Student Internship Exchange in Tarlac Agricultural University, Philippines

This year is very
amazing for me. Because in this year I can realize one of my dream that is
joining in the student internship exchange program. The main point, why I want
to feel this experience is because I want to know new prespective about
education, habbit, culture and how people work in the other country. As an
engineering student, maybe we have the same subject that taught by our teacher
in all of the countries like a calculus, physics, programming etc. But i think
there is a diverification in how the teach us, how the situation in the class,
and how the student interaction with their teacher. Stay one month in abroad
also will make me learn in how the culture here, how the society act, and what
should i do to interact with them. The other purpose is i want to improve my
skill especially for english communication because in abroad i  forced to
spreak in english. From that condition i can learn and slowly but sure  I
will able speak english. 

After the PENS
International Corporation Office announced that I am as the selected student
who will join this program and the Philippines is the country that will be
visited, I am very excited to heard that. Philippines is the one of amazing
countries in south east asia because the society use english as the second
language for communication. So, even if I speak with the old vegetables seller
in the market or the child who play in the ground, they can speak english well.
The condition like that can not be found in Indonesia. So, the Philippines is
the best place if i want to improve my english communication skill.

During stay in Tarlac
Philippines for one month, I did many activities and got a lot of experiences. 

A.    Welcome party 

Began to depart form
surabaya until i arrive at Tarlac Agricultural University, i think me and my
friend, Heri, just the only student from Indonesia that will stay here for
internship. But apparently, there are so many student from Indonesia here. More
than 35 student for the february batch and 8 student just started the
internship program in march like me. But the 8 student, take 3 month for
internship here. And the 35 others back to Indonesia two and three days after i
arrived. Whlie i arrive at TAU, I directly join to the welcome and farewell
party. They welcomed us very well. The student from Indonesia who take the 3
month programe is from ITB and UPN Yogyakarta. So they are become my friends in
here.  In the welcome and farwell party,
all of internship student show thir performance. They are sing together and the
song is philipino song and indonesia song.  After singing, they give the
official merchandise of their university to the president of TAU. 







B.    Internship Deployment 

In the Tarlac
Agricultural University, there is no electrical engineering major. In the TAU
there is only two engineering major that are Geodetic Engineering and
Agricultural and Biosystem Engineering. Because the Agricultural and Biosystem
Engineering has more subject in electrical, they put me under this major. But
it just for administration, and for my work, i work in IDLUZ office. IDLUZ is
Infrastructure Development Land-Use and Zoning. IDLUZ is under Planning and
Dvelopment Office and the director of the PDO is Mr. Noel J. Petero. In IDLUZ
office there are some peoples who work as an electrical engineer, civil
engineer, and architect. They work together to make the master development plan
of Tarlac Agricultural University. The chief of IDLUZ is Mr. Benji M. Dela
Vega. I work under supervised by mr Jerome Jaime, he is the only one electrical
engineer here. He is an expert in electrical especially for building. So, my
project here is to make an electricaal wiring of  IT center. IT center is
compuer laboratory in the Tarlac Agricultural University. 




C.    Daily Internship
Activity

In daily activity, i
work in IDLUZ to do my project about electrical wiring design for a building.
In the first week, my supervisor, mr Jerome ask me to join his class. I observe
the agricultural and biosystem engineering class.  When i join in the
class, usually, the teacher teach the student using english when it’s exact
class. My supervisor told me that it’s more easy to explain exact using english
than tagalog languages. That is the new prespective for me, because in
Indonesia all the subject is taught by Indonesian language. It is no matter and
easier to understand the lesson i think. But when we faced with english book,
surely i feel it’s hard to understand it. So i hope the teacher in Indonesia
always improve their methode to teach the student. Maybe they can combine or
using billingual in the class. Another activity that I did with my supervisor
is practise to measuring voltage and current in the distribution line around
TAU. Mr. Jerome teach me how to use the measurement equipment that own by him
self. Because in the TAU ther is no electrical engineering major, so they don’t
have many equipment that i can learn from it to practice. In the second week ,
I focused to do my work. I draw the sketch of th IT Center Building from the
wall, window, door, furniture, and exactly the electrical wiring. I finished my
project in two week. During my work, my supervisor also teach me how to using
Autocad. Actually Autocad is not new software for me because n the first
semester, i also do my work in one of subject using Autocad. So it’s not to
hard for me because i already have the basic. Mr jerome also teach me how to
make a panel board, how to calculate the power that coraleted in how to determine
the rating of MCB should be used. After deterimine the MCB he teach me how to
determine the wires and conduit shoud be used. From that, i learn so much about
electrical instalation.

Whenever I feel bored of
my work, my supervisor ask me surronding the campus, and we observe some place
or LAB that TAU have. Not just observe, he explain me well about what we
observe. I have experience to observing the watering system in the vegetables
fram of TAU. They use solar cell to operating the motor pump to take the water
from bellow the soil and than will be saved in the big tank. From the big tank
they can open the valve to watering the plant. I also observing
underconstruction building project. I see how the worker work there. I observe
how the electrical equipment should be instaled. I also know any kind of
equipment in reality not just in the single line diagram symbol. 







