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By Andreas Noreewec, M. Pd – Alumni PBI S2 (Lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea)

The year 2021 may be remembered by many as the year of the novel Corona Virus-2019 pandemic. According to the author, the pandemic is a blessing in disguise because it shoves humans beyond boundaries amid challenges that seem so overwhelming. The world suddenly calls it new-normal as human innovation and creativity unfold like never before. And, for the first time in the history of Yogyakarta State University, the Language and Arts Faculty hosted a webinar that gathers the alumni, staff, partners, and stakeholders to commemorate its 58 anniversary, a program that conventionally an in person-event.

The event is a milestone achievement for Yogyakarta State University and the Language and Arts Faculty. This event not only unifies people but, most importantly, exhibits the rich history of the faculty of Languages and Arts. The success that we enjoyed today is not achieved overnight. It took well over 57 years to build the success that we relished today. This success is accomplished through hard work, commitment, dedication, sacrifice, and of course, the selfless devotion of many brilliant people, both past and present. They have demonstrated outstanding leadership role that we need to learn from and step on, as a stepping stone to build a brighter Language and Arts Faculty tomorrow as we continue to extend the mission and vision of our Language and Arts faculty to be one of the best faculty nationally, regionally and of course globally. This agenda supports the Yogyakarta State University’s mission of moving towards a world-class university! And, as we embark on the journey of securing our university’s world-class status, it is essential to embrace the art of working together. The achievements of that we have witnessed today is never done by a single person! They are done by people working together as a team. 

Over the last 57 years of Language and Arts evolution, the most important thing that we have built is a ‘network.’ The networking I am referring to is concerned with establishing a connection between different people of different walks of life to achieve a common goal.   The students, alumni, the staff (both academic and non-academic), partners, and stakeholders are the most valuable resources of the faculty of Language and Arts and Yogyakarta State University. When we combine these resources and make them work together, they can generate thousands of ideas. These thousand ideas can be translated into tangible resources as we desired. So, we need to remember that network building and fostering relationships in a pool of resources that we have are healthy for organizational or institutional development.

Remember, behind a successful organization; there is a team of hardworking people. Every person is valuable; the cleaner, gardener, security officer, administrative staff, the students, the alumni, the academic staff, partners, and the stakeholders are equally important. We all have our designated roles and responsibility towards the functions and the growth of our faculty of Language and Arts & university as a whole. To achieve the vision and mission of our faculty that will help drive the vision and mission of the university, we need to build a network that is more vibrant and dynamic.  A vibrant & dynamic network means that there must be cohesion in our approach to address challenges of all sorts. In this context, the idea of cohesion denotes that we must put our thoughts, words, and actions together; then, we walk hand in hand and shoulder to carry forward FBS and UNY to another new level and another 58 years.