International Office of UPN “Veteran” Jawa Timur (UPNVJT), also known as KISe, hosted a virtual farewell meeting for the awardees of the Indonesia International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) on Saturday (27/08). The event was an official send-off meeting that invited university officials, the students, and their parents. Different from the previous pre-departure programs held by IISMA’s committee with Indonesian Embassy and host universities, this virtual event was less about the technical detail and more about reflection and internal sharing of the progress so far.

The virtual farewell was started with a speech from UPNVJT’s rector, Prof. Dr. Ir. Akhmad Fauzi, M.M.T., followed by words from the Vice-Rectors and the Deans of each students’ faculty. Many shared their personal experience of being abroad, do’s and don’ts as a foreigner, how to cope with culture, and remain respectful towards others. We also invited the students to deliver their remarks. As they thanked and appreciated the assistance of UPNVJT officials during the whole process, they also drop some feedbacks to make our service even better.

At the closure of the meeting, Mr. Akhmad Fauzi engaged the parents in the conversation by asking their opinion about the new journey that their sons/daughters are about to embark on. The tone of the meeting went intimate when the parents teared up as they express their gratitude for the delightful opportunity given to their kids. As for the last, UPNVJT wishes safe travel for the IISMA awardees, Aurriel Sekar Triadira who will be heading to Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania, Cakra Diaz Pratama who will be heading to University of Pecs in Hungary, and Eunike Angelita who will be heading to Lancaster University in United Kingdom in the following days. Through KISe, UPNVJT also ensures to facilitate and disseminate any further update to Yuliana Hastin, one of the awardees who is supposed to go to Universiti Putra Malaysia but was postponed to the next semester due to the Covid-19 border restriction.