One day, I went to DCC (counseling centre in my school) and I took Farah with me because I needed a company. I was really interested in one of the pamphlets in front of DCC that said ‘Oxford’. I was really surprised because all pamphlets looked new and Bu Yaya (DCC’s counselor) said that they were new which Bu Zizi (The Leader Of Diniyyah Puteri) brought from her trip to Europe last month.

All pamphlets about Oxford made me go mad! OMG! My head was getting dizzy and I believed it almost exploded if I didn’t have a good control. Probably it’s because of my confusion about my next study. All kinds of questions are running back and forth in my brain. Will I be qualified to study overseas right after high school? Or even, can I get the scholarship? I turned the page one by one. Every page I turned, I felt the excitement. Like a pride and the feeling of being there at Oxford. I imagined that I stood there, in the midst crowd of Oxford students. “I`m one of them!”

Bu Yaya said, “From one novel that I read about a struggle one man did to enter a university in Germany. Based on his experiences, I believe you could have the similar achievement. Nothing’s impossible if you work hard enough.” We listened to her, just nodded our head and shape our mouths like “O”. “I do hope you can study in a university in Europe next year.” My heart whispered aamiin, that must be me.

As I also got few tips, I want to share to all of you if you’re interested in going abroad for study. First, find sites of Indonesian students studying abroad since they will be a huge help to find necessary information. You can use famous platforms like Facebook. Second, start looking for your desired university, what country, what major and what challenges you might face in the different culture. Third, enhance your basic knowledge by doing entrance tests. They’re easily found online. Some of them are TOEFL or TOEIC, and subjects like Math, Pysics, Economy, etc all in English. Fourth, start investing your money and tell your parents your plan, since they will be your financial source if you don’t get any scholarship. Fifth, never stop believing that you can do it, you will succeed. Prepare yourself physically and mentally. Finally the last one, do not stop praying. If you find it hard to think it’s possible to achieve, keep in mind that God can make anything happen.

If you dare to dream high, do your best effort! (Safira Widastika/MA KMI Diniyyah Puteri)