ANISSA RATNA PUTRI

For you who interest to enrol in GSGES Kyoto University, you can check the details here.

LPDP
1. Online document submission
Study Plan, Essay, Letter of Recommendation, TOEFL/IELTS score, Statement Letter, Academic Transcript, Certificate of Graduation.
2. Announcement (1): Phase I Passing Candidate
3. Interview and LGD
It was held at Ministry of Finance Headquarter. The interview was conducted by 1 psychologist and 2 professors for around 15 minutes. LGD (Leaderless Group Discussion) was discussing about various current happening issue in Indonesia for about 30 minutes.
4. Announcement (2): Phase II Passing Candidate
5. Pra-leadership training (Pra-PK, Pra-Pelatihan Kepemimpinan)
You will be assigned to a PK-group, and you will be involved in various group tasks, for example choosing your group leader, create your group uniform, etc.
6. Leadership Training (PK)
I cannot tell you much about this because I'm not attending PK. As far as I know, you will be trained for a week, meet various inspiring people as well as doing various physical activities.
7. Announcement (Final)


MEXT
Primary Screening
1. Document submission
Application Form, Research Plan and Study Plan, Photo, Academic Transcript, Certificate of Graduation, Letter of Recommendation, Abstract of previous research, TOEFL/IELTS score
2. Announcement (1): Document Submission Passing Candidate
3. English/Japanese exam
It was held at University of Indonesia. You will have to working on english and japanese exam, yet the scoring system will choose the best score. For example, in my case, I don't understand japanese, thus I did not working a single number of the given exam. Instead, I focus on working on my english exam to excel my score.
4. Interview
It was held at Japanese Embassy, Jakarta. There were 3 professors from Japan and 2 professors from Indonesia, asking me questions about my research plan, my interest to study in Japan, and my future contribution for Japan and Indonesia. Interview time was around 15-30 minutes.
5. Announcement (2): Primary Screening Passing Candidate


Secondary Screening
1. Document Submission (same as Primary Screening submission documents + Health certificate)
2. Letter of Acceptance Submission (Placement Preference form + Letter of Acceptance from your desired university)
This is a temporary Letter of Acceptance, means if the university require you to take entrance exam, you will be accepted as Research Student, and you will take the entrance exam 6 months later after your arrival in Japan. However, for some people like me who already took the entrance exam from my home country, this Letter of Acceptance means that I accepted as Master Student, and I could join master classes as soon as I arrive in Japan.
3. Announcement (3): Secondary Screening Passing Candidate


Departure Preparation
1. University Placement Announcement
Some people apply to be a research student to more than one university. Thus, their placement will be announced in this phase. This is not applied to those who already enrolled in their preferred university as master student.
2. Decision Letter and Visa
The Japanese Embassy will take care of your visa. No need to queue in a long line with other visa applicants.
3. Orientation (listening to speeches, eat lots of food, meet new friends)
4. Departure (usually at April 1st)

You can also read more detail about applying MEXT scholarship from here. This blog had help me a lot. Thank you, Samy senpai!

How do you choose which scholarship you should take?
For those who lucky enough to get accepted by two scholarship, I guess you will have to choose one of them because most of the scholarship institution will not allow you to take both, no?
To choose your preferred scholarship, there are some consideration you may want to think about other than just comparing the amount of money they offer.

• What benefit this scholarship offer you?

Other than the tuition fee and the monthly allowance (both of these should be the first priority to consider), is there any other service or allowance they offer you? Some people preference not (only) defined by the amount of money, but also the service offered by the institution. For example, 

Scholarship A: offer XX amount of money with a lot of other allowance (books, insurance, etc), but you have to do all of your administration things by yourself (go to the embassy to apply visa, pay the given tuition fee in your account to the university each semester, and some other complicated administration things). 

Scholarship B: offer XX amount of money for tuition fee and monthly allowance, no other allowance, but they offer you a service in such a way that makes you basically do not necessarily need to think about a lot of administration things - because they had taken care of it. You can sit back, relax, and enjoy your master. 

Please also consider any requirements they mention. Some requirements may define your future. For example, some scholarship may require you to go back to Indonesia  straightly after your graduation, other may require you to work with Company Z for X years.

• Which scholarship will be better to put on your CV?

Nowadays it seems like going abroad is become more common in Indonesia. In the near future, it will be more competitive to gain your desired job if everyone also has a background education from abroad, no? Thus, the institution that grant you the scholarship do matter. Also, the competition level to obtain the scholarship, for me, also matter. Are you one of lucky 200 out of 2000 applicants? or better, you are one of lucky 20 out of 2000? Both of this point - the institution and the competition level - is something you can put on your CV later and explain as your excellence.

What other knowledge/skill need to be prepared before going abroad? 
Surely there are plenty of things you should prepare - but I think the most important one is to get to know the intended country before you leave. You can browse what kind of food they usually eat, what kind of culture they have, and what kind of life people experience in the city. You should also learn the language. Do not expect everyone - especially local people - will understand english in the same level as you do. I'm not saying you have to be an expert before you leave, but at least please learn the basic for daily conversation. By learning local language, you also appreciate their culture and you can also hangout with local people and make more friends!

I hope I explain all things clearly. Should any of you have questions, don't hesitate to ask me. Goodluck!

