Friday, June 16, 2023, One student from the IUP program of the Department of Urban and City Planning (DPWK) Undip successfully passed and took part in the summer course at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). A student named Armeino Fadhlan Atana from the 2021 class IUP program has the opportunity to participate in a summer course titled DISC (Design + Innovation for Sustainable Cities) held by UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design on July 3 – August 4, 2023.
Armeino said that his success in participating in the summer course program held by the university with a world ranking of 27 originally came from a trial run. He said that since high school, he wanted to study abroad. “Initially, I tried because the motivation to study abroad was still high. When I tried to register for the summer course, I didn’t expect to pass,” said the Bandung-born student.
He also said that all this time, he had prepared many things so that he could be accepted at the world’s leading campus. He said he took many online courses and independently trained his language skills. He also prepares other strategies, such as choosing the right English proficiency test according to financial capabilities and practicing writing essays and letters of intent. “In the essay, I wrote what complaints I faced from my perspective as an urban planner. Apart from that, I also wrote important things in my letter of intent, such as innovations and solutions to universities in Indonesia,” he said.
As an IUP student at the Department of Urban and City Planning Undip, Armeino is grateful because he has had many opportunities to study with international standards in the IUP program. He told us how he first wanted to study abroad but was forbidden by his parents, so he applied to the IUP program. “In high school, I was oriented to study abroad. But my parents disagreed, so I chose IUP,” he said.
He advised other IUP students to have the courage to try the opportunities available to study further at the flagship campus. “Don’t be afraid in the beginning. Never try, never know. If you never know, you never win,” said Armeino.
Students worldwide attend the DISC program with a fairly long and rigorous selection process. Armeino hopes that by participating in this program, he can get the opportunity to study at UC Berkeley more easily later. “By participating in this summer course, I can feel what studying at UC Berkeley is like. Later, hopefully, it will be easier to enter (UC Berkeley),” he concluded.
