Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) program has provided valuable opportunities for students to develop their competence outside of lectures. One of the programs from MBKM is an internship which offers practical experience for students to directly engage in the professional work environment. The presence of this internship programme aims to link the theories that have been taught in the classroom with real practices in the world of work so that students can prepare a mature career in the future.

Through the MBKM internship program, English Literature students of UIN Sunan Kalijaga Class of 2021, Farida Azzahro and Safa Aulia had the opportunity to enhance their insights and experiences by going directly into the professional world of education.

Farida Azzahro, participated in the MBKM internship program for two months at MTs Ma'arif 2 Muntilan as part of the Professional Development and Bahasa Indonesia untuk Penutur Asing (BIPA) courses. In this internship that lasted from October 8 to December 9, 2024, Farida was in charge of teaching English in grade 9 every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. In the teaching process, Farida applied a reward system to increase students' motivation to be more confident and active in learning. In addition to teaching, she also attended weekly teacher meetings to study the preparation of academic schedules, evaluation of learning programmes, and discussions on improving the quality of learning. Farida also participated in developing digital and manual learning media to support teaching and learning activities. This experience gave Farida practical insights into teaching theory, classroom management, and the importance of building good interactions with students so that she was more prepared to face the professional world as a competent and innovative educator.

Safa Aulia, participated in various activities at SMP Negeri 4 Patuk as part of the MBKM Internship program during the internship period from September 23 to November 22, 2024. Through this program, Safa improved the skills she had learned during her studies, especially in English language teaching, and gained real-life experience in the professional world. One of Safa's main activities is teaching 8th grade English. Safa was also appointed as a judge for the Story Telling competition in the Language Month agenda which is routinely held at SMP Negeri 4 Patuk every year. Not only that, Safa also participated in assisting the School Organising Team in the 2024 Principal Performance Assessment by completing various important data such as school organisation information, meeting activities, and academic achievements. She was also actively involved in the Projek Penguatan Profil Pelajar Pancasila (P5) which ran from 4 to 15 November 2024. The P5 program focuses on developing students' entrepreneurial skills through a series of activities, including the provision of materials, observations, interviews, and entrepreneurial practices in market day events. The success of her internship could not be separated from the support and guidance provided by the campus, school’s principal, supervisors, teachers, and staff of SMP Negeri 4 Patuk, who always provided positive feedback to support Safa's development during the internship. (AS/S)