Semester 1 Dentistry in UGM (Bits & Tips)

1st semester is over baby! I cannot believe that it's done. Yays! It felt like the first day of university was yesterday. How time flies. Feeling blessed and thankful for the journey though it was kind of crazy and hectic but somehow, I think by the grace of God, I made it through. I can't say that I excelled through it, I won't say that I barely made it because my result is just an average. :)

I had 13 subjects (we called it mata kuliah in Indonesia) for my 1st semester. It was hard but try not to think of the hardness of the course you're doing, just focus on surviving each and every day and somehow you'll get there. Get what I mean? Hehe

For my batch it was SKS system (sistem satuan kredit semester) or generally known as credit system. So basically, GPA value or (known as IP for Indonesian university) will be calculated based on this.

Grade = value 

A = 4

B = 3

C = 2

D = 1

The values above will be multiplied with the SKS value accordingly and divided by total value of SKS for that semester.

To further explain this, let's say you get an A for your Microbiology and B for ilmu fisika and C for demografi.

So your IP wil be,

 4 X 3 + 3 X 2 + 2 X1 =20 

3 + 2 +1 

So the IP value is = 3.33

(Of course the example above doesn't include all the subjects cause too many and I'm sorta lazy today, hehe)

So #tips1 , pay extra attention on the subjects that have high SKS value like Microbiology, Kewarganegaraan (KWN) and Pancasila bla bla bla...

#tips2 : The only way to score Pancasila and KWN is to memorize everything. Yes, you heard me. MEMORIZE! You want the A ? MEMORIZE. (emphasized enough?..)

#tips3 Be active in class, there's actually marks allocated for that. Ask questions, discuss the lessons (when the lecturer asked lah)

#tips4 For Microbiology, you'll have a lab session. For every lab session (this is Indonesian university system), you'll have pretest. You'll be given the book to study for each pretest so study and try your best to pass the pretest. If you fail your pretest, you can't do your lab session (we call that 'inhal'). If you inhal more or 3 times (depending on the rules, cause it probably is different every year), you won't be able to sit the exam for that subject. So basically, you'll have to wait for next year to repeat that subjects. (No joke I tell you, super strict)

I'll write another entry to list out all the tips later. :)

Anyway, back to sem 1's life. It was fine. I had fun although it was stressful as heck.

Study, eat and sleep.

Fun?

Yeah, of course we had fun.

Ehm, we went for movies, we went out for dinner and lunch with my KG mates. 

I get to try out new food. (This is the best part cause I'm a foodie XD)

You can check out my instagram for foodporn posts. LOL.

I get to meet new people who I have the privilege of getting know and be friends with.

I get to meet different types of people and learned to accept them for who they are.

I get to serve in Sundays school. (It is quite different from the Children cell where I used to serve back in my home church. The system, the kids..but somehow, I end up loving the kids anyway. :) )

But the biggest lesson I've ever learned is the fact that I am stronger than what I used to be and that is not by me but by the grace of God because He is my source of strength and without that faith, I don't think I can be as positive as I am now, even when things are hard. :) So i guess being in Indonesia, it has been a journey of having a bigger faith. LOL. But it has not been just that. I have been learning, I am learning and I keep on learning. Now that's a good thing. :)

Note to self: Keep it up Becca. Gotta do better. Cheers! :)