IKAHAN

The Defence Cooperation Scholarship Program (DCSP) is not only an opportunity for defence personnel to pursue a post graduate degree in an Australian University, but it is also an experience of a lifetime. Obviously, studying in an advanced country like Australia would be a dream of many people from developing countries like Indonesia. In addition to an overseas study experience, interacting with the academic community in the foreign university and other relevant institution is one novel benefit of studying abroad. I believe that it does not matter where we study, but the experience to connect with the community and gain extant access to updated and contemporary issues on our field of interest are the most beneficial aspects. I proudly acknowledge that it is a great honour for me to study at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) of the University of Wollongong. ANCORS is a leading institution on the maritime issue not only in Australia but largely in the Asia Pacific region. It is substantiated by numerous maritime publications that originated from ANCORS fellows, including articles written by Prof Sam Bateman, Prof Martin Tsamenyi and Prof Stuart Kaye are the major academic sources not only at the national and regional level but also at the global level.

I believe Australia has a competence based education system which means that the quality of education institution is not determined merely by the label of university but the quality of the academic component in specific field of study. Therefore, I am not reluctant to say that for those who are interested in studying maritime affairs, ANCORS is one of the best institution to study. That is why it is not surprising that Seskoal (the Indonesian Navy Command and Staff Course) has cooperated with this research center for a number of years by inviting ANCORS Lecturers, for example, Prof Martin Tsamenyi and Dr Chris Rahman, to teach maritime subjects in Seskoal. This year, the Philippines has started similar cooperation by inviting ANCORS’ lecturer to teach in the Philippines. In addition, last October, five representatives from the Indonesian Defence University (IDU or UNHAN) visited ANCORS with a view of studying ANCORS’ experience in conducting various types of maritime courses and looking for an opportunity to cooperate with the centre.

Practically, at the level of master degree, the benefit of study is largely dependent on the student’s initiative and willingness to pursue as much knowledge, experience and academic resources as they could uphold. The professionalism of ANCORS lecturers, the university facilities and education system are definitely made all these benefits possible for the students. I really impressed with the vast access to the academic resources in the university library system. Especially, the library networking system is an outstanding service for the benefit of the students, for example, the systems of bonus book has provided me extensive access to libraries of other universities, such as, La Trobe University Melbourne, UTS Sydney,Massey UniversityNew Zealand, Deakin University Canberra and many others.

It is not surprising that studying in Australian campus has imposed a considerable academic challenges to the international students that primarily use English as their second language. If I could share my experience in addressing those challenges, it would be summarized in five following points. 

#1 GOAL. The first and most fundamental thing is to establish your personal goal in pursuing a master degree under DCSP arrangement. Without a clear and concise goal you may end up merely surviving in order to avoid being disqualified from the program. With a clear and comprehensive goal, you have addressed probably half of your academic challenges. Without a vision, the people perish.

#2 TIME MANAGEMENT. The next and perhaps the most important thing is to organize your time. Many students face stressful situations in their study because they try to complete their assignments in the last couples of days, even some do it in the last hours. I found that this overnight strategy does not work well in achieving satisfactory result during the master program in Australian university. Therefore, managing your time in completing the assignments will play a considerable role in your academic achievement. You can make a day to day schedule which may help you in ensuring that you are in time or on track in doing your assignments. It is recommended to allocate more time to assignments that are worth more marks, for example, doing major or long essays during your most productive time which is the time that your mind works effective and efficient. More importantly, managing your time will be beneficial to your non-academic life, for example, it will save more quality time for your family and friends which will offer you a more balanced in your day to day journey in Australia. In a nutshell, time management will make your study enjoyable and fruitful. 

#3 READ. Since the major assignments at master level are written essays, you will be able produce a good quality writing only by adequately reading and understanding the topic of interest. Even for students who have extant knowledge of a particular subject should read as much as is possible. In academic writing, we must acknowledge other people original ideas through an appropriate referencing or citation system. The more you read the easier you are of writing well.

