Artikel ini adalah karya dari Edward Christopher Yo dari IPH School (East) yang merupakan pemenang kategori di Jurusanku Essay Competition in Colaboration with Victoria University .
Standing firm and determined in Australia, Victoria University has established a noteworthy reputation among its peers, with almost a hundred year of teaching experience. Founded in 1916, Victoria University is one of the 40 public universities in Australia which is also placed in the top four percent of world universities ranking. With its solid determination to help foster students’ skills and its undoubted prestige, this university has made itself a pleasant destination for both local and international students pursuing different goals and success.
The renowned name of Victoria University has also reached my nation, Indonesia, through annual seminars held by representatives and academic catalogues given in my own school. If I were given the once-in-a-lifetime chance to study at Victoria University, I would be interested in taking the Sport Engineering course. Since this course is still very rare, Victoria University has the advantage of attracting students who have ambitious goals in pursuing a career in sport industry. The main reason I favor this course is that I want to revive the importance of sport in human’s lives and create inventive sport equipment which will benefit society. I am not stating that current sport technologies are not adequate, but in order to ameliorate exercise effectiveness and reduce risks of potential injury, sport equipment and technology must be renewed and enhanced in the future. Moreover, many individuals nowadays take sport for granted; they merely consider sport a secondary need and therefore not fundamental. Contrary to this dogmatic mindset, sport actually promotes physical and mental health more than we can imagine. One of my future goals is to change this limited mindset to a more open-minded one. Various surveys conducted in different locations and conditions have supported the hypothesis that the level of productivity and health is directly proportional to the presence of sporting activity. Moreover, Victoria University would make a great option for students pursuing a career in sport as it has the greatest number of partnerships with sport companies and the highest number of graduates working in the sport work field in Australia. These achievements convincingly prove that Victoria University is a leader in sport and an education choice to be considered.
In 2015, the number of students enrolled in Victoria University has reached 47,000, with international students covering 32 percent of the total population. In other words, about 15,040 international students from various backgrounds have chosen Victoria University as their destination for higher level of education. In my opinion, what makes Victoria University very popular among international students is mainly its dynamic internal atmosphere. Since a lot of students from different nations study there, the university is equipped with diverse cultures and various ethnicities. This condition will prevent one from feeling left out and may influence people there to learn and interact with other individuals from different cultures.. A famous quote states: every person is a door to a new world; considering this aspect, Victoria University makes a great place for students to build strong social network, which readily prepares them for work life. The university also provides lots of social activities which suit each student’s own interest, such as chess club, football tournament, photography competition, and even charity act. By adding non-academic activities to its environment, Victoria University encourages students to be more creative, more refreshed, and more socially active.
Other than its dynamic atmosphere, the university is also renowned for its reputation in research and for providing modern practical course. Nowadays, when our world revolves around globalization, students should not only broaden their knowledge in theoretical aspect but should also have keen insight in practical work and application. For example, a student may excel in memorizing the concept of and definitions in nanotechnology, but can he or she apply the knowledge when asked to make the program chip for robots? Today, both theoretical and practical knowledge are necessary if one wants to achieve success in a certain field. With its outstanding research facilities and program, Victoria University transcends students’ practical skills to the next level.
In conclusion, I think Victoria University will be a perfect place for me to deepen my knowledge in Sport Engineering course. Provided with its facilities and rich cultures, international students, including me, will undoubtedly consider this university a future destination for education.