Independent Campus Programs (MBKM) are sets of policies initiated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. This program allows students to gain experience learning numerous other competencies regardless of their campus and expertise.
Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) fully supports this program by implementing it on campus. One of the accounting students from Udinus, Rahma Kurniawati, participated in various Independent Campus Programs, including the Student Creativity Program (PKM) and the Independent Entrepreneurship Program (WMK).
According to Rahma Kurniawati, better known as Nia, experience is the most important thing a student could have. Being a university student not only requires maintaining a good GPA but also garnering experiences from sources other than academic ones to enrich one’s knowledge and skills.
“Through these Independent Campus Programs, I gained the opportunity to hone my soft skills, including time management, financial management, and planning skills,” revealed Nia, born in 2004.
Rahma claimed that her time-management skills saw an improvement during her participation in these programs, as she did not abandon her responsibility as a student despite her busy schedule.
Moreover, Nia also emphasized the importance of still attending lectures. This is because the Independent Campus program runs during a student’s studies.
“Through these Independent Campus Programs, I was obliged to carve my determination and trust in my teammates. A good team is a team in which the members trust each other to reach a certain goal,” she emphasized.
Interest in Entrepreneurship
Nia, a student from Demak, participated in the Independent Entrepreneurship Program in 2023 and made it to the investor summit stage. At that time, their product was a powdered ginger beverage mixed with flowers known as Asian piegonwings. The product was branded as Sugeng Aroma.
“I have indeed had an interest in entrepreneurship ever since I was a kid. This interest in entrepreneurship emerged in response to the need to express my hobby and learn long-term financial management,” said the owner of the @nyakayn Instagram account.
In addition to the Independent Entrepreneurship Program, Nia was also trusted to lead a Student Creativity Program Team in the Entrepreneurship Category. Her team was able to get funded by creating a snack bar product known as Mangosteen and Triticum Aestivum Bars (MANTABS), containing immunostimulatory substances to mitigate cancer symptoms.
The product was an answer to the low demands of mangosteens, despite them being good commodities. The team partnered with mangosteen farmers from Ungaran to resolve the broken supply and demand of mangosteen.
“The fact that people don’t like to consume health supplements due to their bitter taste is also the reason why our product was created in the first place. We decided to choose a snack bar as the basis of our product since it can easily be consumed by anyone,” she elaborated.
During her participation in the Independent Campus Programs, Nia admitted that Udinus had provided remarkable support, including a lab to conduct nutrient-checking, certain connections to conduct field-checking, and publishing the product’s existence to various media.
“Through this program, I become proud of myself for meeting with numerous individuals with diverse mindsets, allowing myself to be more organized. To my fellow students, keep your spirit high up in the sky, and don’t ever give up! Just believe that our capacity is determined by what we have in our minds and by the will of God,” she cheered. (Humas Udinus/Ika. Foto: Humas Udinus)
