Have you ever wondered what it’s like for someone who has spent their entire life just drawing and then has to deal with long theory and memorize things at some point in their life? Well, you’ve met one. It might be a bit of an exaggeration. Still, I have been studying as a Visual Communication Design student since 2021 and have been acknowledged as being from a ‘fun’ major, with no late-night study sessions, which isn’t far from the truth. We don’t typically revolve around calculations or readings throughout my study, and it’s true that we mainly draw and design. However, being a design student is also hard compared to field-specific majors. We have to keep the rhythm of our skills in designing, such as concept, technical skills, and our sense of creativity. In other words, you can’t make up the missed material you were supposed to learn in just one night.
As the first Indonesian International Student Mobility (IISMA) scholarship awardee in my major, it was a fascinating and proud experience. On the other hand, it is also challenging to deal with my ‘fun’ design background since we are expected to practice cross-disciplinary learning – an approach of integrating knowledge and skills from different academic disciplines. At Vytautas Magnus University, as my host university, I took four classes, and one of them was very challenging and very intriguing to learn.
Skating to The Courses
The class started on Tuesday with Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Communication. Like the name of the class, I learned about the diversity within cultures through its intersectionality background (race, gender, class, sexuality, disability, etc.) as an anthropologist. From the Bhinneka Tunggal Ika experience to global cultural diversity, I got to understand that our world is vast with its unique people. Even though we discussed many topics, the teacher provided us with excellent case studies that kept me engaged throughout the class. We even got the chance to study furry culture!
If there are differences in our culture, inequality is inevitable. In this next class, I had to be a sociologist in Social Inequality and Exclusion, where we learned about inequality and exclusion in society from different countries. From theorists, case studies, journals, and our own experiences, I had a lot of material to cover. I had to push my effort to read journals before class and have a full session of studying before the exam to avoid falling behind.
However, despite being an anthropologist and sociologist, I still had the experience of studying in a creative field as a journalist. In the Creative and Feature Writing class, I learned how to write non-fiction from an American teacher. Not only writing, but we also learned to understand visual rhetoric, comics, and write visually, which depicts me perfectly. Another fun thing is that he made us sure not to be afraid of writing because of our grammar or that it wasn’t formal enough. Every assignment briefing always ended in “Have fun!” and opened the next week with “Are you having fun?”. We even got to experience the Halloween ‘party’ in class because we had the class on the same day as Halloween, on the 31st of October and listened to his favorite songs before the class started.
The last course that allowed me to explore familiar, yet challenging things was Basic Audiovisual Art. Even though I already got the same course title back at UPN, it was completely a different class. It is like a photography class, but we get to delve more into how we perceive the world through our eyes and how we are going to represent it through audiovisual. This course helped me to understand what I didn’t understand before, such as experimenting with various old cameras from time to time, lighting experiments in the photography studio, and sound design.
Dream Zone for The Creatives
Kaunas and Vytautas Magnus University are incredible. Classrooms are well-lit, equipped with high-quality projectors, comfortable chairs, and excellent sound systems, making it easy for me to focus on class. The library ambiance is very productive and supportive, motivating me to grind materials. My favorite part is going to the Putvinskio library—the one with big windows—where the sun illuminates inside, allowing me to spend my day just finishing my assignments and drawing with a great vibe. The accessible facilities for all, like disability-friendly restrooms with bidets, are a huge plus for an Indonesian! Also, not forgetting to mention, the light placement and the soft sunlight made my photos look better. Though I enjoy walking here (it’s safer from the fast vehicles and accessible), nothing beats Indonesia’s warm weather and the ability to grab comfort food without having to choose non-pork options!
Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone
This experience has been full of surprises, but it has taught me the importance of stepping beyond my comfort zone. If I hadn’t taken the chance to apply for the IISMA scholarship, I wouldn’t have discovered that I can do it. How well can I adapt and grow in such an unfamiliar environment? Plus, I have many international friends now!
If you’re reading this and considering trying something new, my advice is: do it. It might feel uncomfortable at first, but it will turn into a valuable and unforgettable core memory. It’s better to try than to live with regrets. Last note for you, Tyler, The Creator on Balloon: “Don’t stop.”
Created by: Aqila Safitri, Visual Communication Design, Vytautas Magnus University (IISMA)
Editor: IO UPNVJT