Izza’s Story: A Communications Graduate Interested in Diving Deep Into AI
A story of Izza Auliyai Rabby, Bangkit 2023 Batch 2 Graduate from Communications, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta
The first step in becoming a digital talent doesn’t always involve formal education. Not all successful tech talents today have an educational background in this field. Izza Auliyai Rabby (24) is one of the 27% of Bangkit participants with a non-IT background, and he believes that he could be one of the thriving tech talents.
Izza studied communication while completing his bachelor's degree at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. Besides communication, the other thing that Izza has persevered with since he was little is the world of pesantren (Islamic Boarding Schools). Born and raised in a family that upheld solid religious values, Izza has been accustomed to Islamic boarding schools since elementary school.
However, Izza’s life, which was never far from the Islamic education environment, led him to discover his passion for technology. One of his Islamic school friends also encouraged him to get to know more about tech. From that moment on, Izza’s interest in technology grew until he finally joined Bangkit and was confident enough to work in AI.
How was Izza’s journey, which started as a young man from a rural area with a social and humanities educational background, when he eventually took the plunge into tech and became a professional in AI? Let's read the whole story!
The “Pesantren” Environment is Inseparable from Izza's Life
Izza was born and raised in Kuningan, West Java. His father is a lecturer at UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, and his mother is the headmaster of an Islamic kindergarten in Kuningan. As the eldest with two brothers, Izza and his siblings grew up with educational and religious values. For Izza’s family, being a person who benefits the surrounding environment is essential.
To practice these values, Izza’s parents built an Islamic boarding school called Green School Sabilul Izza in Kuningan. The school, which provides education from Kindergarten led by Izza’s mother to junior high school, prioritizes three critical principles: religion, technology, and sustainable living.
The school’s three principles are also Izza’s tenets in pursuing his education. It’s no wonder that from elementary school, Izza has been accustomed to spending his time from morning to afternoon studying in a regular school and then from afternoon to nightfall at the Islamic boarding school.
Who knew living in boarding school would finally lead Izza to become acquainted with friends who motivated him to get into the world of technology? Then, his journey as a future digital talent began.
A Communications Student Who Were Used to Participating in Competitions
Izza graduated from SMA Negeri 1 Jalaksana, Kuningan, with a concentration in social science. He pursued his bachelor’s degree at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, majoring in Communications. Moving to Yogyakarta, Izza studied on campus and attended Pondok Pesantren Sulaimaniyah because he has felt comfortable with the Islamic boarding school’s environment since childhood.
The adequate tech facilities in the Islamic school where Izza lived exposed him to technology. Moreover, he also befriended one of the students who majored in Informatics.
“I embarked on my journey in tech because my Islamic boarding school friend, who studied informatics, introduced me to learning programs in Dicoding. He also invited me to participate in competitions such as hackathons, write papers, attend conferences, and even set targets. It got me familiar with tech, although I was a communications student.”
Knowing that marketing can be integrated with technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), Izza was fascinated with diving deep into tech. Coincidentally, the announcement of Bangkit’s opening registration on Dicoding’s Instagram page appeared on his social media.
The Ups and Downs of Izza's Learning Journey in Bangkit
In Bangkit 2023 Batch 2, Izza signed up for the Machine Learning path because he was passionate about learning about AI. As he was accepted as one of the participants, Izza’s learning journey began.
Despite coming from a communications background, Izza didn’t learn from zero, considering his experience in various tech competitions and learning programs. Even so, Bangkit’s demanding learning targets got Izza overwhelmed and surprised once. However, Izza was determined to adapt to the Bangkit learning environment. He was eager to transform himself into a disciplined person.
“Studying in Bangkit while working on a thesis was quite challenging. I had trouble sleeping for three weeks. Moreover, I also had to work on a capstone project with my Bangkit friends in Yogyakarta then.”Nevertheless, Izza admitted that he enjoyed learning in Bangkit and felt lucky to have a supportive learning environment. Moreover, when he worked on the capstone project, Izza teamed up with those living in Yogyakarta as he did so that they could work on the project together offline.
For the capstone project, Izza built an application to recommend healthy nutrition for babies and toddlers. Even though his team didn’t make it into the top teams, he felt grateful to have an enriching experience working on an end-to-end project.
Graduated from Bangkit, Izza Started a Career and Pursued Higher Education
After studying in Bangkit for over 900 hours, Izza graduated. He also successfully passed the TensorFlow Developer certification exam and earned Professional Machine Learning Engineer certification from the Google Cloud Platform, making it official for him to obtain a globally recognized certification. After graduating from Bangkit, Izza began his journey in the international world.
Drawing on his learning experience in Bangkit, Izza worked as a Full-Stack AI Developer in the Sustainable Living Lab (SL2), a technology and innovation consultant company based in Singapore. The company adheres to the same values as Izza and his family, which are sustainable and green digital living. Therefore, Izza’s workplace promotes green technology innovation.
At work, Izza is tasked with carrying out the end-to-end machine learning process. Bangkit’s machine-learning lessons helped Izza carry out his work’s root cause analysis. Moreover, Bangkit’s time management knowledge also allowed Izza to balance work and his busy schedule.
“Bangkit formed my discipline and resilience. Therefore, wherever I am today, I want to continue to forge myself as hard as I did in Bangkit.”
"Opportunity doesn’t come twice. If you want to progress, seize any opportunities and do your best," Izza said when asked to encourage the Bangkit 2024 Batch 2 participants.
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