I feel that I am a particularly lucky student to have a chance to be an Arryman Fellow. The Arryman Fellowship that has enabled me to attend Northwestern University is a well-designed program to prepare me to be a full time graduate student.  People might say that the first months living in the United States to start in higher education is a challenging experience, but I would say that I have a different story.

• Luthfi Adam - Transformation of Dress and National Subject Formation of the Indonesian Commoners in the Colonial Period
   
• Muhammad Fajar - The Durability of Sub-National Political Leaders in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia
   
• Najmu Laila Sopian - Power Struggle Over Land: Decentralization, Land Tenure Security, and the Rule of Law in Indonesia
   
• Rahardhika Utama - How Bureaucracy Affects Inequality: The Case of Post-Authoritarian Indonesia

On Sunday, July 27, I joined the 3rd Run For Walk Race organized by Northwestern University (NU). The race was a 4.1mile (approximately 6.6kilometers) run starting from Ryan Field or NU’s grand football stadium, then along the campus’ lake and Sports Pavilion and Aquatics Center (SPAC), and back again to Ryan Field.

Three 2014 Arryman Fellows – Kadek Wara Urwasi, Sabina Puspita Satriyani and Yoes Chandra Kenawas – departed Jakarta for Chicago on July 1, 2014.  Upon their arrival in Chicago, the three Arryman Fellows will join the International Summer Institute (ISI) at Northwestern University. The program aims to help incoming international students to improve their English language skills and to get acquainted to American life and academic environment.

It has only been my third week in the U.S., yet I have done quite many exciting activities. The four main activities that I wish to highlight are Indonesia’s Presidential Election Day, “Taste of Chicago” food festival, “Iftar in the Synagogue”, and Baha’i House of Worship tour. Within such a short period of time, I have gained a tremendous amount of lessons and I thought they needed to be organized and shared in this blog.

On my first ever American 4th of July, I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to connect with Lucas and Mary Helen, perhaps one of America’s loveliest couples. They had given Yoes (my colleague) and me the perfect 4th of July celebration by taking us to watch the annual Evanston parade in the afternoon and fireworks in the evening. From this experience, I would like to focus more on the parade which thrilled me the most.

The 2014 Arryman Symposium was held on June 21, 2014, at the Ford Foundation Auditorium in Jakarta.

This year’s Arryman Fellows presented the following academic papers:

• Luthfi Adam: “Transformation of Dress and National Subject Formation of Indonesian People in the Colonial Period.” The discussant of his paper is Prof. Manneke Budiman, University of Indonesia.
• Muhammad Fajar: “The Durability of Sub-national Political Leaders in Post-authoritarian Indonesia.” The discussant of his paper is Prof. Edward Gibson, Northwestern University.
• Najmu Sopian: “Power Struggle over Land: Decentralization, Land Tenure Security, and the Rule of Law in Indonesia.” The discussant of her paper is Prof. William Hurst, Northwestern University.
• Rahardhika Utama: “The Impact of Bureaucratic Clientelism on Inequality, the Cases of Post-authoritarian Indonesia.” The discussant of his paper is Prof. Jordan Gans-Morse, Northwestern University.

Who would have thought that I would land my feet on U.S. soil? Two days ago, I finally did that. Prayers for “protection from mechanical failure and violent storms” (Chan, 2007) were delivered from Soekarno-Hatta Airport and I landed safely with colleagues, Yoes and Wara, at O’Hare Airport.

On 2013 we have Gde submitted to Phd Program. We're so glad that on 2014 all 2013 Arryman Fellows were submitted to Phd Program, and Hipo  the 2012 Arryman Fellows were submitted too this year!

I am delighted to announce that this year ISRSF received funding to select three new Fellows. Our 2014 donors were Bank BCA, PT Djarum, and our newest supporter PT AKR Corporindo Tbk. Our warmest thanks for their commitment to education for some Indonesia's brightest young talent!