UNS — Interested in sociology and political research, a student of Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, joins an internship program as Research Assistant in the Habibie Center (THC). An independent non-governmental and non-profit organization established by the Third President of the Republic of Indonesia, Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, in 1999.
Muhammad Alif Alauddin is a student from the Sociology Study Program, FISIP UNS. Alif, his nickname, has become one of the interns in THC since 2021. Because of the favorable assessment result, Alif, who initially finished his internship in February, is requested to extend his internship program to April 2021. Interestingly, because of his involvement in the Politic and Governmental Department in THC, Alif will assist the researchers in the ‘Public Perception toward Jakarta-Bandung Fast Train Establishment’ project enumeration, editing, and evaluation.
“So, I will be enumerator, to collect the data from a survey. The survey will assess whether it (red: the Jakarta-Bandung fast train) is efficient. I will be specialized in East Jakarta community perception. The training will be started on March 29th, 2021, and starting the data collection afterward,” Alif states to the uns.ac.id, Monday (29/3/2021).
Alif is also requested to join another Department, namely the Peace and Development Department and ASEAN Studies Program Department. His task in these departments is to editing and proofreading the researchers’ research articles before getting published. Alif also prepares the THC Insights, a periodical publication in the current political, economic, and social culture. One of the publications is entitled ‘Beyond the Modernity: Remaking Social Order in the Post-COVID-19’.
“All events are conducted in English. FGD and webinars are all in English. This condition requires adaptation, but it is not a great obstacle. I learned to work professionally in the think tank field. An event today must be finished,” Alif added.
Regarding his reason for taking the THC internship program, the eighth-semester student reveals that he wants to have activity during his semester break, undergraduate thesis writing, and KKN program. Because of his usual tight schedule, Alif must face reality where he has nothing to do aside from his thesis writing and KKN. Finally, the ex-Minister of Strategic Analysis for the BEM UNS 2020 decided to send a personal statement and CV to three NGOs in Jakarta, even though there are no vacancies.
“I received two responses, one of them is from the Habibie Center, which I choose because they have Politic and Governmental Department, this in line with my academic interest. I sent an email, and they called me. The next Monday, I started my internship,” Alif recounts. Moreover, Alif reveals that he wants to get more experience after involved in Demography Center in the LIPI internship program.
“After graduating, I think I will start a career in a similar organization. The one that examines the government policy, social phenomena, and current public policy,” Alif concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Kaffa Hidayati
Editor: Dwi Hastuti