Assalamu’alaikum,
I’m posting all my blog-drafts on my
laptop that I’ve been wanting to post since so long so I hope you do read those
all.
Here I want to share my experience of
getting a miracle, going to my dream country, Japan! Alhamdulillah all praise
to Allah, I got the chance to be a delegate from my university—and Indonesia,
to study space information system in Hokkaido Information University, Japan.
Many of you might wonder, what kind of
student exchange program I applied for. Actually there are different kinds of
student exchange program but it’s kinda hard for me to explain so I’m just
gonna tell about the program that I applied for. Actually this program offered
a scholarship so we don’t have to pay, not a penny. And most of the student
exchange program from independent organizations or service providers would cost
a lot in order to join the program.
My student exchange program is
actually the one that’s supported by Sakura Science Program—The Japan-Asia
Youth Exchange Program in Science. Sakura Science Program is the program for
enhancing exchanges between Asia and Japan of the youths who will play a
crucial role in the future field of science and technology through the close
collaboration of industry-academia-government by facilitating short-term visits
of competent Asian youths to Japan. This program aims at raising the interest
of Asian youths toward the leading Japanese science and technologies at
Japanese universities, research institutions and private companies. For further information about the program please click HERE.
Little did you know, I have knew this
program ever since highschool. When I was in MAN2 Serang, exactly in my last
year (twelve grader), the school cooperated with its sister school, one of the
most prestigious school in Indonesia—MAN Insan Cendekia (IC). MAN IC had a lot
of student exchange program included Sakura Science Program. And at that time,
our school were asked to join and send its delegates to Japan with other
delegates from MAN IC. Two my super talented junior—Deardra and Yudhis were
asked to join the program. Heartbroken was all that I felt back then. I couldn’t
get the chance to join because of the fact that I had to focus on many kinds of
examination; national and university entrance test.
A bit of information, I even took the university entrance examination for one of public university in Japan named Shizuoka University. The test took place in Universitas Indonesia for two days. The first day was the achievement test and the next day was the interview. Most of the participants had taken a JLPT test for at least N5 level. I had always wanted to take the test but because I lived in Serang City which located far from the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta so it made me difficult to actually do the test. My parents told me that I was so brave to take the entrance test. My essay was made with the help of some of strangers from Omegle (lol). And my interview... it was in Japanese and was screwed up. Honestly, I couldn't speak Japanese fluently and when I asked the interviewees whether I could use English to answer the questions, they laughed so hard at me. Imagine how embarassed I was! But it was one of the most memorable memories in my life.
Again and again Alhamdulillah, all
praise to Allah. I am meant to be in this blessed University. Allah sure has
chosen the best path for me to make a move toward my dreams. I will tell you my
journey to get this student exchange program scholarship.
I remember clearly, I was in a Net-Café
browsing some stuffs and copying a lot of movies to my external HDD. Then I
found this news about my department in univesity:
The article headline says: "After Korea, Informatics Student can Join The Student Exchange Program to Japan Now"
I didn’t know why but soon I decided
to send the screenshot to my parents and chatted them. I asked prayer for them
and they did. They told me to have courage, study hard, and believe in myself
that I can. My eyes were teary at that moment, wishing this dream to become
true.
Shortly after the news was released on
May 8th, there was another information on BEWARA—the group on
facebook for civitas academica of department of Informatics to share
informations. The news informed that they opened a registration to those who wanted to try to apply for the student exchange program.
I was so thrilled when I first saw the poster online. I looked for someone who has taken a CEPT test and lucky me to know a clever and kind-hearted person like Mbak Aruum. She was my senior in Marketing & Communication (marcomm) team. She helped me a lot during the test registration. Around a week after the test, I went to CILACS (name of the English course that estabilished by my university) to get my test result. Actually, I felt a bit disappointed in myself because my score wasn't match my expectation but that's okay. In applying for this program, the documents needed were:
- Essay (about what would you do if you're selected to join)
- CEPT Sertificate/Test Score
- Curriculum Vitae (using Europass format)
Then, right before all the documents were ready to be e-mailed, I contacted my mentor in learning English—Miss. Sitta. I asked her to read my essay and correct it if she found any grammatical error. She told me that my essay was like a heartfelt letter to someone. I felt really proud of myself that I could make people felt that way reading my essay.
For those who are curious about my essay or my curriculum vitae, please just send a request to me by e-mail on: sabika.amalina@gmail.com
Next step after sending all the documents to my lecturer was the wait. It was a long wait. I had to wait 3 until 4 weeks for the documents screening result to come. I don't know why but all things happened when I was in Marcomm Office. I was there when I opened the e-mail from my lecturer saying that I've passed the document screening. The most surprising thing wasn't that I passed the first stage but that my parents who got the perfect GPA score couldn't pass the first stage.
Next stage: Interview D-Day didn't go as I wish. I was one out of 5 students who passed the first stage. The other 4 students were all laboratory assistants from year 2014. It was no doubt that they were so smart. Oh! I want to warn you guys to always do research about university you plan to visit for your study. For example, the name, the program, the cost, and many more. I was told that I made mistake in mentioning the name of the university in my essay. I nearly lost motivation but then but my lovely friends gave me a bit motivation so I could strive high.
The interviewers were three of my lecturers, included the head of department of informatics. My interview didn't take much time, it was only about 15 minutes. When I went out of the room, all the seniors who passed the first stage were waiting for their turn. They said that the interview was supposed to be about 25 minutes and my turn was so short. I was ensuring myself that there would always be another opportunities since I was still in my second semester, or in other words feeling pessimistic that I would pass.
Announcement day was only several days after the interview. Again, I was in Marcomm Office alone. I brought my laptop and browsed things like usual and popped up a notification on my facebook saying that I've mentioned on BEWARA. Couldn't think of any possibilities than this student exchange program test result. I was so thrilled, I was stuttering as I automatically called Mom and Dad. So basically this was the announcement looked like:
Announcement day was only several days after the interview. Again, I was in Marcomm Office alone. I brought my laptop and browsed things like usual and popped up a notification on my facebook saying that I've mentioned on BEWARA. Couldn't think of any possibilities than this student exchange program test result. I was so thrilled, I was stuttering as I automatically called Mom and Dad. So basically this was the announcement looked like:
Thank you Mom, Dad, dearest friends, and other family members for the prayer! I couldn't do this without your prayer. And I'd like to express my gratitude to my best supporter, the one who always tell me to study new things, to always say salaam and spread the prayer for all moslems, and to always think without the box. You were the first to give thumbs up on the announcement and to congratulate me. May Allah shower you guys with blessing!
I'm going to Japan this week. I am so excited and afraid at the same time. I haven't got much times to study about the topic as well as my Japanese. I promise to share another post here about my journey as soon as I back to Indonesia. Have a nice day, everyone!
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