Written by Rahmanu Hermawan, VDMS Alumnus from Gajah Madah University (UGM) Yogyakarta

Lucky me who is awarded by one of the prestigious Indonesian scholarships. This year I get a scholarship from Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) to study abroad. Whereas this is my first time applying for a scholarship after my graduation, what a luck! I am going to Sweden to pursue my master degree in Embedded Systems at Uppsala University, one of the top universities in the world. Allah really loves me, I remember a nice quote, “Everything happens for a reason,”. I do not know what the reasons are, but I have to be a grateful person for everything I got.

My scholarship journey began last year. Once I decided to study this year, I planned what I would have to do for achieving my goal. A month after my resignation, I prepared scholarship and university applications. Beginning by taking an IELTS course to get a minimal score (6.5), visiting my bachelor-thesis supervisor to ask a recommendation, writing a motivation letter, and other administrative requirements. Completing those requirements was great “fun”, if you know what I mean.

Since the requirements of both scholarship and university are similar, I applied in parallel. In this writing, I divide it into several points,  as follows:

1. Get an English certification, TOEFL or IELTS. In my case, I needed an overall band score of 6.5 in IELTS with no section below 5.5. An English certificate is the key to study abroad. Make it a priority.

2. Apply for university. Do not be late! Ensure that you have submitted the right documents. Commonly, the documents are such as degree certificate, 2 recommendation letters, passport, English certificate, motivation letter, and study plan or thesis proposal.

3. Apply scholarship for funding support. There are so many scholarships in the world, such as LPDP (Indonesia), Chevening (UK), Swedish Institute (Sweden), NESO (Netherlands), and many more.

4. Wait and always pray because the decision will take many days.

I always remember a quote, “no pain no gain.” This achievement is a gain from all of my pains. I mean the pains are such as resigning from my job, studying IELTS every day, praying every day, and the other pains. For your information, I was not a really smart student, my graduation was in my fifth year 🙂

Participants Persiapan Keberangkatan (PK) LPDP in Jakarta

If there is a will, there is a way, and everything needs preparation.

Hopefully, this writing can inspire you to achieve what you want.

A2A E – Newsletter Vol. 52 | VII | 2016

July 2016