Make the Most of the Process: a PhD Journey

I would say, that my experience of doing a PhD degree is really something.

I like to review it since I've just attended a Professional Development Activity session held by Australia Awards Indonesia in Jakarta recently. 

My first encounter with the Australia Development Scholarship (ADS) recipients was in Denpasar, Bali, 1999. As a recipient of other scholarship, I was mesmerized with the colleagues from ADS. They were smart, articulate, thoughtful and confident. I was determined to be one of them.

Alhamdulillah, I've been granted the ADS in 2007.

There was also a strong reason to study in Australia, because of rapid development in geopolymer research in some major Australia universities and industries. The geopolymer was in a stage of being developed as a viable construction material. There were more gaps to be fulfilled, and more cases for specific environments implementation need to be studied. I would like to be a part of the development and contribute to concrete knowledge.

Again, as I mentioned before, it needs a huge determination to do a PhD. 
After some minor and major, even very huge roadblocks during the process, I was able to finish it. 

However, there are things that I like to share with everyone.

Despite all mess and terrible that I've experienced related to materials, methods, relationships, budgets, knowledge challenges, travels, part-time jobs, and many more, 

I just want to say that "Make the most of the process".

It means, takes all the opportunities to make this journey very meaningful...

Work on it, don't really think so much about the roadblocks... try to make the most of this journey. 

I've learned from many things and people around me, 
about intercultural friendships, multicultural lifestyles, ethics, discipline, conformity, collegiality, moral values, communication, good standards, project management, research skills, and most importantly: managing skills.

I developed a supporting system in many different aspects of my study. This is to have a backup system from the lab managers, technicians, PhD colleagues, faculty staff,  lecturers from Student Learning Support, international friends, and family:
to assist me at lab works, 
to proofread my English papers, 
to exchange views about my research development, 
to encourage research and writing process, 
to emulate their routine in my research, 
to have international friendships outside my PhD peers with some undergrads and locals, and 
to get eternal support from family in many different ways.

I also pushed myself to have a routine, discipline with my experimental work and pattern of work, and also, the enthusiasm with my research.

I also create a vision of how the thesis would look like, the colour of the graphs inside, the number of pages and a list of references all the time. 

and, suddenly, I finished my PhD in 2011.

I tried to emulate this notion for every single thing that I'm doing at work now to help me produce the best results.

As a positive indicator that you are really making the most of something in a noble way...
"You are very positive about many things, 
you have a positive attitude towards people around you, and 
you want to give back to the society who support you all you know about it...

and... you even look younger than your exact physical age."

Pekanbaru,