The Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) is a proud achievement for the recipients. One of the Applied Foreign Language students who received this award is Attiatul Noor. She was a fourth-year student when she received the IISMA at Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia.

Attia is keen to share her experience on how she got IISMA and during her time in Russia. Check her writing below.

“Mistakes are proofs that you gave it a try”

This is the writing on the bag that I often carry when traveling. At first, I thought it was trivial and had no deep meaning. After several failures, I realized that this is not just nonsense, but can be interpreted as a reference to improve on the past and try to take advantage of the opportunities that are before our eyes.

Hi! I’m Attia, one of the Applied Foreign Language students who had the opportunity to study for one semester at Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia, through the Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) program in 2023. For me, having the opportunity to be one of the awardees selected to receive this scholarship is an honor. Apart from the tough competition, 2023 is the second time I have applied for this program.Previously, I was eliminated at the final stage of the selection process, the interview stage.From here, I have a strong desire to try again in the next batch and improve things that may not have been maximized in my previous opportunity.

Long story short, thank God, I finally passed the IISMA 2023 program with eleven other awardees to Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia. Through this opportunity, I got a lot of insights related to the new field I studied here, namely journalism. During my semester at LMSU’s Faculty of Journalism, I attended lectures with master’s students, most of whom already had a background in media. This is a new challenge for me, which of course must be able to keep up with them in lectures and follow the material well. Thanks to a sense of responsibility for what I have chosen, as well as high curiosity, I can follow the lectures well and get maximum final results. In addition to the lectures, in the Practical Module course, we also went on industrial visits to several well-known companies in Moscow, such as Rossiya Segodnya, Seasons Project, and Vkontakte. Through these companies, I saw many new things such as interesting work ethics and lifestyles, as well as a homey office atmosphere, allowing workers to move comfortably and remain productive.

In addition, of course, there are several activities outside of academics that I participated in, which became a platform for me to expand my relationships with various people from various backgrounds. Such as volunteering at an Indonesian cultural performance, visiting local mosques and meeting some international students, and making a video project related to Indonesian culture involving various respondents; such as lecturers, local students, international students, students who are studying Indonesia, and some local residents. It was also an opportunity for me to mingle more with the community and build positive relationships with them, as well as take away many valuable lessons on my journey in the land of the red bear for the past almost five months. For me, this experience is a starting point to open doors to other good opportunities. Thank you for reading.