Chapter I - Never Stop Pursuing Your Dreams: "Struggling for English Tests"

This is a story of an ordinary man who dreams to study abroad.

It was all started from a text message at the end of 2013. I had to dig up my dream to study abroad that I had buried deeply.

As a schoolboy, I had a dream to study abroad. However, I thought that scholarship and studying abroad were only for the best student who always ranked top 5 in the class. Me? I did not include in that category despite I had been in top 10 in the class, but it was very seldom. To obtain a bachelor degree was not easy for me. After graduating from senior high school, I was studying Chemistry for two years. I could not continue my study because I could not follow the lesson properly.

Then I took an exam to join the course in Economics. It was a huge decision for me, yet I never regretted it because I found my world in Economics. Having graduated with the bachelor degree in Economics from Gadjah Mada University in 2009, I got a job as a relationship manager at the state-owned bank. In 2011, I was assigned to work in Ketapang, West Kalimantan Province. In total, I spent 5 years working in West Kalimantan Province. At the end of 2013, I got an inspiration from my colleague. He received a scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in Public Policy at the Erasmus Rotterdam University. Mr. Moh. Hatta, a founding father of Indonesia, was alumni of this university. It was like a thunderstruck that hit me directly to my mind. Since then I believed that everyone could obtain scholarship and study abroad.

In February 2014, I took the first IELTS test in Pontianak. I only had one-month preparation for the test. Unfortunately, I only got overall score 6. To study abroad, at least I had to obtain an overall score of 6.5. I was down due to this failure, but I had to rise quickly to pursue my dream to study abroad. My office colleague acquainted me with an English tutor. I took a short course as the preparation for the second IELTS test.

After my wife gave a birth to my second daughter in April 2014, I went to Jakarta to take the IELTS test. Unfortunately, I only got an overall score of 6 again. I was very sad due to this result. However, I tried to apply a few scholarships and overseas universities. What about the result? Of course, I failed. All these failures only made my sad deeper.

In September 2014, I took the third IELTS test. This time, I believed that I had made a better preparation. My intuition was right. Eventually, I got a band score of 6.5. I was so excited with this result. I told to my wife that this was a ticket for a journey to Europe. I believed that.