Written by Grandianus Seda Mada, VDMS Alumnus from Nusa Cendana University (UNDANA) Kupang

Educational greeting to everyone! Hello scholarship hunters! I would like to share three main points that you must prepare early if you want to get scholarship to continue your study in further degree. I do hope these points are useful for you.

Prior to the three main points, I would like to give a short view on long life education. “LONG LIFE EDUCATION” is my intention since I was in high school. I have started looking for various types of scholarships since then. I find that there are so many types of scholarships that are offered in the world, especially in Indonesia, more specifically in NTT. My spirit for hunting scholarships was having result, I finished my bachelor degree with three different scholarships (BBM scholarship, VDMS scholarships, and scholarships from the Foundation of Toyota – Astra). I did not stop there, I was eager to continue my study for a master degree without burdening my parents again. I started seriously preparing myself since I was in my 3rd year (around 2013). I also started attending various classes on presentation for scholarships and sharing experience with many alumni and awardees as well as began to see the deeper characteristics sought from a grantee. And I found three of the most important points that should be had by the applicants so that they are chosen by the team selectors. All the three points are Leadership, Academician, and Social Agent.

1. Leadership

I put leadership as the first point because it is the most important point in the scholarships hunting. Why? Because most scholarship providers look for people who can  can influence their surroundings. It does not concern power, but the qualities that enable us to play a leading role in the community and apply our knowledge in ways useful and beneficial for our environment. In short, scholarships mostly look for people who are not only smart in terms of academics, but also smart in cultivating their knowledge for the lives of others. And that is always a problem of pupils/ students who are only focused on the pursuit of a high GPA within a relatively short time without thinking, “What I could do for the community with the knowledge that I have?” Many of those are just struggling with the dictates of courses. If you are this type of students, I suggest you change your mindset from now.

I completed my studies in the Department of Mathematics – Faculty of Science and Engineering – University of Nusa Cendana in 4 years with a GPA just of  3,41. But I think the achievement was very reasonable because during the study I was one who was also vigorously organized. During the lecture, I served as Chairman of the Student Catholic MIPA FST, Chairman of Public Relations – Young Catholics in the environment where I live, Chairman of reasoning and Sciences Student Association Mathematics FST, and Group Leader of Grantees VDMS – Undana. Before becoming part of a governing body in a various organizations , I was often chosen to be the chairman and was involved in the a variety of activities. This is certainly a form of investment for the future. By organizing, we are unconsciously formed into one who is able to work together, to work under pressure, to not get bored with the routine, honesty, etc. And those things mentioned above are not only sought after by providers of scholarship, but also sought after by companies. So, for my friends, grantees who are reluctant to get involved in various activities of your RR, please get immediately involved because there will be a lot of benefits for yourself in the future.

2. Academician

Academic point is a crucial point. Academic achievement can be regarded as an admission ticket. It is the first perception of others  of us at the sight of the values ​​listed in the our diploma and our academic transcripts . If you wish to apply for the scholarship, you should try to obtain good academic grades. Not only a good academic value, you also need to improve the English proficiency because most scholarships (whether domestically or abroad) requires a proof/ certificate of English such as TOEFL and IELTS.

Honestly, I was not very good in English. Since I have a strong desire to continue my study, I eventually tried to love and learn English. I had several times to follow the activities organized by the English club MITRA Undana (Note: for those of you who enrolled in Undana, MITRA is an excellent platform to improve the English language skills as well as your organizational skills). In addition, I started to join the TOEFL Preparation course. Everything is very hard because my English was really weak, yet I did not give up. There is a saying “no pain no gain ” and I realize this is all a process that I have to go through if I want to obtain a scholarship. And it proved successful.

3. Social Agent

“What you have done to the people around you during college and after college?”, “What is the impact for them and for yourselves?”, “What do you do for free?”, Etc.

These are some questions that could be asked by the interviewer team for the selection of an LPDP scholarship. The core of these questions is how much actually our contribution to society is and how sincere we do it. It is somehow useless to organize activities if the applicants never do social activities. It is also useless to have a good academic achievement if they could not help the surrounding community.

Most scholarships are scholarships of development, and the selectors will demand to know the things that the applicants have done, are doing and will do for the community. Not just the current status of your work, but again more to what you are doing for the people around you without expecting a reward.

TOEFL Training Program in PBB UGM by LPDP

Before applying for an LPDP scholarship, I became an assistant lecturer of several courses in my major, a volunteer teacher at an orphanage in Kupang district and then worked as a staff lecturer at a private university on the Rote island. In addition to working as a staff lecturer at the university, I was also active as a volunteer in various social activities held by movement of Teaching Indonesian in Rote Island. So many social activities were carried out, for instance establishing a simple reading park for children in the village, providing training in creative teaching methods for teachers, learning to be a trainer, etc. It all contributed to an important point in my scholarship application.

If you are planning to get a scholarship, start thinking about what social activity you did for the community? A great activity should have  great influence, but i fit concerns  only a small activity , try to elaborate so that the selectors team can see how big your role was in these activities. And in my experience, social activities undertaken by each VDMS RR provide a positive contribution to the scholarship application.

Well, to conclude, these are the three main points that you need to prepare if you want to apply for various scholarships: leadership, academician, and social-agent. If you already have all of these three points, there is no amount of administrative records needed to register a scholarship as well as any number of stages you should take in the scholarship selection process, I guarantee you can get away like me. Remember, no results ever betray the effort. KEEP YOUR SPIRIT TO CHASE YOUR DREAM!!!

Note: I will tell about technical experience in participating in the selection of LPDP scholarship at another occasion. If anyone wants to ask things to me, please directly contact me at 085238819411 or by email at grandianusmada@yahoo.com

A2A E – Newsletter Vol. 52 | VII | 2016

July 2016