"Never Stop Pursuing Your Dreams, StuNed Scholarship"

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

In early 2015, I failed a scholarship interview for the second time. I was very disappointed. It seemed the opportunity to study in the UK was far from reality. It seemed it was impossible to get the opportunity to study in the UK.

 However, I had not given up yet. I kept pursuing my dream to study abroad by applying to the universities outside of the UK and other scholarships.

In March 2015, I enrolled in a Master International Economics and Business program at the University of Groningen (Rijkuniversiteit Groningen). The University of Groningen is one of the top 100 universities in the world. It was the second oldest university in the Netherlands. 

The university has been established since 1614. With their 400-years experience in education and research, I believed that the university has been evolving to meet the challenges of the times. 

I would also get an opportunity to learn from the best lecturers who were expert in the economics field. Moreover, there are many prominent people who graduated from this university. 

The first President of the European Central Bank, Wim Duisenberg, was an alumnus of this university. To honor his legacy, the university names the faculty of economic and business building with his name.   

Within a few days after submitting my application, I obtained the letter of acceptance (LoA). By this LoA, I could apply for the StuNed scholarship because LoA is one of the required documents. StuNed stands for Studeren in Nederland (Study in the Netherlands). The aim of this scholarship is to foster the development of Indonesia through the improvement of human resources. 

Therefore, this scholarship is only intended for the Indonesian people who want to study in the Netherlands. However, I could not commence my study in 2015. The Global Banking Officer training program ended at the end of September 2015 while the class would be started in early September 2015. I discussed this matter with the administrative staff of the University of Groningen. As the solution, they postponed my LoA into the next year. Therefore, I could focus on training to become a Global Banking officer.

Having graduated from the training of Global Banking Officer program, I was assigned as the analyst of the business development for the overseas branches. 

To run this task, I had to move to the head office in Jakarta. The task was very interesting and challenging. I had to learn particular policies of each local authority where the overseas branches resided. I also studied the nature of the international business in different country and region. By holding this position, I also learned the operational and treasury business of international banking.

Though I had an opportunity to be assigned at one of the overseas branches, I still wanted to pursue my dream to study abroad. In fact, my desire to study abroad was bigger than working at the overseas branches. Therefore, I kept monitoring the StuNed's website to find information regarding the schedule of StuNed selection in 2016. 

Once I received information that the period to apply the scholarship opened, I immediately prepared all the required documents and other certificates. It was not easy to get the recommendation from the employer. It took some time to convince them that if I got the scholarship, I would return to work for them again. After getting the recommendation from the employer, immediately I went to Neso Nuffic office to submit my application.

At the time, there was no interview to select the StuNed scholarship recipient. The selection committee would assess the prospective scholarship awardees based on their CV and motivation statement. 

At the time, I simply explained my reason to study Master International Economics and Business program that this program was in line with my job so that I could apply it to enhance the businesses of the overseas branches. 

My suggestion to those who want to write a motivation statement, just write a simple reason. For instance, you can give a better advice to your client on how to increase their sales from 5% a year to be 25% a year. 

You do not have to write that you can contribute to Indonesian economic growth by 10% a year. It would be better if you use a number to explain the improvement from your contribution.

I did not get any information about my application until the end of May 2016. On May 25, 2016, I received an email regarding my application. It stated that I had been placed on the Reserve List. I thought that I was failed.

On the afternoon of May 30, 2016, I unintentionally checked my email. I received an email with the subject "congratulation". I was shaking when reading the title of the email. I continued to read the email carefully. It stated that I had been selected to receive the financial support through the StuNed Scholarship program. I could not believe it. I read it a few times to ensure that I was awarded the StuNed Scholarship. I also used Google translate to ensure it.

I had to confirm my availability of the scholarship by June 1, 2016. It only needed 5 minutes after reading the email a few times to reply it and confirm that I accept the scholarship. Afterward, I called my parents and my wife to inform them that I got a scholarship. I could not sleep for a few days after receiving that email. I still could not believe whether it was a dream or reality.

On Saturday, June 4, 2016, we were gathered at the Nuffic Neso office. They wanted to explain further regarding StuNed scholarship to the scholarship awardees. 

Until that day, I still had no idea where Groningen was and how to say it correctly. Someone told me that Groningen was the most Northern Province in the Netherlands and taught me how to say Groningen in the Dutch style. 

That's why the tagline of the Groningen province is eer gaat niets boven Groningen or "nothing tops the Groningen". I finally ensure that I have officially received the scholarship after the scholarship committee answered my question, "Is it true that we officially receive the scholarship?".

I could not describe how much I was happy at the time. But I had to realize that it was not a final. Receiving a scholarship was a beginning of the biggest challenge that I had to encounter. I had to graduate from the master's degree program on schedule.