It was a long journey to stand in Australia, and enrol as a student at Griffith University. I remember my high school teacher moving to Australia to pursue her dream of completing a masters degree. From that moment on, I considered studying abroad to be my big dream too.
I am Rahman, an Indonesian awardee of the Australia Awards Scholarship. I am a civil servant in the health sector under the Ministry of Health of Indonesia, and I am studying Master of Global Public Health at Griffith University’s Gold Coast Campus.
I knew that it would not be easy to achieve a scholarship, especially as a non-English speaker. Day by day, I kept practising. I even took an English course in another city to gain my skills, especially IELTS. While preparing my English skills, I got a job in several private sectors. I ended up choosing to be a civil servant, which is related to my background and passion.
Back in my hometown, I do health promotion and dissemination for my community so they can stay healthy. It was so hard during the pandemic, and I needed to work extra hard to make people understand that their health mattered. At the same time, I needed to face the hoax issues coming from society.
I didn’t think having a bachelors degree would be enough to be completely capable and knowledgeable in this area. If I want to accelerate my community’s health status, there must be changes and innovations. So, continuing my study is one of the ways to upgrade my skills.
Applying for this scholarship was one of the fastest and most challenging pathways in pursuing my career in the health sector.