Yogyakarta (15/04/2023) -The first Bincang Alumni & Malam Keakraban of the Faculty of Letters are held in Driyarkara Auditorium, Sanata Dharma University. As a celebration form of the 30th anniversary of the Faculty of Letters, this event is held under the grand theme of “Peran Sastra dalam Menjawab Perkembangan Zaman”.
The event was held as a vessel for students of USD, especially those who are about to graduate, to learn more about life after graduating by sharing it with the alumni. Simon Arsa Manggala, the chairperson of the Bincang Alumni & Malam Keakraban stated, “Every era has its own challenges, so alumni, as the person who already went through some of those challenges, can give a stock for the others, and Bincang Alumni is a vessel to collect the alumni.”
The alumni speaking as source persons are Hugo Indratno, an alumni of USD English Letters Department, Agus Budi Purwanto, M.A., an alumni of USD History Department, And Kabrina Rian Ferdiani, S.S., an alumni of Indonesian Literature Department. At the event, they started discussing the topic with Hugo Indratno’s quote, “The relation that’s in the faculty is as is,” conveying the meaning of the importance of being down-to-earth with a great attitude.
Agreeing with what Hugo Indratno said, Agus Budi Purwanto also tells the importance of connecting with a great attitude and social observance. Adding to that, Kabrina tells her story about digital marketing and tells us to challenge ourselves. “We can grow following the growth of the world if we always broaden our knowledge and not only rely on the one we get on campus.”
Bincang Alumni ended with a 2006 potluck party video as a form of reminiscence of the college times for the alumni. Although it was an old video, the recent generation students enjoyed the inclusion upon seeing familiar faces such as the USD lecturer.
Afterward, the event continues with malam keakraban where there is a performance, such as a band performance from ELMO, spoken word poetry by Agnes Seraphine (USD English Letters Student batch 2021), and another guest band. As the name suggests, the gathering night brings the student, staff, and alumni closer together.
The night goes on with a lot of dancing and other fun stuff. As an audience member, Maria Diva (USD English Letters Student batch 2021) said, “There is no minus for the event because it’s really fun, and I enjoy the whole event.” And she further said, “ If I were to join the event again next year, I would definitely join again because it’s literally wow.”
Raffi Andaru, ELMO’s band vocalist, states, “I think that this event is really warming because there are a lot of students involved and the lecturer seeing their old students coming back into Sanata Dharma.” This event really brings them together.
The Bincang Alumni and gathering night event was a huge success, with the proof that 50 or more people came to the event, Aji Cahyo Baskoro, Head of the 30th Anniversary Faculty of Letters event, said.
“Tonight has been going well, especially how things were prepared with so little time. There are still a lot of people coming and enjoying the event.” With that, Bincang Alumni & Malam Keakraban will be carried onto the upcoming Faculty of Letters anniversary.
Journalist: Gregorius Beryl S.S.
Editor: Sitti Aminah Intan Utami, Vonna Meisya Saputra (QC)