SGDs 4: Quality Education| SGDs 5: Gender Equality | SGDs 5: Empowerment of Women| SGDs 10: Reduced Inequalities | SGDs 17: Fostering Innovation
Bulan Churniati, an English Department student batch 2021, achieved the Penghargaan Favorit Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi UGM 2024 awards on Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi UGM 2024 event. Before receiving this award, Bulan accomplished many achievements, for example, the winner of Digital Entrepreneurship Hackathon 2023 by held UNESCO UNITWIN in South Korea, the third place in the national competition Publicly Digital Legal Innovation 2023 held by Oleco, dan became the ambassador of Millennial KAMI Foundation x Tjorak Sorai 2023.
Bulan is committed to give her best efforts in everything she does. This strong determination stems from her will to partake in women empowerment.
“Wong wedok ora usah melu-melu, which means: women are not supposed to intervene. That saying is embedded in my heart and mind. This is the reason I participate in prestigious awards and build a branding around this issue. I just want other women to realize that new opportunities are available to us, and I hope those women will use those chances. I do not want to be the only woman who fights for this, I want to join forces with other women as well.” Said Bulan about her motivation to participate in Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi UGM 2024.
Bulan went through a long process to prepare herself for participating in this event. The first step she had to undergo was the administration selection. She had to prepare three things on this stage. First, an English proficiency certificate. If the participant does not have an English proficiency certificate yet, they will be facilitated to take the AcEPT test if they pass to the next stage. Second, list of achievements. The limited number of achievements to be included in the list is ten, so the participant should select the best achievements they have. Third, an innovation proposal. In this event, Bulan wrote a proposal titled “In-Eksklusif: Program Peningkatan Kesempatan Eksklusif untuk Pelaku Ekonomi Inklusif”, a program to increase exclusive opportunities for inclusive businesses. This proposal correlates with Bulan’s IT background and humanistic perspective.
In the faculty selection, the participant will present their ideas and answer questions from the juries in a 30-minute session. One student will be granted the award of Mahasiswa Berprestasi Utama and represent the faculty in the Supercamp event, where they will present their list of achievements and innovation proposals. In this event, the committee will select three winners for three categories: bachelor program, diploma program, and favorite.
Bulan gained valuable insights after participating in Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi UGM 2024, “We have to prepare ourselves to be let down by the results if we are participating in competition. We also have to make sure that we have adequate experiences.”
After winning the Penghargaan Favorit Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi UGM 2024 award, Bulan went back to her daily routine. She is currently working on her thesis, while also still participating in many competitions and positive activities. Bulan said she still wants to try competing in this event, if she has not graduated next year. She also encouraged other students to participate in the Pemilihan Mahasiswa Berprestasi UGM event, “For other students in the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM, don’t be afraid to send your application! There are not many students in our faculty who are willing to participate in this event. Don’t forget to prepare all the documents early because of the short period of the submission. Always be humble, because being a Mahasiswa Berprestasi doesn’t transform you into the student with the highest position; you are just a representative.”