Love,

Setelah tekad mendaftar S2 ini sudah bulat, universitas dan jurusan sudah dipilih, saya pun mencoba mencari peluang kerja selama setahun ke depan yang sekiranya akan memberikan saya pengalaman kerja di bidang yang saya sukai dan di bidang yang akan saya teliti nantinya. Lalu bertemulah saya dengan Waste4Change.

Waste4Change sendiri belum resmi saya kenal sebagai 'Waste4Change' saat saya mendaftar sebagai calon karyawan. Saya mengenalnya sebagai bagian dari Greeneration Indonesia. Karena pendirinya, Kak Sano, adalah alumni Teknik Lingkungan ITB, dan juga pendiri U-green, unit lingkungan yang saya ikuti di ITB, jadi saya cukup familiar dengan lembaga ini. Greeneration Indonesia adalah lembaga yang fokus mengembangkan environmental awareness melalui berbagai media: promosi penggunaan shopping bag untuk mengurangi penggunaan kantong plastik, edukasi dan kampanye lingkungan melalui film dan kegiatan-kegiatan lingkungan lainnya, serta memberikan solusi pengelolaan sampah bertanggungjawab.

Alasan saya mendaftar saat itu karena mereka sedang membutuhkan Project Officer untuk sebuah proyek bertema Extended Producer Responsibility. Ini topik yang saya banget! Saya pun mendaftar dan ternyata kemudian berjodoh dengan Waste4Change selama satu tahun.

Ketika saya baru masuk, Waste4Change sedang mencari 'bentuk' nya. Walaupun sudah menerima jasa konsultasi selama sekitar 2 tahun di bawah nama Greeneration Indonesia, sah nya Waste4Change sebagai PT sendiri baru terjadi pada 2014. Jadi saat itu saya menjadi salah satu saksi bagaimana Waste4Change membagi divisinya, bagaimana Waste4Change mencari staf, bagaimana Waste4Change mencari dan mengelola klien, di awal masa-masa pengembangannya.

Bekerja di perusahaan start-up bagi saya menjadi sebuah nilai tambah, selain daripada tujuan saya bekerja dan belajar soal dunia pengelolaan sampah. Di Waste4Change, saya belajar tentang dasar konsep bisnis, cara riset pasar, manajemen proyek, membina relasi dengan klien, membina relasi dengan komunitas, how to deal with your spontaneous boss, how to keep calm di keadaan hectic atau chaos, dan tentunya belajar tentang isu-isu pengelolaan lingkungan, khususnya persampahan. Saya juga kenalan sama konsep value-based pricing yang menurut saya menarik banget untuk diexplore lebih jauh. Juga kenalan sama berbagai aplikasi untuk memudahkan pekerjaan khususnya untuk pekerja dari remote area: Todoist, Google Drive, Box, Evernote, dan aneka apps lainnya. Thanks to Izul, Master of Apps!

Melalui Waste4Change, saya juga bertemu banyak lembaga dan relasi yang menarik. Bertemu berbagai relasi ini membuka mata saya bahwasanya sudah ada pihak-pihak yang concern pada isu lingkungan. Tidak hanya business-as-usual, they want to conduct a sustainable business in which economies, environment, and social value are integrated. Saya salut dengan para pelaku bisnis di Indonesia yang menjadi pelopor-pelopor dan 'mau bergerak' ini.

Selain itu, saya juga bertemu pribadi-pribadi yang mau bergerak untuk lingkungan Indonesia yang lebih baik. Teman-teman saya di Teknik Lingkungan dulu, jangan dikira semuanya cinta lingkungan banget, ya. Justru melalui komunitas Pasukan Bijak Sampah yang dibentuk Waste4Change, saya bertemu orang-orang yang peduli, mau belajar, dan mau ambil bagian untuk solusi masalah persampahan di Indonesia.

Bukan berarti, bekerja di Waste4Change saya senang-senang terus (meskipun sebagian besar memang iya sih). Sebagai staf bidang Strategic Service yang lebih fokus ke jasa konsultasi dan kampanye, saya tidak harus ke kantor setiap hari. Dulu saya lebih banyak menghabiskan waktu 'di jalan'. Mobilisasi saya cukup tinggi selama bekerja di Waste4Change. Hari ini meeting sama klien A, lusa pitching ke klien B, minggu depan training perusahaan C, dan sebagainya (sok sibuk banget). Saya bisa kerja di mana saja dan kapan saja. Hal ini kadang menjadi sesuatu yang bagus, tapi kadang juga menjadi bumerang kalau sedang padat-padatnya kerjaan. Meskipun saya selalu berusaha membatasi diri supaya nggak kerja 24/7 (ajaran mantan bos yang juga nggak mau kerja 24/7), tapi orang-orang yang kenal saya pasti tahu kalau saya sudah passionate mengerjakan sesuatu, saya susah berhenti. *CyborgmodeON* Untungnya, partner-partner kerja saya di Waste4Change adalah orang-orang yang selalu siap mendukung satu sama lain - meskipun sejatinya masing-masing juga punya kesibukannya sendiri. Glad to know you, guys! Thank you for being such a fun and nice work partner to me.

Melalui postingan blog ini saya juga mau mengucapkan terima kasih untuk Kak Sano dan Paola, untuk berbagai sharing pengalaman, sharing pengetahuan, dan sharing kerjaannya :p Such a pleasure to work with you both.

Terima kasih ya, Waste4Change!

Love,