September was a very busy month for ISRSF! On top of our endeavors at UI and Andalas University, we also attended the US Graduate School Fair 2015. This event was organized jointly by the US Embassy and LPDP. It was held twice, first on the 17th of September at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jogjakarta and at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and @America, Jakarta on the 19th. The fair was held because currently only 20% of LPDP awardees get accepted at universities in the United States. With that in mind, the US Graduate School Fair’s goal was to increase acceptance rate of Indonesians, especially to top tier universities.
In celebrating Indonesia’s 70th Independence Day, Andalas University’s Faculty of Cultural Studies organized a national seminar titled, “70 Tahun Merdeka: Kebangkitan Indonesia dan Perkembangan Nasionalisme di Dunia Melayu.” The seminar was held between the 7th and 9th September 2015 at the Convention Hall Universitas Andalas, Kampus Limau Manis, Padang. The seminar also included a tour around town on the last day to sightsee the national heritage sites of Padang. It was a fun and educational experience for all of us, and ISRSF was there!
The search for the 2016 Arryman Fellows continues as ISRSF headed to the University of Indonesia from the 17th to 19th of September for the UI Career and Scholarship Expo XX. The event, which is held twice every year, is intended to facilitate fresh graduates in starting their careers, either in getting themselves their job or going for higher education. Not only for UI graduates, the UI CSE XX was also open for public, which resulted in a high number of attendees to fill up a packed Balairung for three straight days!
After landing safely last month, our Arryman Fellows have been busy! They have been going out and about Chicago and Evanston.
Grant Park was the first stop for Norman and Shindu as they attended the Tastes of Chicago, an annual culinary festival that celebrates the city’s diverse culinary selections. There are hundreds of restaurants, stands, and various other kinds of food vendors from all over the Windy City. They also got to taste some Tamales and Paletas popsicles, which are authentic Mexican foods.
After being unveiled at the 2015 Arryman Symposium, this year’s fellows, Sindhunata Hargyono and Norman Joshua are on their way to Chicago. Both of them have departed for the Windy City on July 1st via South Korea. While there have been a number of difficulties in the US Embassy Consular on issuing visas to enter the States, the Arryman Fellows were few of the lucky ones and got their visa fast-tracked because they have to depart by the first of July. Hence, in 24 hours their visas were issued and go they went to Chicago.
ISRSF proudly present the 2015 Arryman Fellow Symposium on the 24th June 2015 at the Ford Foundation Auditorium, Jakarta. The Symposium was intended to present the researches done by the 2014 Arryman Fellows, Sabina Puspita and Yoes Kenawas, who are in the doctoral program in political science, and Wara Urwasi, who is doing her doctorate in sociology.
In 19 June 2015, ISRSF held a discussion at @america, Pacific Place Mall, South Jakarta. The agenda of the seminar is to introduce the candidates of next year’s Arryman Fellowship to the nature of the scholarship. Also, the seminar is held to celebrate the opening of the general application for the 2016 ISRSF Arryman Fellows Scholarship.
The three 2014 Arryman Fellows whose are Kadek Wara Urwasi, Sabina Satriyani Puspita and Yoes Chandra Kenawas, have already been accepted at Graduate School Northwestern University. Kadek was accepted in Sociology, and both Sabina and Yoes were accepted in Political Science.
By the end of March 2015, the selection committee of Arryman Fellows has made an announcement for the winners of 2015 Arryman Fellows. They are Sindhunata Hargyono and Norman Joshua, both were graduated from University of Indonesia majoring in Anthropology and History respectively. Norman was the 2nd winner of 2014 ISRSF History Essay Competition so that he got a golden ticket for direct interview with the Selection committee of the Arryman Fellows.
As part of our endeavor to recruit the most promising candidates for Arryman Fellowship, in 2014 ISRSF conducts two essay competitions. The Prize Awarding Ceremony to the essay Winners and Honorable Mention were held on Thursday, February 12, 2015. The ceremony were attended by the Media, The Panel Judges, Foundation Board Member, The Winners and Honorable mention.