITS. There was a welcoming ceremony and we were introduced to the course that we will undertake during this program. My course preference that I chose was Sustainable development in developing countries, therefore attending this course in Indonesia who is a developing country is an advantage its self because I will not only be able to study sustainability about developing countries but I will also have the opportunity to experience the process of sustainability in a developing country physically.

Throughout the week, we attended the classes for sustainable development which was extremely beneficial as we had one of the classes at the city council which was very interesting as they explained to us the new transport system that the government will start it in Surabaya.

During this program we had to read some articles, answer questions, perform a number of presentations and a number of other tasks that we had to do. We did a number of activities throughout this program which I certainly had a good time that I will always remember.

The topics that I studied during this program and the knowledge that I gained, will definitely help me in the future. This program allowed me to improve my communication skills because I met so many people and we still communicate until now via Facebook. My knowledge towards sustainable development has significantly increased; I have a deeper understanding about the environmental aspects in developing countries. I had a wonderful time, the Indonesian people were very nice and for me it’s a journey that I will always remember.

I represented UTS in a very well manner, where I ensured that all my actions were appropriate and I followed all the rules and the instructions that were given to us. I also told the people that I met how beautiful UTS is, where I talked about all the great facilities and the opportunities that UTS provide to students. Lastly, I would like to thank UTS for giving me this opportunity and allowing me to represent them overseas.