2015 Recap

Last night, I rechecked my 2015 planner and the goals I wrote in the beginning of the year. Several goals were achieved, even though a couple of targets missed. The highlights of the year 2015 are getting the chance to revisit NYC during the IMF short course in Washington DC and being chosen as Studeren in Nederland (StuNed) scholarship awardee for an e-Government course at Maastricht School of Management. I had also chances to visit Belgium and France when I was attending the course in Maastricht.

I was also assigned as a Junior Macro Economic Analyst since April-previously as a Budget Analyst. This new division covers economic growth, inflation, interest rate, oil price, and those kind of stuffs. In addition, it also tap in the issue of poverty, inequality, food security and human development index–kind of topics that I actually interested in. I am so thankful for the job shift. In addition, I help intermediating my office to two Australian technical advisers on capacity building within the office. We basically provide sharing sessions and workshops to budget analysts at the office. It was fun. Taking basic Arabic lesson was another fun thing I jumped in this year. Unfortunately, no intermediate class offered due to unfulfilled student number requirements.

My writing on the Gorilla Trekking in Uganda was also published on May edition’s of Reader’s Digest Indonesia this year. Another writing was on Indonesia’s economic growth which was published on Warta Anggaran (Budget News) magazine. It feels amazing after years I had not really written anything but school papers and working reports.

The 2015 was also a pretty bumpy road though. Rejection from the United Nations Young Professional Programme, Lituania’s Youth to Youth International Summit, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations’ Summer School,  and Netherlands Fellowship Programme were absolutely disappointing. But hey at least I achieved more that I wrote on my 2015 goals, didn’t I?! So, no regrets!

Can’t wait for 365 (or more!) new opportunities that the 2016 will bring!

Authoring a PhD Thesis: The Book

I recently bumped into this book, Authoring a PhD Thesis: How to plan, draft, write & finish a Doctoral thesis or dissertation by Patrick Dunleavy online, and had been eager to read it since. After two years of sleep deprivation during my Master degree, the idea of taking a PhD never crossed my mind. Nonetheless, one year back working in the office has quickly bored me.

A few months ago, I attended a Higher Education Fair by the European Union. To be in the exhibition, with scholars, curious potential students, and school adviser was an uplifting experience in some ways. I talked with a couple of school representatives from all over Europe and started thinking maybe I need to go back to academic universe again. How I miss studying late at the library (and grab lamb gyro late night). How I miss to discuss with friends and professors. How I miss reading books in the park.

This book helps boosting my spirit in pursuing a PhD. How to structure a chapter, how to keep it readable, and how to break down sections are clearly explained by the author. Reading the book makes a PhD so doable (I hope so). The book presents the differences between British and US type of PhD, which is interesting to know for future reference. The author then gives guidance on how to eventually propose the dissertation into a publishable material. Worth reading!

(Almost) Hello, 2016!

 

Hello from the other side, Friends! It is less than 72 hours from the New Years Eve, and I have been formulating new resolutions for the 2016. Financial, career, and study wise. Let's get a ride!

Mengejar Gorila Punggung Perak di Uganda

Setelah sekian lama tidak pernah menulis untuk media, Februari lalu saya iseng-iseng menuliskan pengalaman gorila trekking di Uganda. Keisengan ini berawal ketika saya membersihkan beberapa file di iPhone dan menemukan "draft" cerita pejalanan di Uganda dalam aplikasi Notes. Pengalaman di Uganda memang menjadi salah satu bagian menarik ketika saya magang di Afrika Timur-tepatnya di Kenya, Rwanda, dan Uganda- meskipun Uganda justru negara tersingkat yang saya kunjungi. 

Pengalaman pergi ke Uganda menjadi salah satu perjalanan terseru karena saya berangkat dari Rwanda dengan bus umum bernama Jaguar (this bus is not as fancy as "the Jaguar", trust me!), harus melewati pemeriksaan paspor di perbatasan bersama-sama dengan para pengungsi, dan perjalanan dari Mbarara ke Bwindi Impenetrabel Park tempat gorila bermukim juga diwarnai dengan mobil mogok yang berhasil diatasi dengan menempelkan kotak jus buah di mesin mobilnya. Aneh bin ajaib! Pengalaman gorila trekking tentunya menjadi highlight utama. Oleh karena itulah saya mengembangkannya sebagai tulisan dan mengirimkannya ke Reader's Digest Indonesia. Alhamdulillah, ternyata RDI setuju memuatnya dan tulisan pun diterbitkan dalam RDI edisi Mei 2015.