That was a question asked to me in an interview held in early 2018. After going through a
document selection process, I got the chance to have an interview with Dr. Raya from the
Agricultural Extension Department, Faculty Agriculture UGM. For me, there is no waste in learning. I believe that even though I am from the Fisheries Department, I can get a lot of knowledge by being an exchange student at Ibaraki University.”
Long story short, I got the opportunity to be an exchange student at Ibaraki University, Japan for a
semester: starting from September 2018 to January 2019. The program I applied for was Asian
International Mobility for Students (AIMS). AIMS is a program for agricultural students to study
abroad and learn about the sustainability of agriculture. It involves Universitas Gadjah Mada,
Institut Pertanian Bogor, Universitas Sriwijaya, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia
Trengganu, University of The Philippines Los Banos, Kasetsart University, Tokyo University of
Agriculture and Technology and Ibaraki University.
Being an exchange student is a blessing I’ve been dreaming since I was a freshman. There are
so many meaningful experiences -both academic and extracurricular- that I got from this
program.
