Ardhanamesvari Nuringtyas Aji, or better known as Vari, is an English Department student who landed an opportunity to study at the National University of Singapore (NUS) last semester. Through a program called DiscoverNUS, an exchange program for international students, especially from Southeast Asian universities, she was able to experience a new quest of studying abroad at this top global university. As exciting as it gets, Vari has a story to share on her journey, challenges, and insights she learnt in immersing herself in the unfamiliar environment of Singapore.
“As someone who had never lived anywhere other than home, this exchange semester opened my eyes on a lot of things. I had always been comfortable with my slow-living environment in Jogja, so I had to get out of my bubble and try living in the fast-paced Singapore for 4 months. The academic hurdle in NUS is also like that; we move on to a new lecture material every week and are expected to study them by ourselves. I also needed to adapt quickly with the different kinds of people since NUS is a very diverse campus, people come from all over the world with all their different cultures and studying habits. So, it did take a while for me to completely figure things out.”
“When I knew that we had the free will to choose the classes we wanted to take, I challenged myself and enrolled in modules outside of my department. Having an interest in social media, content creation, and how it affects human behaviour, I decided to take Communications, New Media, and Society along with Social Psychology of New Media. These courses taught me the basics of communication strategies, using recent online phenomena as examples and integrated projects to deepen our understanding. I also took classes that are still related to English, which are The Arts of Social Justice where we talk about so many different artworks (books, movies, photographs, paintings, etc) that contains messages on social justice and Film Genres: Stars and Styles where we watch movies and discuss them especially about the genre conventions. These classes are the more specific fields in English studies which I hadn’t learned before, so they gave me the chance to explore my interests on a deeper level. I also learned cross-cultural communication through my encounters with teammates from different countries and developed a new study habit where I study almost everyday to completely understand all the new things I’m learning in class.”
My final project presentation on the song “The Hand” by Annabelle Dinda
“As I mentioned, this was my first time living away from home. The first challenges are related to adapting: I had to learn how to live in a shared space with my roommate at the dorm, shower in a shared bathroom, eat in the communal hall, and barely have any time alone. I also have to learn how to use public transportation since I relied on my car and motorcycle back at home. Even understanding other people was hard at first, since there were many different English accents that were new to my ears. How I overcame these is to just keep doing it while telling myself that it’s a great experience and I was getting to learn so much from it. I told myself those aren’t ‘challenges,’ instead it was just a few changes that I had to face. The truth is, one month passed and I’m already used to it, even enjoying it. I also had to study so much more than I did back home, but thankfully I had a library nearby and so many friends to study with, so I got both the facility and the mental support to go through this challenge.”
“Since I lived on campus—in one of the student halls (Temasek Hall)—I got to join several activities with other residents. I got to learn their culture in Singapore and meet friends from different countries all over the world.”
Dinner for exchange students at Temasek Hall. A celebration for Chinese New Year where we did hotpot and Yu Sheng (Prosperity Toss).
“Through this exchange program, I got to enrich my knowledge by expanding my definition of ‘literature’ to include films, digital media, and visual art. Courses like Film Genres and The Arts and Social Justice allowed me to apply the knowledge I had on literary analysis to pop culture and social media. NUS’s fast-paced, self-directed academic culture forced me to become a much more active, independent learner.”
“I returned home with a reshaped perspective on what I can do with an English degree. Merging literature with New Media studies sparked a new career interest in digital storytelling and cross-cultural communication. Immersing myself in NUS’s diverse environment proved that my skills in analyzing language and human behaviour are vital in our globalized, digital world. It was the most refreshing and insightful semester I’ve ever experienced.”