D.    Life in Tarlac

The location of Tarlac
Agricultural University is not in the midle of city. It’s in the village between
Santa Ignacia and Camiling. So, i think it hard to find food here, especially
for halal food. In the work day, we eat in the canteen, but I am not sure that
it’s halal. But i always choose the menu that can be eaten by moslem.  The
problem come when it’s Saturday and Sunday. There is no canteen open. I just
eat what can i eat, like snack, noodle, banana etc, because I live in the dorm
with 8 friends more who take 3 month program. They have more complete
fasilities, like rice cooker, refigerator and others that support them to do
self cooking. But me and heri don’t have the equipment, so we must buy food
everyday.In Saturday, we usually went to the market in Camiling, or Santa
Ignacia to buy some food for a week ahead. Because the coordinator here just
allowed us to go to the market only in Saturday or Sunday.  We always go
to every where accompanied by our buddies. They are very kind and very welcomed
to us. It’s very interesting to comunicate with them because we have many same
word between tagalog and bahasa indonesia. to go to everywhere, mostly we use
Jeepne, and sometime use threecycle or Bus. Jeepne and Threecycle is the public
transportation in Tarlac and maybe we can find in the entire of the Phlippines
but we will not find it in Indonesia. Threecycle is like Becak  but if
Becak put the passanger in the front of the driver, the threecycle put the
passanger beside the driver. There is a lot of threecycle here. Jeepne is like
angkot but it’s bigger. If in Indonesia every angkot have the same color, but
jeepne has anykind of color, so it’s unique.  In the Camiling there is a mosque, so we can
pray avery Friday there. I think there are quite a lot of moslem population
here. It’s more than my expectation because in the previous, i think there is
no moslem here. We can also find the moslem in the market. They as a seller
there. I feel such an amazing thing because there can live peacefully under
minority. 




E.    Result and Opinion

 Generally life in Tarlac is nice because there
is no significant diferences between Indonesia and Tarlac. The weather, the
building, the situation mostly are same with in Indonesia. But the most thing
that we should aware is about the food. Becuse there is many food made by pork.
So, as the moslem, it’s better to self cooking. Working in IDLUZ also give me
the experieces  to work as an designer, and planner. I believe that it
will be very usefull to me as an electrical engineer. I have the certificate of
electrical  instalation work of domestic building and by joining in IDLUZ
i  can combined it, not only good in practical but also good in planning
and desgning.  Here, i  also learn
more how to deliver my idea and my opinion. And the most important thing is how
to interact with them and show how the indonesian people work. I try my best to
finishing my work in theorytical even my supervisor did not teach me. Because
as a student we must know the theory not just practice. 




F.      What I Want to Further Improve

After this program, i
want to improve my communication skill in english. I will try to use english in
my daily life with my friends.  I feel that my communication skill in
engsilh is improved so much during my time in Philippines, so i do not want my
skill getting lower again because i never practice.  Another thing is about my habbit, i learn
about disipline there, because in Philippines and Indonesia is different. In
the TAU, we start to work at 7.30 am, it’s earlier than in PENS. So we must
prepare all of thing earlier even i feel very sleepy in the morning. I also
learn about how to built friendship with my friensds there, especially my
friends from indonesia, while they seperate as two block, and they have a
confict, i try to be nonaligned. I think it’s the best way, because we meet
just a few time in abroad. I don’t want to make an hostility, i just want to
make a friendship. 







G.   Different Society

The differnces between
Indonesian and filipino is not to much.  In daily life, there are many
filipino who work as indonesan people work. They are many farmers, drivers,
teachers, etc. They also have night market or “pasar malam”, commonly they use
motorcycles, they also have a traditional market that we can bargain it. It’s
like in Indonesia. But the most difference is mostly all the people there can
speak english. So we are not to worry to communicate with them. Thats make me
happy to visit philippines. Beside the language, they also have big tolerance
with another society, like a moslem community. They are life peacefully there
even moslem is minority.




H.            
Plan and Future

After completing this
program, i would like to share the experience with my friends about what I had
experienced here in Philippines. I will try to apply something that has been
going well in Philippines to Indonesia, especially about communication.




I.               
Appreciation

Firstly, thank you to
PENS that gave me an opportunity to get the experience study in Philippines
through student exchange program. I am very happy and grateful for this
opportunity. This experience was very valuable for me.  I can find the new prespectife about study in
abroad, i also learn about various cultures and make friends from other
countries that were very special.  Secondly,
thank you to my supervisor, Mr Jerome B Jaime who always patiently to teach me and
accopampany me surronding the campus. And thirdly to Dr. Zainal Arief as Director
of Electronic Engineering Polytechnic Institute of Surabaya.