Thriving Together: How Sharing Sessions Empower Eastern Indonesian First-Year Minority Students

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of sharing sessions in enhancing adaptability and confidence of first-year minority students from Eastern Indonesia in a university setting. Using a purposive sampling technique, we focused on 59 undergraduate students from Eastern Indonesia enrolled at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, who were in their first or second semester and did not live with family. The participants were grouped according to their respective faculties and engaged in structured sharing sessions designed to foster discussion and community building. Data were collected through pre- and post-test adaptability scales, with results analyzed using paired t-tests. The findings revealed a significant increase in participants’ confidence in their adaptability, indicated by a strong correlation between pre- and post-test scores. This underscores the effectiveness of sharing sessions in supporting minority students’ integration into the campus environment. The study emphasizes the importance of targeted interventions for minority students, contributing to a more inclusive educational setting. Future research should explore the long-term impacts of such programs across diverse student demographics and institutional contexts.