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There are so many friends or readers of mine who keep asking me about scholarship. They wonder to know about how to win a scholarship, especially for studying abroad.

Well, guys, actually, I am not an expert on this matter. I haven’t got any scholarship yet. (pssst, just keep it as our secret: I am hunting for one, now.) So, why don’t you give a try, just like what I am doing now?)

In my latest book, ‘Studying Abroad’, I share a lot of things about what you will experience when studying abroad. I and Maurin used to live abroad; we went there on our own money, not because of scholarship. Nope, we are not from ‘the have’ family. So, if you think we were able to go there because we’re rich, then all that I can say is: YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY WRONG.

That’s why in our book, we don’t talk too much about scholarship. But still, you can find the most important things you should know about scholarship, for instance: how to apply scholarship and the factors that can fail you to win scholarship.

Mostly, we explain about how to live and survive in a different country. We share about so many things you should know if you want to study or live abroad: how to handle culture shock, the problems that might arise, what you should prepare before you go there, how to arrange your living cost, especially if you are merely a ‘scholarship student’, not ‘the have’. We also share about buying experiences: food, culture and custom, do’s and dont’s, international relationship, and the system and regulation. We put the two most favorite topics for students: getting part time job and traveling on a low budget. We also add information about how to apply for passport and visa in Indonesia. Do you also want to know how to renew/extend your passport or visa while you are in another country? Yup, we also reveal about it.

And because of this book, so many readers thought that we won the scholarship. Sorry to disappoint you, Mates, but we didn’t. We haven’t applied for any scholarships yet, as I was saying above.

Then, I met Erny Murniasih, the writer of the book, the cover of which you can see in this article. She read my book and thought that my book is a good one. (Sorry, sometime, I am a narcissist. *Blushed* mode on). She said she wanted to make a complete guide about scholarship because she had experiences about it. I said to Erny, her idea was very good and her book would be needed by people.

Many scholarship hunters have done silly mistakes that have made them lose the chance. In my book, I wrote about ‘Top Ten Frequent Mistakes in Filling Out Application Form of Scholarship’. You will be surprised if I tell you that forgetting to put name and address is on the top list.

Filling out application form for some people is like a piece of cake. It looks very easy and there is nothing special about it. But, to be honest, mostly, those applicants failed because they made mistake in filling out the application form. We do not know how to fill out our application form properly. We do not know how to make a good statement of purpose. We do not know whom we can get recommendation letters from and how to ask someone to write this letter for us.

In this book, Erny says that we have to be smart in hunting a scholarship if we want to get one. We have to know which scholarship is suitable for us. Sending applications randomly without making sure your educational or job background matches the scholarship criteria is such a waste of your time. In short, you have to know well what you want and would do in the future after you finish your education.

Based on e-mails that went to my inbox, the basic question frequently asked is, ‘Can you tell me how to win a scholarship?’. Oh, dear, yes I know this is a short question. But if you really-really want to know the answer, then you have to read every single page of this book.

This book: ‘Buku Pintar Beasiswa: Panduan Komplet Meraih Beasiswa di Dalam dan Luar Negeri’ answers your question completely. You will find everything you should know to win a scholarship. There is a companion CD inside this book, which includes the scholarship handbook, examples of CV, statement of purpose/motivation, letter of recommendation, and application form of scholarship. It’s very helpful to practice filling out the application form and making a good statement of purpose, which you can do with the help of the CD. Believe me, guys, even though the program that I joined in was not the scholarship one, still the organization running the program asked me to make a statement of purpose and provide some recommendation letters from lecturers at my university, in Indonesia.

I highly recommend this book for you, all the scholarship hunters. Not because GagasMedia has published this book, but because it can answer all questions you have regarding scholarship.

Happy reading. And happy hunting, then, Mates!

*) also read Winning A Scholarship by Erny Murniasih and Studying Abroad by Windy Ariestanty and Maurin Andri, as a complete guide to studying and living overseas (still, I have to promote my book as my writer’s obligation to the publisher. )

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