Over 250 high school counselors, leaders, and educators gathered at Beacon Academy on 22 February for the 2025 IC3 Regional Forum. IC3 stands for International College and Career Counseling. The IC3 Movement was founded in 2016 and is bringing transformation to education, including through the arrangement of Regional Forums. Its mission is to make counseling accessible in every school, in order to prepare students for successful futures.
Educators came from various high school backgrounds in the Greater Jakarta Area, making the forum a vibrant melting pot of ideas and experiences. The forum at Beacon Academy is part of a larger global movement, with 2025 forums taking place in over 30 cities across 15 countries, where the strong message revolving around the theme “Counseling as a Culture” is echoed. The highlight is that counseling should not be an isolated session, but rather woven into students’ daily classes, activities, and interactions, which, in the end, helps them find their life purpose and peace of mind.
In the opening session, Dr. Lauren E. Clarke, Ed.D., Vice Rector for International Relations at Sampoerna University, set the tone for the day’s discussions. It continued with sessions on counseling, best practices in university admissions, and well-being in education. Adding to the excitement of the forum, eight prestigious universities joined us: Sampoerna University, University of Kentucky, Universitas Pelita Harapan, York University, Deakin University – Lancaster University Indonesia, University of Jakarta International (UNIJI), University of Toronto, and the Indonesia International Institute for Life Sciences (i3L), showcasing their unique programs in the university networking session and fair.
Upon completion of all the sessions, attendees left with a renewed sense of purpose and the best tools to approach counseling in a new light. The forum also served as a moment to solidify the country’s commitment to continue making improvements and reshaping the future of education for students across Indonesia. Let’s make counseling a culture in every school!
