Hello!

First, let me introduce myself. My full name is Shannen Sulaiman. I am Binusian 2020, student of Computer Science in Binus University Alam Sutera, and now I’m on my freshmen year. Since I am on my freshmen year, lately I’ve been going through on the first step of being a college student in Bina Nusantara, called FEP. Maybe some of you who is not Binusian don’t know what FEP is. FEP stands for Freshmen Enrichment Program. It is a program from Binus that is compulsory for freshmen students to let students know more about Binus and how it would be to be a college student. Maybe most universities called FEP as OSPEK (Orientasi Studi dan Pengenalan Kampus). Familiar with this word? Yes, people mostly called it as OSPEK, but Binus chose to call it ‘FEP’ rather than ‘OSPEK’. 

FEP is divided into 3 steps; General Orientation (GO), Academic Orientation (AO), and Campus Life Orientation (CLO). And also we are given knowledge about Organization Skill (OS), like how to be a good leader and also how to be active in organizations. Here I am going to explain one by one, from GO, AO, and OS.

1.) General Orientation (GO)

General Orientation lasts for 6 days, and in Binus Alam Sutera, it is divided into 5 batches. The first batch is AAS, the second is BAS, and so on until the 5th batch which is EAS. I am on the second batch which is BAS, and I was in BAS02 class. The second batch started on 1st and ended on 6th of August 2016.

We, freshmen is called ‘Buddy’ and there were seniors that is called ‘Buddy Coordinator’ or usually abbreviates by ‘BC’. They were there to help us and guide us through FEP especially on the General Orientation.

 

 

On the first day of GO, we were being told about what we need on GO and how to act and also wear on GO; which is white shirt, black pants (no jeans), and also black, white, or dark colored shoes.

On the second day until the fifth day, we were being informed about all things that we need to know in Binus. Like how many points do we need to be able to apply thesis; which is 120 point. And in FEP itself, if we follow all series of the events, will got 100 points of SAT. So, I follow all the events in FEP to get 100 points.

On the last day which is the 6th day of GO, there was a session called “Togetherness”. In this session, all classes from the second batch gathered together in ALC Building and showed each of the classes’ march, including my class. It was so much fun and exciting to see other classes’ march because some of them were funny and had pretty good march song. Then in the end of togetherness session, the MC announced the winner of the most intelligent class. And guess what? My class won the first place! We weren’t expecting that and were very surprised and also happy. We got snacks and drinks as the prize from winning the first place.

Not only togetherness session, there’s one last session on the last day, which is the most awaited session which is EXPO! Expo is a session where students’ organizations in Binus such as UKM (Unit Kegiatan Mahasiswa) and HMJ (Himpunan Mahasiswa Jurusan) open their stand so we, freshmen can join them. I myself joined 3 organizations; HIMTI, Klifonara, and Bersama Dalam Musik (BDM).

In the end of expo, BDM opened a session called ‘open stage’, then me and my band joined the ‘open stage’ and brought 2 songs. We were so excited to entertain all of the people there and were so happy that one step of FEP has finished.

Then after all batches finished their General Orientation, we were inaugurated as Binusian 2020 on 30th of August 2016 in Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Senayan, and we were officially Binusian 2020.

 

2.) Academic Orientation (AO)

Academic Orientation lasts for about almost 2 weeks. In the schedule, AO started from 5th of September 2016 and ends on 17th of September 2016. But my class starts on 6th and ends on 15th of September 2016.

Basically, AO is a kind of the light version of campus life. It lets us know what campus life looks like and how it really is. There were 4 kinds of courses in AO; Academic Advisory, Computer Science, Curriculum, and Support Center for Your Success.

My class is LR01 and the class schedule is uncertain. But usually my class starts on 1.20 P.M. and ends on 5.00 P.M. I myself prefer morning class because it was quite tiring to have noon to evening classes.

There’s many things to learn on AO such as Algorithm and Programming Class. We learned how to think with our logic. Like the Hanoi Tower from algorithm class, and also PseudoCode that we learned from Programming Class.

AO is very important and useful for me, because it helps me adapt with the new learning method in college. And it is useful of course because college life is very different from high school.

 

3.) Campus Life Orientation (CLO)

CLO lasts for one semester, which is the time for freshmen to really adapt with the new environment and of course new learning method in college. This is a process which helps us through the next semester and so on.

 

4.) Organization Skills (OS)

Binus University encourages their students to be a professional leaders through global environment. So, Binus emphasizes organization skills for their students to survive through global environment.

Organization Skills is divided into two big elements; soft skills and hard skills.

Soft skills are subjective skills that are much harder to quantify. Also known as “people skills” or “interpersonal skills”. Soft skills relate to the way you relate to and interact with other people. Example of soft skills include self management, self confidence, stress management, teamwork, leadership, communication, patience, and many more. And to be good at soft skills it takes Emotional Intelligence or EQ.

On the other hand, hard skills are teachable abilities or skills that are easy to quantify. Hard skill can be learned in school and from books. Example of hard skills; math, physics, accounting, programming, chemistry, biology, and many more. To be good in hard skills usually takes smarts or IQ.

Both of these skills are very important. You can’t be a professional leader if you only have one of them. They have to be balance.

But in fact, many companies now emphasize the soft skill that you have. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to have hard skill. Hard skill is also very important. So that’s why they have to be balance and have fair portion on yourselves.

So to sharpen your organization skills, both hard and soft skills, you can join organizations in Binus and be active in it. In time you’ll learn how to be a professional and have a great organization skills.

 

Now i think that is all about my experience that I want to share and that is all I’ve got in FEP.

Thank you for reading my blog.