Disappointment Turns into Gratitude (2-end)

I found out that there were two different letters of LPDP scholarship announcement (which was quite unusual for me). My name was listed on the second letter, uploaded to the website later that day after the first one.

Alhamdulillah. I have no other word to say.

Allah gives us ups and downs in life to make us keep struggling but resigning to Him at the same time.

The next thing I did was waiting for the next information for interview schedule.

***

Meanwhile I applied for a free Dutch course conducted by Erasmus Taalcentrum in Jakarta. The course is for those who are already admitted at any universities in Netherland.

That was one fine Tuesday, I flew back from Bali to Jakarta after a business trip. It might be just a coincidence that the Colour Magazine of Garuda Indonesia featured a story about Amsterdam. I looked at those beautiful pictures of Amsterdam and I visualized myself on each of the spot. Then I smiled to myself and said, “You’re on the way there. Not sure what the final result is, but you’re on the way…”

In the evening (still the same day), I hurried to my first Dutch class. I was late because of the extra terrible traffic on Jalan Rasuna Said. It is USUALLY terrible, but that day was extra because it was raining.

Anyway… I enjoyed learning new language. I also found out that bahasa Indonesia actually shares many same vocabs with Dutch (I suppose you do remember that we were colonialized by Dutch for three centuries). And by learning Dutch and its history, I feel that I am closer with my own country. I recall the tetralogy novel of Pramoedya Ananta Toer. I recall History subjects I learned at school.

That day was exhausting but exciting. I arrived home around 9.30 pm and checked my gadget (oh yeah…it becomes a routine). I checked my email inbox and saw an unread email with a title ‘Your application for a scholarship Eric Bleumink Fund’. Oh what again now?

Dear ms. Farhati,

today I have received a message that one of the EBF-students has withdrawn herself from the program for next year…

For each of the candidates, the board of the Eric Bleumink Fund has a runner-up candidate. In this case your are the runner-up…!

Congratulations!

You have been awarded a scholarship from the University of Groningen Talent Grant/Eric Bleumink Fund, for the master ‘s degree programme  International Economics and Business (IE&B) of the Faculty of Economics and Business.

The scholarship will be awarded to you for 12 months, from 1 September 2013 until 1 September 2014.

Again.. ALHAMDULILLAH (bold and capital it has to be). All praises to Allah.

It is such a miracle.

“It is not a miracle, Icha. You deserve it.” said my friend, Putri.

I agree that it is worth my hard work and patience. But it is in Allah’s hand that there was one awardee who withdrew herself from the program.

Allah’s secret is always wonderful. We sometimes need time and deep reflection to realize the message in it.

I am going to school again insya Allah. Bismillah. 🙂

*Tuhan Maha Tahu, tapi Dia Menunggu, begitu tulis Leo Tolstoy. Saya sendiri belum pernah membaca buku/ceritanya. Namun kalimat itu pernah dikutip oleh teman saya Shally Pristine dalam cerpennya yang dimuat di Republika (http://epaper.republika.co.id/main/landingShare/52271/tw).