The BLN DIKTI Interview

Okay. I sent a few scholarship applications last year. Termasuk salah satunya di Beasiswa Luar Negeri (BLN) DIKTI ini. Last year, saya jungkir balik kop rol dan kayang keliling Monas waktu wawancara untuk Fulbright – DIKTI. Jadi jujur saja, saya panas dingin parah waktu tau saya dapat panggilan untuk wawancara BLN DIKTI ini. Dan demam panggung tersebut agak bercampur rasa bersalah karena yang dipanggil dari Unlam cuma saya. Sebenernya, yang saya tau sih ya yang ngirim aplikasi untuk beasiswa ini kalod ari Fakultas saya memang cuma ada 2 orang, saya sama Pak Sunardi. Dan kayaknya malah Pak Sunardi lebih semangat dari saya. Tapi ternyata dia malah gak dipanggil wawancara.

Selama seminggu menjelang wawancara, saya cuma kepikiran gimana kalo saya ketemu lagi sama Pak John yang mewawancara saya waktu Fulbright-DIKTI. Dan setiap kali mikirin itu, saya langsung migren.

Suka tidak suka, time passed by. Dan tau-tau aja, saya udah duduk manis di Lantai 3 Hotel Garden Palace Surabaya, tempat wawancara berlangsung.

Seperti biasa, semua kandidat lain terlihatbegitu smart dan percaya diri dan sungguh-dosen-sekali, sementara saya dengan lugunya cuma bisa bolak-balik menatap berkas yang saya bawa. Dan meratapi hasil City-vs Liverpool that ended up with a draw.

Saya duduk di sebelah dosen Unibraw yang baiiik banget. Si Bapak mau S3 ke Edinburgh, tepat dia S2 dulu. Lucu deh denger cerita dia soal bikin tempe sendiri, soal betapa bahagianya dia begitu ketemu kangkung *meskipun harus beli dengan harga 55ribu rupiah XD*.

Ada 42 orang yang dipanggil wawancara. Gak semua datang sih Tapi tetep aja saya baru dipanggil di urutan sekitar 30an ke atas. Ngeeek ngoook… Wawancaranya dimulai dari jam 9.30 WIB, dan saya baru dipanggil masuk pas udah sekitar jam 13.30 lewat.

Wawancaranya di semacam aula gitu. Ada 3 meja, masing-masing ada 2 pewawancara.  Saya semenjak masuk udah berdoa semoga gak dapet Pak John.

Dan tentu saja, satu-satunya meja yang kosong ya sama si Pak John itu.

Sambil berusaha tersenyum *dan saya yakin saya malah lebih mirip nyengir gak karuan*, saya menuju meja tersebut. Begitu salaman, saya dengan polosnya langsung ngomong:

“Good afternoon Sir. Pleased to meet you again.”

Pak John nanya balik dong. “Really? When did you see me?”

“At the Fulbright-DIKTI interview. You were one of my interviewers.”

“Oh? Okay. So, are you applying for US universities for this one?”

“No. I am applying this scholarship to fund my intended study in Australia.”

He just shrugged his shoulders and start to type n hislaptop. “Oh, okay. So Australia…”

Beuh. Padahal saya udah nerves aja mikir gimana ngejelasin kenapa saya sebegitu maruknya ngedaftar beasiswa kemana-mana.

Karena sekarang BLN DIKTI relies so much on the online application system, mereka gak bawa berkas apapun. Saya cuma diminta nunjukin hard copy berkas yang saya upload di akun BLN DIKTI saya. Ya udah aja saya jelaskan soal LoA yang masih dalam proses, nunjukin sertifikat ITP saya *saya bawa 3 sertifikat ITP, mulai yang dari tahun 2011* sama hasil iBT yang saya print dari website ETS.

Pertanyaan-pertanyaan awal sih masih wajar ya. Mulai dari gimana kok saya bisa kenal dengan potential supervisor saya, terus kenapa proposal saya masih belum saya benerin *karena saya terlalu sibuk ngikutin BPL dan La Liga sih dan baca novel dan berprokrastinasi sih sebenernya*, gimana kondisi di prodi saya. Things like that.

Jujur ya, it went smoother than the DIKTI-Fulbright, really. Pak John-nya jauh lebih ramah, dan interviewer satunya juga gak galak. Si interviewer satunya malah nanyanya: “Oh, dari Unlam? Kenal sama Pak Idiannoor? Kenal sama istrinya? Kampusnya yang di Banjarmasin apa di Banjarbaru? Rumahnya di Banjarmasin apa di Banjarbaru? Jadi tiap hari bolak-balik? Gak capek?”

-_-

Sampai. Akhirnya. Mereka mulai liat-liatan. Saya mulai punya filing gak enak.

Pak John lalu ngomong gini. “Okay. So now, let assume that, you got this scholarship.”

“Okay, that’s a very nice assumption” sahut saya, mulai waspada.

“And then in Australia, a company was so impressed with you, that they offer you a very high salary to work for them.”

“I will still be returning to Indonesia if that’s what you’re going to ask.”

“Really? Thousands of dollars and you still go back t Indonesia?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well. This may sound strange. But with all those bad things happening in this absurd country, I still stupidly love Indonesia. Strange, but I have this strong feeling that in one way or another, this is the country where I belong.”

“Now let’s move on to another assumption. What if you met someone and you fall in love and then he ask you to stay?”

“Well, I don’t think David Silva lives in Australia while he is the only one who can make me reconsider my decision of going back to Indonesia”

Si Pak John bengong, lalu ngakak. Di sebelahnya si Bapak Unpad ketawa.

“Get serious. Will you still be back to Indonesia?”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, if he said that he loves me and then he ask me to stay in Australi with him instead of going back to Indonesia, then it means that he doesn’t love me enough to know that I will go back to Indonesia.”

“Hey, love is blind.”

“Love is blind, but love can see in the dark, Sir.”, saya masih keukeuh.

“You can say that now. Who knows if it’s really happening in the future. You’ve never been in love before.”

“Excuse me? Me? Never been in love before? Who said that?” ini saya udah emosi lho.

“Me.” Kata si Pak John dengan polosnya.

“I’ve never said that nor confirmed that I’ve never been in love before. I’ve been in love.” Asdfghjllkjg….what kind of interview is thisssss?

Dan si Pak Unpad pun lalu menimpali. “Okay, then. Do you have a boyfriend at the moment?”

“Me? Boyfriend? Oh well, I am desperately in love with David Silva. Can I call him my boyfriend then?” kata saya dengan polosnya.

“No”. Both of them answered plainly.

“Really? Oh, okay. Anyway…” saya menarik nafas. “Well, assuming that I found someone in Australia, I will still come back to Indonesia. Let’s say that the chance is 95% for me to go back to Indonesia.”

Pak John waved his index finger. “There’s still that 5% possibility, you know…”

“Yeah. But still 5% is much much less than 95%!”

“It’s a small possibility, but it can be significant, you know…”

“True. But it’s only 5% anyway. And I set that 5% value instead of 0% just because I want to be realistic.”

“And we’re also trying to be realistic. That’s why we’re asking you these questions…” he said, smirking,

Saya cuma nyengir.

Lima menit kemudian, saya keluar dari ruangan interview sambil cengengesan. Para kandidat lain udah pada ngetawain aja.

Believe me, that was one of the most absurd interviews I’ve ever had.

Now, let’s just crossed fingers, and pray to God that whatever comes my way is the best one for me =)