(Inspirational Story) Surabaya, 2025 - This year's Universitas Airlangga graduation was also enlivened by the inspirational story of international students. One of them came from Yoshiharu Hirano, a student from Fukuoka, Japan, who officially became part of a graduate of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) Universitas Airlangga in 2025.
Familiarly called Yoshi, he studied in the management study program through the International Undergraduate Program (IUP) class of 2021. His interest in the business world has grown since he was in high school. The choice to study in Indonesia is not without reason.
"I have been interested in the business world since high school. Indonesia as a developing country offers many interesting new things to learn," he said.
However, Yoshi's academic journey did not run completely. The early years of his studies coincided with the Covid-19 Pandemic period, when all lecture activities were carried out online. He admitted that he had difficulty building social relations, especially because many students did not activate cameras during online lectures.
"The initial semester is very heavy because everything is online. It's hard to build friendship because many friends don't turn on the camera," he recalled.
His toughness in adapting is the key to his success. Born from a Father of Japanese and Mother from Indonesia, Yoshi has a basic understanding of Indonesian since childhood. He can catch the conversation well, although sometimes it takes time to respond verbally.
When life returned to normal and learning shifted to the face -to -face method, Yoshi had lived in a campus dormitory before finally choosing to live in a boarding house that was closer to the campus environment.
In his daily life, Yoshi also interacts with local culture, including in culinary matters. He admitted that he had difficulty adapting to Indonesian spicy foods. However, he found a menu that became his favorite.
"I like rendang. The spices are very felt," he said enthusiastically.
Not only completing his studies well, Yoshi had even gotten a job before participating in the graduation procession. The story of Yoshi is proof that perseverance, the ability to adapt, and courage to get out of the comfort zone can open the way to success.