Rafista Deviyanti, S.Pd., M.Pd, one of the English Department lecturers, is furthering her education at University of Szeged, Hungary. When she was asked by our team Febby Cilcila, in an interview on Monday, 14th Feb 2022 about what motivated her to continue taking the doctoral program, she told us besides to have a doctoral degree, one of the reasons is due to most of the seniors in the English Department have got their PhD, and now it’s time for the junior lecturers to upgrade their knowledge and experience.
Regarding the management time with all the responsibilities, she stated that the lecturers who continue their study (far from the home institution) do not have to teach, do research, nor do community service. All they have to do is just studying, and finishing their study. Because of that, she can have full focus towards her study.
“It’s really good, I have to present my research plan on my first semester and we have schedule for that. I got the schedule even before I arrived in Hungary. The curriculum is really well-structured. There are two phases here, first phase is for theory (4 semesters) and second phase is for dissertation writing (4 semesters)”, said Ms. Rafista about the learning system in Hungary.
Our team also asked her what kind of culture shock she had been been through. She said, instead of a culture shock, it’s more to weather shock for her. The weather is totally different compared to tropical country. 20 degree Celsius is considered quite cold in Indonesia, but there, 15 degree is already warm. The environment in Szeged (the city where she lives) is really nice. It’s not as crowded as Budapest (the capital city). It’s more like Yogyakarta in Indonesia. It’s the safest city in Hungary and they call it university town because the university is spread throughout the city.
She gave tips for those who also want to continue their education abroad as well, she believes the most important aspect is a strong will.
“Well, the first thing you need to have is a strong will. Strong will helps you to stay focus on your goals and targets because there’s always a time when you feel like you want to give up”, she said.
Nevertheless, Ms. Rafista certainly will go back to Indonesia and continue teaching in University of Lampung even though it’s still a long way to go.
Author: Dita Indah Ardeyanti
