Born to a family where most are teachers, Nila Armelia Windasari has been familiar with teaching and learning activities since she was a child.
Nila Armelia Windasari is a lecturer and director of international relations at the School of Business and Management (SBM), Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
“My parents are high school teachers; my father is a physics teacher, my mother is a mathematics teacher, my grandfather is an algebra teacher, and most of my parent’s family also have a teaching background. Since childhood, I often saw fathers and mothers teach, guide Olympic students, and even on our dining table, there is a blackboard to write formulas while having lunch,” said Nila, explaining her childhood.
She revealed that this environment indirectly made Nila a curious person. She also saw teaching activities and discussions with students as a fun activity.
Her parents directed Nila to become a medical doctor; however, she succeeded in becoming a lecturer with a doctorate at a very young age. She completed her undergraduate in just seven semesters at Airlangga University and completed her master’s degree in just three semesters at Asia university Taiwan. At 23, Nila has continued her PhD program at National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.
“Because in high school I enrolled in the acceleration program and I completed my undergraduate study in 7 semesters and master degree in 3 semesters, at 23, I was able to continue my doctorate studied,” Nila highlighted. She earned her PhD at the age of 27.
Nila emphasized that, for her, learning is an exciting activity. By studying, Nila felt that there were many things she didn’t know, and she realized that she had only learned a little.
Besides studying, Nila also finds enjoyment in teaching. She revealed that she had a part-time job as an accounting tutor for her juniors while she was doing her undergraduate study. In addition, while completing her master’s and doctoral degrees in Taiwan, Nila also became a management tutor at an open Indonesian university in Taipei.
“I am looking for something fulfilling. When I can make someone understand a subject, it is a satisfaction for me,” revealed Nila.
At SBM-ITB, Nila is part of the business strategy and marketing interest group. She teaches several subjects, including marketing, brand management, branding science, service marketing strategy, international business, and marketing management.
In addition to being a lecturer, Nila is also assigned as the director of international relations at SBM-ITB. Even though her schedule is very tight, Nila does everything sincerely. For her, sincerity will bring blessings and will be counted as worship. “Learning and teaching should be done sincerely because sincerity will bring blessings. If we teach from the heart, InsyaAllah (God willing) what we receive will be counted as worship,” she closed.