HTTP is an abbreviation of “HIMTI Togetherness and Top Performances”. This is an event held by HIMTI (“Himpunan Mahasiswa Teknik Informatika”) of Binus University. This year’s HTTP’s theme is SHINE which stands for “Strengthening Harmony and Inspiring New Experiences” and was held on the 12^th of September from 9 AM to 5 PM. This event was organized to specifically welcome new Binusians of SoCS, School of Computer Science. There are 1200 of us, Binusian 2019 of SoCS from both Binus University Kemanggisan and Alam Sutera, in total.

I took the first shift for the bus and arrived at the venue, BPPT Building, at around 7 in the morning, which was 2 hours before the event actually starts. We entered the hall and the movie “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” was being played on the giant screen and were given the privilege to watch the movie or to have our breakfast.

When the clock strikes 9 o’clock, the HTTP event was started and was opened with a performance by the winner of HIMTI Got Talent of the previous year. He sang as he played chords on his guitar. It was an outstanding performance. Then, it was followed with a series of agenda. We heard various speeches from the head of HTTP event, the head of HIMTI Kemanggisan, the head of HIMTI Alam Sutera, the head of SCDC, and the Dean of SoCS of Binus University, who also introduced our lecturers.

Other than the official inauguration of new SoCS students, there were lots of performances from different performers; HIMTI Band, HIMTI Visualization, guest star Rianti Duke and Teddy Aditya, and also from guest DJs. There was also a talk show about Technopreneurship featuring students and alumnus of HIMTI who succeeded in entrepreneurship by using technology to facilitate it. Other than that, there were also games and door prize giveaways.

In conclusion, HTTP 2015: SHINE was awesome and was an out-of-this-world event. I have no regrets whatsoever in being a part of it.

Thank you, HIMTI.

One Family, One Goal!

Throughout the FEP, I’ve been observing the sessions and the environment in Binus University. There is one very important lesson I gained by doing so and it’s about our soft skills. Other than our computer skills, organizational skills are one of the most important skills we need to have in Binus University. “Why?” you might ask. The answer is because we’ll be faced with tons and tons of situations where not only our computer skills are needed but also our organizational skills, especially when we admit ourselves to HMJ (“Himpunan Mahasiswa Jurusan”), the student council, or to UKM (“Unit Kegiatan Mahasiswa”). These organization skills are not only used for our university life, but it is also a necessity in the future when we’re going to be working and applying for jobs.

There are 6 important soft skills points of organizational skills:

1. Self-management
2. Team work
3. Communication
4. Initiatives and Enterprise
5. Problem Solving and Decision Making
6. Planning and Organizing

Let us all improve ourselves and not only by sharpening our hard skills but also our soft skills!

My previous class, CBN 05, was separated into 2 different classes for the Academic Orientation. One of the two classes was the LJ01 and the other one, the one I was in, was the LM01. These classes were made based on the TOEFL test we had before we were admitted into Binus University.

We were taught the basics of programming through several algorithms classes. Other than that, we were also taught the basic presentation skill, reading and writing, etc. At first, I felt alienated since the studying atmosphere was very different from the one I had back in my senior high school. It seemed that we had to be more active and independent now than we were before.

We had 3 algorithm classes. The materials delivered in these 3 classes varied from the history and basic logic of algorithm, to pseudo codes, and even to the actual programming or coding. It was very interesting to be able to study something new and to me this C language programming is a whole a new world. I can’t wait to learn about it furthermore.

On the last day of AO, a test was held to evaluate us on our knowledge and on what we understood and learnt from the past days of AO classes. There were 5 questions in total and it was difficult, but thankfully I was able to do all 5 of them and got them all correct. This motivates me to excel throughout my studies and to be more industrious.

For the General Orientation (GO), I was included in the third batch. My class for the GO is the CBN 05. I knew no one in the beginning and felt very awkward. A few days before the actual GO, someone had the initiative to create a group and started a chat to break the ice between all of us. I was really afraid that I was going to be an outcast at first.

