“Congratulations! You have passed the selection in Universitas Airlangga as an English Language and Literature student!”

The announcement denoted the beginning of my adventure in Universitas Airlangga as a part of the English Department. I was bubbling over with excitement because of the eagerness to learn all about English Language and Literature. After passing through the second semester, there is a lot to tell the freshmen who are wondering about English Department; ranging from the impression, the courses, and everything about EDSA (English Department Students' Association).

The first thing I noticed as soon as I joined the EDSA family was the hospitality of the upperclassmen and the freshmen themselves. It contributes a lot in breaking the ice between us thus far. The lecturers are kind as well. They patiently lead us who are still struggling to comprehend English words. Therefore, we can enjoy the classes and grasp the materials competently. For the assignments, some were entertaining so that the students would not get bored at all. The examples are making a book review and podcast. In other words, my impression up to now of English Department is pretty much adequate, and I would not want it any other way.

In the first semester, the courses are full of basics in English. There are Basic English Grammar I, Paragraph Writing, Interactional Conversation, Factual Listening, and Factual Reading. All of them are talking about the basics of learning English starting from the bottom. Like the title, Basic English Grammar I requires the students to study basic grammar, and Paragraph Writing is willing to train our writing's ability. While Interactional Conversation provides speaking practice, Factual Listening drills the students' ability to listen to the daily conversation. Last but not least, Factual Reading examines the capability to read and analyze text with techniques. For me, the first semester is the perfect time for students to deepen their comprehension of every English skill.

Moving on to the second semester, I am currently learning the advanced variants of the previous courses. Starting with the Basic English Grammar II, Basic Essay Writing, Institutional Talk, Effective Listening, and ending with the Effective Reading. Besides the English courses, English Department also provides other classes. One of those lessons is Cross-Cultural Communication. Since we are in the Faculty of Humanities, it is a necessity to learn about others' cultures. I am personally fond of this course because we get to know more about how to communicate with foreign people from different cultures. We can also choose one of the compulsory elective courses, either Entrepreneurship I or Introduction to Public Relations. In this semester, you will need higher order thinking skills since every single lesson is more troublesome. However, they compel you to make your brain sharper and smarter than before.

After you join the courses, the lecturers would give you some recommended sources that will assist you in learning English. For instance, Betty Azar's book for basic grammar. With a lot of practice and exercises, these books indeed could help me refine my English skills. If you follow the lecturers' guidance earnestly, I am sure that it would help you nailing all the subjects.

Being a part of the English Department means you are a member of EDSA. Together with EDSA, your university life would never be tedious. It has a lot of annual activities that all of us can participate in. During Ramadan, we hold a charity event known as RICE (Ramadan in Charity with EDSA). In addition, there are Comparative Studies with other universities' English departments and the freshmen orientation agenda called Days with EDSA (DATE). 

Following the previous events, an annual celebration of EDSA's anniversary named Shakesperior is conducted from September until November. If you are keen on acting, you should participate in English Nite (E-Nite), an annual play from EDSA. Not only providing us with some fun-loving events, EDSA also establishes several programs to enhance our knowledge, namely, Company Visit and Thesis 101. While Company Visit aims to facilitate students' career interests, Thesis 101 is an event for analyzing the upperclassmen's thesis to the other students—mainly the youngers. With these events held by EDSA, you will not be dying of boredom.

On the other hand, if you desire to perform your certain likings and gain some friends all at once, we have some communities which are ready to be your second home. Some of them are a futsal sport community by the name of EFS and ED-G for students who fancy sports games. When a student wants to improve their speaking skill, then ECC is the right answer for them. In other communities, EXPOSURE is ready to assist students who love photography, and there is also EDSAMAN that will support you to master the Saman dance along with the others. 

Personally, becoming a part of EDSA is a blessing because of all these benefits. Alongside some ups and downs, whether they are just minors or majors, I am very grateful. Even though the learning fulfillment for the first two semesters is conducted online, it does not make the learning spirit faded. It is definitely the right decision to be here, and I do hope you can relish your first year in the English Department of UNAIR too. 

Welcome to EDSA, new students of the English Department in Universitas Airlangga! Set your heart ablaze and be ready to be student achievers together with EDSA. We wish you tons of luck with your new venture ahead.

EDSA, it's our home!