High schoolers touch their dreams

Annisa R. Beta ,  Student ,  University of Indonesia   |  Sun, 03/09/2008 12:42 AM  |  Discover

Bedah Kampus: Thousands of high school students listen to information on the University of Indonesia at the main auditorium during the Bedah Kampus UI 2008. This year's Bedah Kampus, held from Feb. 23-24, was attended by more than 3,000 students. (JP/Annisa Beta)

"This is the right channel!" shouted thousands of high school students at Balairung, the main auditorium at the University of Indonesia (UI), whenever they were prompted by the emcees. The response is the tagline of the Bedah Kampus UI 2008 event.

During the annual event, held from Feb. 23-24, the auditorium was jam-packed with high school students keen to get information about UI.

Bedah Kampus UI is organized by the UI Student Body (BEM), and aims to provide an opportunity for high school students from Jakarta, Depok, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi to obtain entrance information and tips on continuing their education at the university.

The enthusiastic response of the crowd clearly showed that most of the 3,000 high school students at the event were excited about learning more about one of the best universities in the country.

The Bedah Kampus UI presented a variety of events and facilities to attract these upper-level students, to the extent that it heightened the excitement of these aspiring university students regarding their dream campus.

Bedah Kampus UI 2008 opened with a speech from UI rector Gumilar R. Somantri, who presented the campus proudly as the best university in Indonesia, and encouraged all high schoolers to make their best efforts so they could become part of the UI family.

The next two days consisted of a series of discussions and performances.

Discussions with UI alumni who have been successful in their fields of study commenced the first morning. Effendi Ghazali, a renowned communications expert, along with other speakers, promoted UI as the right choice to attain success in life -- and in contributing to nation building.

The speakers give tips on how to choose the right field of study to make outstanding achievements during their university studies.

"Bincang Bintang" was another part of Bedah Kampus UI, which informed students about famous public figures who were also UI alumni, such as Krisna Mukti, Randi "Bragi", Raditya Dika and Valerina Daniel.

With a red carpet and large TV screen on stage, the event was set to resemble a television show, complete with celebrity alumni.

Singers and members of popular bands who are also UI alumni -- like Afghan, Rai "RAN", Blackmoore and Wonderbra -- entertained the audience while sending an implicit message that studying at UI would not mean students' giving up their music.

The "Bedah Fakultas" and the "Stand Jurusan" were probably the most important segments of the event. "Bedah Fakultas" allowed currently enrolled UI students from all faculties to promote their field of study on stage -- in a youthful and dynamic manner.

These students put on skits, panel discussions, music performances and even gossip shows to promote their faculty while disseminating crucial information to the high school audience.

"Stand Jurusan" was a U-shaped line of booths representing each department at UI. All 60 booths were crowded with high school students requesting more detailed information about their preferred majors.

Manned by current students of each department, the high schoolers visited the booths to ask a variety of questions, from classes to admission fees, and from how it felt to study at UI to future job prospects.

Astriani Widiastuti, a student of Management in the Economics faculty (FE), manned the FE booth for the two days of the event.

"The high school students were so curious, yet funny," she said. "They would ask about things like classes, admission fees, facilities, scholarships and everything else."

She added: "But after that, they would tell me about their worries regarding the SPMB test, and how they really, really want to study in UI because of its quality and status."

The SPMB is the standard university entrance examination.

Bedah Kampus appeared to be beneficial for UI students as well. Leading a committee of 214 student staffers, project officer Filipus Christian said he felt lucky and blessed to be part of the event.

"I got to learn a lot about how to organize the biggest event held by the BEM UI since 2001, how to communicate and strike an interpersonal relationship with other people, and how to face unexpected problems," he said.

The Bedah Kampus UI committee had been preparing for the event since July 2007. The committee held road shows to more than 120 high schools in order to publicize Bedah Kampus, not to mention sending out thousands of flyers and posters to other venues that might reach potential participants.

High school students were thus able to get a glimpse of their academic dream -- and as for current UI students, they were able to show off what they love about their university.

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