July 20, 2022
23 students from Samar State University have taken various technical-vocational and cultural courses in several universities in the ASEAN Region. The courses were offered online and took an average of two weeks to finish. Of the 23 students, 11 enrolled in Universitas Negeri Surabaya (UNESA, Indonesia), 8 in Universitas Brawijaya (UB, Indonesia), and 4 in Polytechnic Mersing Johor (PMJ, Malaysia). Courses taken in UNESA were on Entrepreneurship, Arts-Language & Culture, and IT in Education. In UB, the students took up Internet of Things, and in PMJ the students learned recent applications in Information Technology. In their noteworthy impressions at the end of the sessions, the students said:
“System Analysis & Design gives the student the power to learn at their own pace and then take the examination at any time. The modules also allow students to go beyond and learn a more broader scope of the subject,” according to Chad Aga Abinguna.
“It was an honour to be a part of the student exchange. There is a lot of information in various lessons that we can apply to our program or in real life—different cultures and traditions which we cherish from Brawijaya,” writes Chad Vincent Florentino.
“It was an honor to be part of this student exchange program conducted by SEAMEO which promotes and shares each other’s culture and tradition among Southeast Asian Nations,”commented Mark Anthony Calipayan.
“It enhanced my interest in engaging with different nationalities and to be more proactive in promoting borderless interaction with others. . . .Thank you, UNESA-SSU for bridging us to new ideas and possibilities to us to grow and be better,” was the remark from Jevah Mae Piamonte.
At the PMJ, Abinguna reported that he was provided with a student buddy who is an excellent companion who provided relevant information when the material was misinterpreted.
The number of international engagements among SSU students and faculty in the recent months has been on the increase both in the number of academic institutions and the variety of courses offered. No doubt, this would lead to the improvement of the University’s programs, heighten its prestige, and provide students with diverse opportunities to engage in intercultural dialogue in order to have a greater understanding of the world (Knight, 2012).
