Meet Felicia Budi Mulyono, our Best Graduate and Summa Cum Laude alumni of BINUS International Management (IBM) on the 72th Graduation. Known among friends as “Fefe”, she shared with us her journey, challenges she faced, and strategis that helped her thrive both academically and personally. Fefe’s journey reveals that success is not always about perfection, but it’s all about consistency and discipline to stay focus on your goals. This reflects the same BINUSIAN’s value in her BINUSIAN cards, Striving for Excellence, meaning that you must take all of tasks seriously, do not underestimate the smallest thing, do it wholeheartedly, and full of responsibility.

“Kitab Sakti” and Her Discipline Study Styles

For Fefe, learning starts even before the semester begins. Around a week or few days before each class, she opens the material and summarizes it in her own words, and compiles everything in a binder which she and her friends called as “Kitab Sakti”.

Instead of depending solely on the slides’ materials, she focuses on the lecturer’s key points and rewrites them in her style, as she stated “Kalau dikelas fokus (saya) sudah mendengar bagaimana dosen menjelaskan materialnya.” She also stated, it took her around 1-2 hours to review all the materials, resulting in a very simple 1-2 pages of summary. This habit saved her time and built long-term understanding.

Beyond the Classroom: Roles, Responbilities, and Balance

Fefe’s student life went far beyond sitting in lecturers. She had other non-academic experiences such as; Faculty Leader (FL), Faculty Partner (FP), Peer Counsellor, Mentor for Financial Management which granted her scholarship, and certification achiever of Indonesia Human Capital Forum (FCHI). Most of the roles are centred in teaching, which is something she is very passionate about. She stated, “Saya suka banget sharing soal ilmu saya. Sampai waktu itu sebelum ulangan biasanya saya ngajarin temen-temen lewat ZOOM.”

 

Other than that, she joined one of BINUS’s organization, Persekuatan Oikoumene (PO), to enhance her soft skills. “Saya join PO karena komunitasnya positif. Kalau kuliah dan gak ikut (sesuatu) positif, takutnya salah arah.”, she revealed. Through PO, Fefe took on roles such as division leader for small groups, where she was responsible for guiding members and ensuring wellbeing. She also delevoped her leadership and communication skills by serving as a worship leader and MC. For Fefe, these activities weren’t just about organizational titles, they were about building character, expanding networks, and creating a meaningful balance between academics and non-academics life.

To balance her academic and non-academic life, Fefe heavily relied on her phone. Every new assignment, deadline, or appointment went straight into her phone, ensuring there is nothing left. She made a habit to check not only the agenda of the day, but for the upcoming days to prepare in advance. “Kalau ada tugas gampang, saya kerjain duluan. Yang lebih susah saya simpan belakangan, ketika ada waktu lebih longgar, kecuali memang urgent.”, she explained. For her, discipline in planning was the key on top of the packed Schedule.

 

The Struggles Behind the Spotlight

Her journey may seem flawless, Felicia is honest about her sacrifices. The title “Best Graduate” came with a lot of scarification and social stigma. She revealed that she chose to limit her personal life, “Di saat teman-teman saya bisa hangout lebih sering, saya hanya hangout 2 kali sebulan.” She even chose not to date during her studies, focusing instead on her academic journey. The stigma she faced the most is about her being “too ambitious”, which made her overthink sometimes. However, she faced these challenges with staying focus on the goals.

Words of Wisdom for Future BINUSIANs

Fefe stated some of her advices;

  1. First, don’t settle in the comfort zone. Competition will only get tougher, especially for our generation which her high school teacher revealed as “demographic bonus” made it hard for everyone to secure a stable job. Make sure that you have qualities that stand out more than everyone else.
  2. Second, keep focus on your goals, cause the world is wider than you think. Fefe revealed that she saw a lot of people who were very ambitious at first, but loss interest after awhile because of how their surroundings. Staying true to your ultimate goals even when others slow down is what keeps you ahead.
  3. Lastly, she stated, “Kesalahan pertama adalah part of your learning, so, don’t feel like your whole word jatuh.” Revealed that being resilience is the way to succeed in life.

For Fefe, the IBM program shaped her to think globally. From various selections of enrichment like exchange programs, or even multiple scholarships opportunities and international certifications.  IBM gave her the platform to go beyond local perspectives. “IBM memang mempelajari semua hal soal bisnis, tapi, itu adalah kekuatannya. Dengan pembawaan materi dengan Bahasa Inggris dan praktisi berpengalaman, itu memberi mindset untuk melihat hal dari sisi global.”