Why would you go to Finland?
When I told my supervisor that I
would go to Finland for studying, his response was “That place only has 2
seasons; cold and too cold”. Other people expressed their excitement by saying
“you won’t have the night in summer!” or “that place is great for education”
which are partially true. But Finland is beyond that. When I walked out of
Helsinki Airport once I landed my feet on Europe, I knew for sure that this
place is exceptional.
First thing first, you don’t get
to choose which department/faculty you want to apply in Erasmus programs.
Erasmus has designed their program to be specific and with special rules. So,
when you’re applying to EMJMD, you’re applying for a program which can be made
up of many universities in one consortium. Some program requires you to stay in
the coordinator university (the university that proposes the program to the
European Commission) in the first year, then continue to the partner university
in the second year (the universities present in the consortium). Some program
requires you to choose only one partner university, but some requires you to
choose more, depend on the program. In forestry field, there were only 4
programs that are related to my background, and since I can apply for 3
programs maximum, I applied for 3 with completely different rules of
application. What were my reasons for these three?
I didn’t think about the country
per se. I did SWOT analysis for each program that I considered. Yeah right,
people may say I’m too overboard, but darling, plan it right, analyze yourself
and analyze the program. Maximize your ability and maximize the chance. By
that, I mean you should consider a program that suits best to your goal for the
future, to your background, and to future opportunities. And maximizing the
chance means that play the rules strategically, if they say you can apply to 3
programs maximum, you can do it, on the note that you really find those
suitable for you, I’m not saying you have to do that. If they say the deadline
is by 30th of January, perfecting your application until that time.
If they say minimum IELTS is 6,5, go for 8 or 9 or 10! If they ask for a maximum
2-pages-CV, fill your CV to almost the end of the second page. Go for maximum,
but never go beyond it, if they ask for 500 words of motivation letter, don’t
make a 2-pages-long motivation letter. Maximizing but be effective.
My current program, European
Forestry, stood the best among all, I would say. In the website, they stated
that it focuses on sustainability development and fosters bioeconomy program.
When I applied for it, Paris Agreement was in the heat of the moment, it was
just out, and people were talking about it. IPCC kept suggesting the society to
overcome climate change as soon as possible. Moreover, bioeconomy was in the
spur of the moment, it’s been gaining popularity and it’s believed to be the
way to address climate change, so I thought European Forestry can be a start
for me to find more opportunities in the future.
I was also rooting for Plant
Breeding program coordinated by AgroParisTech. It was because Indonesia was
planning to build its first ever gene bank in one of its major cities. My
background is also in population genetics, so I thought I should give it a try.
Turned out, I was just shortlisted as a reserved-list candidate, so I can’t
know what it’s like. The last one I applied is Sustainable Tropical Forestry
coordinated by Copenhagen University. The reason I chose it was it addresses
the challenges and the solutions for the management of tropical forests, and in
my opinion, it is crucial to know how to manage tropical forests as tropical
countries will be the most affected by climate change.
What came out of it?
The ability to overcome the cold
was the first output from the program. It was a joke, but seriously, Finland is
not a joke when it comes to cold. Summer, cold, especially for an Indonesian
who had never used to any weather below 25 degrees, we wear jackets when it’s
evening with 26 degrees on hold what do you expect? Autumn, cold, now with the
wind. Winter, super cold and dark, basically the daylight didn’t even last for
more than 3 hours, and it was always cloudy. The highest I could stand was -30
degrees, if I could collect a penny for every time people ask me how I could
stand that, I would buy a flat here. The answer is I couldn’t stand that, I
didn’t go out and was just sulking inside a building. Anyway, what came out of
studying in Finland is the development of my way of thinking.
Tolerance is the first element.
The environment is so diverse in the university, the students are coming from
different parts of the world, carrying different ways of thinking and culture
with them. It’s both interesting and surreal. Studying here is like I’m in a
kind of a mini world. There is always this exaggerated feeling which we feel
like a lunch together is like a lunch with the representatives of each country.
Tolerance means that even if you have your opinion, you know the way of
delivering it without rejecting the opinions that other people have and you set
the limit of ‘forcing’ your opinion so it’s not coming out harshly to your
partner in communication.
Independency. You never know that
yourself is able in doing things beyond your expectations until you finally do
them. Who knows that you could attend classes conducted in English every day?
I, myself, always thought it must be difficult, but at the end I’ve passed
those days. Safely, fortunately. Self-independency is beyond that. You even
need to have it way before you’re accepted in an international program, for
example during the scholarship hunting, the application process, the technical
preparations, up until you arrive in the country of study. You can’t depend on
someone else when you’re looking for a scholarship, you can’t wait until a
friend you are asking to join in the hunt is finally making a move. You can’t
wait until your boyfriend is making up his mind to come with you. In the
application process, you rely solely to yourself. For a year I’ve been here, I
develop a trust to myself, not only in my ability to do things but also my
ability to persuade people. Why does it matter, you ask? It’s important in
working life. Imagine you’re into this really good project about climate change
and you propose it to a potential funding. In proposing it, say in a
presentation, you’ll need the ability to assure them just how good your project
will be and how it will stand out among other projects. First thing first is to
trust on yourself that you can sell it, then you can make other people trust
you. Even in the beginning of the application process to a scholarship program,
you have to assure the reviewee to trust you only from your motivation letter.
Network. It is such a waste to
not grow your network while you are abroad. Most Erasmus Mundus master’s
programs offer internship in a respective institution, even in my program I was
obliged to participate in a field trip to 5 countries in which I met
researchers, governmental officers, private company owners, and local people.
There is no barrier between the students and the teachers, in Finland it’s
completely okay to just knock on their office to have a discussion, or to ask
questions. They do encourage you and do not poorly criticize you if your
opinion is in the different side of theirs. The willingness to approach them
lies on you. If anything, going abroad is not only for a mere study, it is
about you opening the doors to opportunities. In my case, going abroad does not
define me, but it enhances what I already have within me. I don’t know about
other people, but I’m here for a long ride.
So next time you write your
motivation letter, consider how the program will develop yourself both in your
academic career and within yourself.
Comments
Post a Comment