Yogyakarta, June 22nd 2020 – Gadjah Mada University’s FISIPOL BRIWORK cooperated with Jogja International MUN (JOINMUN) 2020 in holding the #BRIWORKThinkTogether discussion titled “International Relations = Diplomat?” through the Google Meet platform. This discussion invited three International Relations Department student batch 2018 who also represented JOINMUN 2020; Dhania Salsa as a moderator, as well as Christophorus Ariobumi and Fransiskus Gabriel as the speakers.
Right at 2 pm, the moderator said that the discussion will start as soon as participants enter the Google Meet room. Around 2.10 pm, the moderator opened the discussion by introducing herself and asking where the participants came from. It turns out that the participants came from many regions, there are even those outside of the Java island. The moderator then explained a bit about the discussion topic and she also introduced the other two speakers.
The discussion was conducted with a question and answer method; the moderator asked several questions which were then answered by the speakers. The first few questions are pretty general, such as the reasons for choosing the department, how the speakers knew international relations, and the speaker’s first thoughts of the International Relations department. Bumi and Gabriel had different reasons in choosing the International Relations department. Gabriel already set his mind upon choosing the department since high school. He also watched videos of diplomats which once went viral. From then on, he had a dream of becoming a diplomat.
For Bumi, his interest for international issues stemmed from his experience in an international summer camp when he was 14 years old. Before that, Bumi never talked about international issues. When he saw that the summer camp participant knows more about international issue, he became interested to learn more about it. He then asked people close to him and scour the internet to see which university department talks about international issues specifically. Then he found the International Relations department.
The discussion continued with a discussion about the speaker’s experience once they enter the Gadjah Mada University’s International Relations Department as a university student. The moderator asked whether their expectation matches their first semester experience. The moderator also asked the speakers to tell how their experience as a university student progresses until now and whether their dream profession is still the same as when before they enter the university. She also asked what are the speaker’s favorite lessons and tips on boosting their performance in the university. Both the speakers explained their experience thoroughly and with passion. Both Bumi and Gabriel used an easy-to-understand language and they give real life examples so that the participants have a better grasp on what they are talking about.
In line with the previous topic – how to sustain our performance during our university days – the discussion is followed by talking about what the activities that the moderator and speakers do, which is JOINMUN. Bumi and Gabriel explained that JOINMUN was open for university students from every department. In reality, even though it seems to be closely related to International Relation because it contains the word “United Nations”, many MUN delegates are not International Relation students. Both Bumi and Gabriel have met delegates from the Law, Medical, and Pharmacy Department.
Other than that, even though in JOINMUN delegates are trained to be more diplomatic in representing countries in certain issues, a lot of the participants don’t want to be a diplomat. Bumi and Gabriel said that a lot of the participants only want to learn certain issues from a global perspective. In MUN, a lot of issues are raised; issues of health, journalism, child labor, and many more. Every participants can choose the issues they want to focus on.
Before entering the answer and question session with the participants, the moderator gave a conclusion of the discussion. She said that in the end, International Relations student don’t have to be a diplomat. There are a lot of opportunities to have a career in other areas which is also facilitated indirectly by the learning process in the department. Also, there are a lot of ways to delve into international issues as an International Relations student, such as by joining MUN. After conducting the question and answer session, the discussion ended on 15:15 pm. For attendees that still have some question about the International Relations department and JOINMUN, they can reach out to the official Instagram of KOMAHI and JOINMUN 2020. Meanwhile, for participants who are interested in international issues, they can listen to UGM International Relations Department’s podcast.