Another week full of talks, quizzes, and adaptation, which is to be expected throughout August. We’re in an odd cart-before-horse scenario where we’re attending classes (with SKS) before campus orientation. And at this rate, when orientation comes around in September, we’ll all be well-oriented enough to be the ones giving the campus tours.
Since my last post I have familiarized myself more with the campus and the faculty. The buildings are starting to feel less like a corn maze and more like what it actually is—my second home. Similarly, my classmates are becoming a little less intimidating and more like who they actually are— my second family.
Pancasila: revisited
Pancasila is something every Indonesian student knows all too well. We’ve all had to endure a chapter or two on it every year, from elementary school right up to high school. And just when you think you’ve seen the last of it—surprise! It’s back for a full month.
The course consists of new daily materials (to read/watch at our own pace) alongside a quiz to test our knowledge. The students were divided into roughly 70 classes, each with their own dignified lecturers and assistants. The problem? A lack of standardization. Some classes were able to see their quiz scores before reattempting, giving them an edge. Meanwhile, others didn’t even get a second shot at all, left wondering about how they did. You can definitely make a case that this is, ironically, a violation of Pancasila’s fifth principle:
Keadilan sosial bagi seluruh rakyat Indonesia (Social justice for all the people of Indonesia)
We have plenty of individual tasks to keep us busy, but the star of the Pancasila course is definitely the Pancasila Project. Students are divided into groups of five, and together, we’re tasked with planning a project to tackle a social issue under the light of Pancasila. Suddenly, it’s not just about theoretical understanding anymore— it’s about applying those five principles to real-world challenges.
I have the privilege of landing in a very cooperative team. Not everyone is as lucky as I am, ITBfess has been buzzing with complaints of passive teammates.
We lucked out on a relatively simple topic for our project: reforestation and environmental conservation. We have a simple plan and whipped up a quick proposal that our lecturer’s assistant seems to like. I am quite fond of our project as well, it’s definitely something we have to put in work for but realistic enough to actually implement. Speaking of implementation, I am unsure if we are supposed to execute these ideas at some point in the course. I mean, some groups got assigned themes like village infrastructure, which sounds way more complex. Maybe I’m just not creative enough, but I’m struggling to imagine what kind of program those students could propose if they had to implement them.
Without revealing too much too soon about our program, it requires releasing 100 eceng gondok into a pond— which I think could fall under ecological disruption and might lowkey be illegal— so I’m not fully on board with this part of the plan yet. But we’re going to present our idea to our lecturer soon anyway, we’ll see what he has to say about our legion of hyacinths.
So, Pancasila course… yay or nay?
You see, I’m never the most nationalistic folk around and have always found this material to be redundant. But I do think it’s important for any citizen to understand the history and intention behind their nation’s ideology. If nothing else, it helps us grasp the underlying framework of our society. Furthermore, right now, in this environment, our five principles gain a new light.
Along with our national motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, Pancasila is fundamentally about unification. Yes, I know I sound like a broken record every time I mention our institute’s diversity, but it really is that prevalent in our daily life here. So, while I might have rolled my eyes at the thought of another Pancasila course at first, it serves as a reminder to be open-minded and empathetic with everyone, which is something I can 100% get behind!
What FMIPA’s been up to
The last few days have been packed with bonding moments, and it’s been great to see everyone coming together. Our first meet up was a quick seminar on our career prospects. The speaker was an algebraist who’s working in the field of sports analytics, and it was honestly super interesting. She gave us a fresh perspective on how to connect our passions with our field of study—basically, take something you enjoy and start looking at it through a MIPA lens. That means asking the right questions (she claims that, yes, there are stupid questions) and building models to solve them. This is something I’ve always enjoyed doing too and I plan on sharing some of these ideas in my blog, so stay tuned!
After the seminar, things took a fun turn with a Family-Feud-esque game show hosted by Dr. Getbogi Hikmawan, the self-proclaimed “head of ITB’s entertainment department.” He cranked up the energy by spinning a giant digital spinwheel (big enough for all 464 of us) to pick 10 random students as contestants. I always have a special place in my heart for whimsical characters in STEM, and Dr. Hikmawan definitely fits the bill.
Also, Sunday marked Day 4 of Scientia 24, our faculty’s annual pre-orientation event, courtesy of the class of ’23! This event has been going on for about a month, with Day 0 through Day 3 held online, one each week. Our entire faculty was divided into almost 40 teams, each paired with two sophom*ore mentors who were there to guide us and answer any burning questions we had about life and studying at ITB. Our team spent Day 4 together going post to post playing games and doing posttests. We also got to see FMIPA’s band Technopulse perform a set of songs with a cutesy short love story along with it. Well done guys, we must see you on stage at OSKM!
While the main events were fun as well, the best part of Scientia has to be the team mentoring sessions between each Day. I had two wonderful mentors who really made the experience memorable. Apparently, we were the 5th most active and quick team when it comes to the weekly team mentoring, so proud of my Team Orchid pals! Our mentors also gave us an unofficial certificate accompanied by a heartwarming note for all us. Now isn’t that sweet? I hope I get to see you again in Ganesha, Ka Nopa and Ka Mina.
Parade practices
We are starting to feel the festive spirit seeping into campus as August 17th inches closer. In my dorm, I’m waken up every morning by rolling snares and lulled to sleep every night by a harmony of trumpets. Our faculty has also come together a few times to practice for our upcoming Independence Day arak-arakan (parade). We have a handful of cheers recited and a basic yet compelling storyline planned.
Our voluntary committee is made up of some very fun, creative, and charismatic people and they’ve done a stellar job with the parade plans. Plus, we’re debuting our new motto for the world to see.
The plan for this parade is to shatter stigmas and stereotypes about our science faculty. People hear “science guys” and think socially awkward Sheldons, when actually a great deal of us are laidback Leonards— relatable and down-to-earth as any one else (though, not mutually exclusive with being socially awkward).
Emphasis on family
Truthfully, I’ve had thoughts on becoming a solitary student at some point, I’ve found it difficult to make friends before. But everything since the pretest has been pushing me to get out there and just converse, collab, and cooperate. Our faculty’s LINE chat isn’t merely titled FMIPA 2024 Students or FMIPA 2024 Group— it’s FMIPA 2024 Family. And it’s something we should embrace if we want to succeed.
The Pancasila Project, Scientia 24, and the upcoming arak-arakan revolves around one central theme: family. Every day it gets harder and rarer for the ‘lone genius’ type to thrive. Modern science (or even more generally, modern society) relies on team efforts. The world is just too vast to master everything, we need to amplify each others’ strengths and cover for each others’ weakness. This is the spirit we’re going to put on display this Saturday. We’ll be marching forward with these initiatives (literally and figuratively) and we’re out to show the real face of FMIPA!