#4 COMMUNICATE. Another significant thing in handling the academic life in Australian university is to communicate with all persons that may benefit you in various ways in achieving your academic goal. At least, there are three groups of people that may become vital counterparts in your study. Firstly, your lecture and course coordinator will help, direct and supervise you in achieving the objective of particular subject in your study. Some lecturers accept essay outline or draft. Use this opportunity to ensure that your work is on track, particularly in the content of your essay. In the case of essay, this guidance will help you in answering the essay question appropriately. The second group of people that provide assistance to students are the people from university learning development department. In general, they may help you to structure your essay in accordance with the requirement of the question. In fact, this assistance is important because most international students struggle with academic writing in English. Indeed, this assistance does not necessarily proof read your essay instead they will point out any potential shortcomings or errors in your writing structure and give some suggestions to address those impediments. Lastly, you should communicate with family, friends, classmates, international students and other people that may spend their time assisting you in study, for example, proofreading of your essay. I am fortunate enough to stay with an Aussie landlady who offers this help to me without any charge. Even though, they may not be an expert on your topic, their assistance will minimize your language errors and ensure the clarity of your writing. If they can easily comprehend and are interested in the topic you wrote. It means that your writing is clear and easy to be understood. Fail to communicate makes your life intricate.

#5 REFRESH. The last important thing is to ensure the well-being of your personal health. It is obvious that studying in a post graduate level will generate some pressures for the students therefore physical and mental fitness should be maintained at all times. Students may fail due to illness or fatigue. Therefore, at regular times, it is highly recommended to press the refresh button of your personal life. It can be done by allocating enough time for rest, consuming healthy foods and vitamins, doing regular exercise, doing your hobbies, interacting with people other than your academic life, pray and do your religious activity, plan and take a holiday with your family and many other enjoyable things that may physically and mentally reenergize you. The more often you get refreshed the better the result.

Hopefully, those five insights will benefit the next DCSP students in optimising their academic and non-academic life during DSCP scheme.

Undeniably, the role of Austraining in administering the overall aspects of DCSP program is significant to the success of the student life in Australia.I discovered that the online communication during the in-country preparation and the actual process in Australia were very effective and helpful to the student, particularly in comparison to other scholarship scheme. The two interview sessions and the Wollongong-Sydney DCSP gathering were other constructive events during the program. It had not only enabled students to deal with all administrative matter but had also created a good atmosphere of friendship between students, their family members, DCSP program manager and staff of IP Division of the Department of Defence (Alison, Maya and Jane).

Other than academic life, DCSP has given the awardee an exclusive experience to interact with Australia, especially, the Aussie people. For the last eleven months, I lived in a peaceful quiet suburb near Wollongong called Bulli. Beautiful Bulli beach and Sandon Point are within a short walking distance from my Aussie house. I rent a granny flat and stayed at level one with the landlady living upstairs. She has become our Aussie’s Mum as well as Nanna for my two sons as we share the house for nearly a year. I intentionally decided to stay with Australian family with a purpose of getting a real Aussie experience for my family. This has given us the opportunity of practising English and exchanging cultural values. Our relationship and interactions have grown and become beneficial for us all. Unfortunately, my children are unable to attend Aussie public school because they are underage. Notwithstanding, a number of interactions with other children in play groups, kids program in church and watching ABC for kids on Channel 22 have given an Aussie experience in the early stages of their life. In addition, we have opportunity to engage with the community activities such as annual street party with neighbours and Christmas gathering with church families in Bulli.

We achieved all this without totally losing our interaction with Indonesian colleagues since there is an Indonesian Student Association in University of Wollongong. I did partake in certain occasions, for example the Indonesian Independence Day celebration and welcome and farewell gathering of incoming and outgoing students. More importantly, the support from my Defence Attaché and his staff fromCanberrahas greatly contributed to the success of my study under DCSP arrangement. It was my privilege when Indonesia Naval Attaché, Colonel Didik Kurniawan and his wife attended my graduation ceremony on 19 December 2013 in University of Wollongong.

Moreover, living in Wollongong has enabled me and my family to enjoy the beauty of New South Wales coasts with its momentary Grand Pacific Drive along the adjacent Tasman Sea. The long white sandy coastline is a rare sight in my hometown. We are also benefited by the sound transportation system in the NSW, for instance, the family fun day ticket which is just worth for $2.5 per adult person and includes the city rail system, buses and ferries services. This benefit has provided an inexpensive and easy access to various landmark and tourist sites in the Sydney CBD and suburbs. The Sydney Harbor Bridge, Opera House, Manly Island, Paddy’s Market and Blue Mountain are among those interesting visitor destinations that are reachable with the public transportation system. Also, Canberrawith its iconic Parliament House is only three hours drive from Wollongong. Even the brown sky as a result of burning bushes in the NSW has become another special moment in our Aussie encounter.

Finally, I would like to conclude by acknowledging that my Aussie experience is one of the best times in my life.

Written by Mayor Laut Lucky Wuwung