Wondering my skill

Somehow I thought that we need to be familiar with English so that from now and so on I will write some of my life story in English. Hopefully, by practicing every momment I have, my skill is being upgraded day by day.

Well...about three months ago, I applied a scholarship from IIEF (The Indonesian International Education Foundation), named IELSP-Indonesia English Language Study Program. It was the 4th batch when I was applying. Some of the requirements are transcription, photograph, curriculum vitae, and letter of recommendation.

Let's give some more focus on letter of recommendation. There are three lecturers I've asked for it, Mr Sukrisno Mardiyanto (head of informatics department), Mrs Christine Suryadi (my study adviser) and Mr Munawar Ahmad (one of my lecturers). They are the top three lecturers that close to me.

Mr Sukrisno is a very-very-busy man that he let Mr Rasidi make it from some others well-done recommendation letter. I only could ask for his signature to make it complete and legal. Mrs Christine Suryadi is very kind. She want to make a clear recommendation letter, which is show my experiences, skills, and the nature of myself. But unfortunately, she need more time to prepare it...hmm, at that time I only have one day left, hikss....At the end, I couldn't get it from her. The last lecturer, Mr Munawar Ahmad, well encourage me to get the scholarship, but he told me to write the letter by myself first then ask him to sign it.

Aargh...I've never write such kind of that letter before, and surely in English. No idea, no experience, no spirit, that made me spend five hours to create one. I hate myself for my writing disability. Here it is:

To Whom it May Concern:

It is my pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Wijoyo Batara Frans Simanjuntak. I have now know and taught Wijoyo for four years at Bandung Institute of Technology . I first met him in our Introduction to Information Technology class four years ago, in semester I-2004/2005. At Bandung Institute of Technology we have very specific requirements of all of our students. One of these is collaboration. Wijoyo was able to work well with his peers on projects and in preparation for presentations, and always scored quite highly on his collaboration evaluations.

Most recently, I have had Wijoyo in my Social and Professional Issues in Information Technology class. It is here that I have really seen the potential that lies within Wijoyo. I've always enjoyed his summaries, written in reflection to the many presentations we have seen in our class. Wijoyo has always seriously listened to all guests standing in front of the class.

Wijoyo is bright, energetic, mature, responsible, confident, inquisitive and open-minded. He has actively participated in a diverse assortment of extracurricular activities.

It is my understanding that Wijoyo wishes to pursue a career as an information system auditor, as I've read about in his portfolio. I feel, at a time when so many students are striving to find what they wish to do, it is refreshing to find someone so focused and ready to continue on his career path. And to make it real, he need to improve his ability in English from good to great.

It was a real honor to witness Wijoyo’s development here at the university and it has been a joy to watch his growth since then. I cannot imagine a better recipient of this language program. I enthusiastically recommend him to you.

Bandung, March 31, 2008
Yours Sincerely,

Dr.Ir. Munawar Ahmad ZA
Member of Study Program Informatics Engineering
Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB)
Jl. Ganesha No. 10 Bandung 40132
Indonesia
E-mail : munawar@informatika.org

In fact, I was invited to be interviewed, but after a complete month waiting for the final decision, there is none of my name listed on the announcement. Sharing story with my friend, I concluded that

• First, my English is very bad. I need to improve it as soon as possible
• Second, I have to analyze what they need. At that time, the organization need people that could call Islam as a fraternizing religion upon countries in America and Europe
• Third, I need more than just luck.

I've learned from my experience and I hope I wouldn't miss it again.

Wish me luck.