Academic year of 2020/2021 has started since September 14th. At least 210 new students from regular program and transfer program from the Department of Languages, Arts, and Culture Management have passed their first week of study. Unlike the previous years, this year’s lecture is carried out online due to covid-19 pandemic. However, the new students were still enthusiastic about attending lectures. Various preparations, such as preparing laptop, smart phone, internet quota, also notebook and other things that can help them concentrate during the lectures, were carried out for the smoothness of the online lecture.
For M. Fatah Daffa and Janu Akbar Syaifulloh, students of Archives and Records Management Study Program, the first week of college experience is a new experience, considering that this year is their first year of entering college. According to both of them, the method and time of studying during college was different from when they were in high school. Moreover, with lectures conducted online, both of them have to adjust to themselves better.
During the first week, students admitted to having encountered several obstacles. Daffa said that one of obstacles he encountered was an unstable internet network. “When the internet network is less stable, video conferencing becomes choppy, and the voice is unclear,” explained the student from Riau. The same thing happened to a student of English Study Program, Berlian Yamo Mbarasi Nehe. “I was late submitting assignments because the internet network was bad. I informed the lecturer of the subject via SMS. Even though I was late, I ended up collecting my assignments,” explained the student form Banten.
Another story comes from Chatrin Katarina, an English Study Program student. Like Daffa and Berlian, Chatrin experienced obstacles such as bad internet connection, limited internet quota, to lectures which she said less interactive. However, this student who come from Gunungkidul feels the positive side of this online lecture. She feels she has more time to study quietly without iterferece from friends around her. She can also create learning space and learning method she likes.
This new academic year is indeed different from previos years because lectures are conducted online. However, the student still hope that the learning process can run optimally so that the knowledge they get will be useful to support their future carrier. Students also hope that the covid-19 pandemic will end soon so that the lectures can be done by direct face-to-face.
