Fransiskus Antonius Mahendra Harimurti, a student of the Multimedia Broadcasting of the Vocational Education Program of Universitas Indonesia (UI), became the only student from Indonesia in the Youth Capacity and Building Training & Model APEC event in early July (July 3 to 6, 2024) held in Taiwan. In this event, he, along with a Taiwanese student, created a project, titled “Empowering Athlete’s Career Growth: Fostering Mental Well-Being in APEC.”
This title was chosen after conducting research and networking with other countries, such as Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam, who also participated in the event. Other than that, the problem that often occurs to athletes from almost all economies who experience difficulties in career transition after retirement, also became the background to the choice of title.
Mahendra’s and his partners’ project focused on organizing training for athletes through two workshops every year. In addition, the project also aims to build an online community so that athletes can network with each other and with coaches.
“Preparation starts from making concept notes consisting of specific outline, including project summary, objective, and alignment, then presented in front of other delegations and approved by seven countries, exceeding minimum requirements,” said Mahendra.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), is an intergovernmental organization that promotes economic development and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region through various projects. APEC gives opportunities to students from every economy APEC member to join training or simulation which hone their skills in discussing and debating relevant economic issues in official international conferences with full funding assistance. In the conference, a country’s project must be approved by economies APEC members with a minimum requirement of having 6 co-sponsors to be run.
This program is one of the collaboration implementations between the Vocational Education Program UI with the Taipei Economic and Trade Office (TETO). Other than collaboration in the form of student mobility, other programs will continue to be developed, starting from teaching to student exchange between UI Vocational academics and university representatives in Taipei.
Mahendra admits that he is interested in following various international programs because of the value of giving back. This experience increases his efficacy as a result of networking with other students from worldwide and gaining different perspectives. “Through this event, I gained many new experiences and friends. I hope that my participation in this program can become one form of youth movement toward world socio-economic issues. In addition, I can give back the things I have, learned, or know, especially to the underprivileged community,” said Mahendra.
Previously, one of the activities that Mahendra participated in was the Youth Abroad Expedition #4 with the theme, Cikgu Mengajar, in Malaysia in November 2023. He, along with his Indonesian friends, taught reading, writing, and counting to the local communities. Mahendra also participated in the StudyXChange #4 event held by the Global Youth Ambassador in Malaysia in Mei 2024. In this opportunity, Mahendra, with other youths, provided teaching, activities, and early sexual education to the community.
He said, “In the end, this international event I participated in will become a stepping point for me and other youths to learn, improve, and give insights back to the public. I believe that other youths will be able to explore themselves according to the skills and competence they have in order to positively impact the local and global communities.”
