Valedictorian Speech – IM

To the honorable guest, Chairman Utsuda Shoei, President Itami Hiroyuki, GSIM Dean, GSIR Dean, all the faculties and staffs, guests, family, and the most special to all of us, the highlight of this hall, the class of 2023 – good morning to all of you.

First of all, to the class of 2023, I would like to say, congratulations. We deserve to be here for all our hard work in the past two years. Two years ago, most of us struggled with the uncertainty of starting our studies at IUJ. We started with some optimism; some of us could come to IUJ in October or November 2021, but many of us had to wait until March and April 2022, just like me. We started with online classes which sometimes started very early for us, and ended up very late for those in Japan. We did it! Then, when we finally gathered in IUJ, many people said, “Wow, you finally come out of the screen”. We experienced the up-and-down together. We shared the frustration of waiting for Japan to open the border and the disappointment when we did not get the grade we expected, to work together for a project, to survive the thesis or report presentation and revision. We also enjoyed the happy moments of attending the face-to-face class finally, the exciting moments of exploring activities together, hiking the mount behind IUJ, eating good lunch in the restaurant nearby, performing in the international festival, and so on.

In the spring term of 2023, I was lucky enough to be the teaching assistant of Corporate Finance. In the class tutoring session, sometimes the student asked if one formula could solve all the questions. I realized, just like solving problems, I think the two-year learning program in IUJ, is not only about sitting in class, plugging formulas and frameworks, but also about the interaction. The whole experience trained us to understand context and approach. IUJ has very diverse students coming from different countries, ranges of ages, and professional backgrounds. So, it is always challenging to understand others while also maintaining respect. On one hand, life can be short, we never know what will happen tomorrow. But life can be long enough, when we reminisce all the decisions and actions until we reach this position. So, let’s take a while to appreciate ourselves, to take the whole learning process as a gift to our future self, also to take time to appreciate other that stand for us.

Pursuing master degree, especially MBA, is a privilege for me that I am very grateful for. I would also like to send my gratitude as without them my IUJ journey will not be the same. So, first, let me thank my scholarship sponsor, JERA, that gave me support to study in IUJ and allow me for MBA Exchange in Europe. To my supervisor, Prof. Chuang, thank you for your guidance and advice not only about academic but also about life, to offer me to be a teaching assistant in Corporate Finance and to teach us Python. To Prof. Lee, Prof. Chow, and Prof. Chuang, thank you for teaching finance and accounting, I plan to learn more about it in the future. To Prof. ZhangZhang, thank you for letting me to be your assistant for International Management. To the respected faculty, thank you very much for sharing the knowledge. To the Japanese sensei, thank you for patiently teach Japanese from zero until now. To the all the IUJ staff, especially Wakiya Takeshi-san, Hobbs Haruka-san, Kitamura Haruna-san, for your countless support in our academic and student life. To all the Career Support staff, especially Shioya Ryoko-san, thank you for helping me to set my life after graduation in Japan. To the counselor Ishibashi, who helped me through the hard times.

In this occasion, I will also personally and respectfully, thank my husband, Adhi Maulana Akbar, the one who pushed me to pursue master degree and for being my biggest supporter. My gratitude also goes to my parents, for their prayer that keep me protected. To my Indonesian friends, especially the class of 2023, Yuvita; Arif; Aini; and Risa, especially to Yuvita, we both deserve this achievement. To my Japanese friend, Kimura Mari-san, for all the support to immerse in Japanese society.

Last but not least, I will end this speech with a little reminder of the IUJ vision and GSIM mission, about being a global leader and developing ‘wise’ individuals. I believe that one day, I will see many of you becoming very important people in government or corporation, I hope that our experience in IUJ will open our eyes, ears, and hearts wider to understand the world, to respect people despite the gender and origin, and to be wise and responsible leaders for the future.

Thank you.

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