At all my life, I never thought I qualified to get scholarship. I came from quite prosperous family. Even though my mother had never entered job market, but my father is civil servant in health sector. From elementary school until I sat on university bench, my father never asked me to seek for scholarship. Most of the time, he paid my tuition fee on time so I rarely got a complaint from school officer. Moreover, I got enough allowance from my dad for daily expense. The conclusion is I did not need a scholarship hence my father never asked me to look for it.
The second reason why I think scholarship isn’t for me is because it’s only for intelligent student. I am not one of them. When I was at elementary school until university, I was ordinary student who had ordinary academic achievement. I never involved deeply in school/university organization. My rank in school was ok, actually. Neither in upper level nor bottom level. The highest achievement was 2nd rank in junior high school. After entering senior high school, I was left behind by my classmate.
Those are two reasons why I never thought scholarship is for me. However, I had one unforgettable experience when applied for scholarship. It was 2012, I attended in scholarship interview by committee in Magister Manajemen Universitas Gadjah Mada (MM UGM). I hoped that I could get MM UGM scholarship so I could carry on my master degree. The interview went well until one of the committees was asking me “What is your father’s job and how much he earned annually?”. I answered the question truthfully and that was the critical point where the committee think I did not qualify for scholarship. Not long after the interview, I informed that I wasn’t successful to get MM UGM’s scholarship. I disappointed, of course, and never applied for scholarship until 9 years later. I write story about my recent journey to obtain scholarship in here.
Even though I didn’t believe I could got scholarship. My desire to continue master degree is still high even though I decided to quit from MM UGM in the first year (at that time, my father had economic issue so his income level declined and I quit from MM UGM). About my desire to continue study, even until Doctoral study, I have a story about it. My late grandfather always said to me “Hilmy, you must continue your study until Doctoral study. Go to Cairo (Al Azhar University)!”. I assumed my late grandfather prayed for me every day, so that’s (I think) where I get my passion to study in higher degree.
Two years after working as civil servant, 9 years later after the rejection from MM UGM’s scholarship, the opportunity to continue study was once again open. I realized there were many chances to get scholarship from Bappenas, LPDP, AAS, Stuned, Chevening, and many more. Having read information from each scholarship provider website, I didn’t see any prerequisite stated that the applicant must come from low-income family. Everyone get the same opportunity to study regardless their income level. At this point, I believe that I’m eligible to obtain scholarship if I well-prepared and ready to work hard for it. So in early 2021, I began my journey to obtain scholarship.
At the end, I know that Al Azhar University was not on my list as priority university. My late grandfather’s dream on me was not entirely fulfilled. However, I hope I could fulfil his dream to continue study at Doctoral level. I also realized that everyone can get scholarship if they fully informed, well prepared, and ready to work hard to get it.
That is my story. Searching the meaning of scholarship.
hilmybramantyo 