On the first day of the actual GO, we made an appointment to wait for each other in front of the Syahdan campus and we actually did. I got to know them better and found out that they were the nicest and the friendliest group of people I’ve gotten to know. We went inside the class and the first day went by as we went over the briefing materials, including the schedules and singing the Mars Binus & Mars Binusian, and got to know more people and our BC (Buddy Coordinators). It was a fun-filled day.

The second day’s schedule was Binusian Journey and Binusian Way. We were explained about the journey we were about to face by our BCs who have already gone through it before us. The second session, the Binusian Way, was held in the Auditorium where we were introduced to Ms. Nelly. She explained to us about Binus University as a whole, the alumnus, and what are expected of us as Binusians.

The first session of the third day was Bunga Rampai, where we were shown all the UKM (“Unit Kegiatan Mahasiswa”), some sort of extracurricular activities or communities, of Binus University. It was very amusing to see how Binus is helping us, Binusians, to develop and deepen our skills in other non-academic areas. The second was all about the official stuff, such as registration, payment, exams, etc.

It was Friday when we had our fourth GO day. We were separated into groups based on our religions and were brought to separated rooms where we were introduced to the religious communities of Binus University. Mine was PO, which is short for Persekutuan Oikoumene, a Christian community. I was introduced to the seniors and to the yearlong activities of PO. Once we were finished with our own different sessions, we were then gathered and the next session about the rules and regulations was delivered. After the second session, we were supposedly done with our fourth day but there was an additional session where we met Mr. Andreas Chang who spoke to us in the Auditorium for quite a while.

The fifth and last day was the most memorable day out of the five days of GO, the Expo. The first part of the Expo was the togetherness. We all sat in the parking lot and each class performed their own unique performance, which they had been preparing throughout the previous 4 days. My class performance was one of the most interesting one since it was the only one without a song mutual to any other classes. The second part was the touring and registration of UKM. We went around Syahdan campus classes with our BC and got ourselves registered to the UKM we wanted to join.

All in all, the GO was a total blast. I am very grateful to have been a part of it.

Freshmen Enrichment Program, or FEP in short, is an orientation program by Binus University dedicated to welcoming and introducing university life to new students of Binus University. This year’s FEP’s theme is “I’m a Global Citizen”. You must be wondering how is FEP different from other universities’ orientation programs. The most significant difference is the fact that Binus’ FEP consists of 4 parts and takes as long as 1 semester to finish. The four parts that make up the FEP are the General Orientation (GO), Convocation Ceremony (CC), Academic Orientation (AO), and Campus Life Orientation (CLO).

General Orientation (GO) took place in 5 different times for 5 different batches of new students. The third batch, which I was in, took place from the 10^th of August to the 17^th.

Convocation Ceremony (CC) took place on the 3^rd of September. It was a 5-hour long event from 7 o’clock to 12 o’clock for the first session.

Academic Orientation (AO) was held for 12 days from the 7^th to the 9^th of September.

Lastly, the Campus Life Orientation (CLO) will be held throughout the first semester.

There’s this saying “You can’t love what you don’t know”. So, before I start talking about my experience, let me first introduce myself. My name is Dorcas Valensia Sebastiani. People call me “Valen” instead of “Dorcas” because Dorcas is not my official name and is not actually written on my birth certificate. I got the name when I got baptized back in 2010.

I was born in the year 1997, on July 11^th to be precise. I have been transferring schools all my life. I began my studies in Ipeka Christian School. In my 3^rd grade, I moved to Bunda Mulia International School and studied there for 4 years. For my junior high, I studied in Santa Laurensia. Lastly, I graduated school in SMAK 1 Penabur Jakarta.

I’m currently a student of Binus University, or a Binusian. I’m a part of the SoCS, School of Computer Science, majoring in Information Technology. I’m a part of the Global Class and it has only been around a month since I first started my journey in Binus University.

On this blog, I’ll be sharing about my experiences and my ups-and-downs throughout the Freshmen Enrichment Program of Binus University 2015. Stay tune!