#30

On the 29th of May 2022, the clock witnessed me on earth for approximately 946.100.000 seconds. Google told me so, I never keep track of the time. I also have lost count how many times I fell in love, had a broken heart, overjoyed, burned-out, cried, and other things I couldn’t even describe. These 10 fingers aren’t made for that.

Funnily enough, I, someone who used to quantify stuff, do not care less about my age now (except my fear of osteoporosis). Thirty is just a number, they say. Yet, this magical number is often capitalized by the so-called notorious magazine for their own goods. Open LinkedIn, and see how many times have you seen ’30 Under 30’ shown on your feed. More than my fingers, obviously.

Does it make you anxious, now? I don’t have any ill-feeling for those who are on the list, but life doesn’t end at 30. For those who read this, you don’t need to be at Mount Everest on/under your 30. Enjoy the walk, the trip, the companion, the pain, the weather, and everything under the cloud. It won’t come twice.

The Pilgrim

Does faith find you or do you find your own faith? It's a haunting question that has followed me since years ago. But recently, things have become more intense. It keeps echoing whenever I spaced out. I don't know how or where to find the answer, nor want to know about it. On Wednesday, 25th of April, I was trekking to the ancient valley at the south of Göreme. I stopped at a random cliff and suddenly everything felt peaceful, As if the time wasn't ticking. Perhaps this is what humans called faith. It cannot be answered but can be felt. It resonates with your heart without any preach needed. It doesn't need to be found, because it's already there in the first place.

Never Put Lemon Juice on Your Face

To whoever knows me since I was in junior high school, I was a person who suffered from a major acne breakout until I didn’t even recognise my face. This was happening until the next 15 years, even when I wasn’t a teenager anymore. Becoming an adult-who-suffered-from-acne-breakout unconsciously made me less confident with myself. I rarely wanted to be in the photo, especially on a birthday occasion. I remembered there were moments when I woke up with blood stains in my pillow sheets. My desperation made me believe what’s written on the internet. From putting lemon juice on my face, as well as spreading coconut oil with DIY essential oils. The result? It wasn’t getting any better for years even until I stopped the practice. Here is a pic of mine during my trip in April last year (2019).

Real plot twist: it was on both sides of my cheek. This was the result of my acne-prone skin combined with DIY stuff from the internet. Never ever trust what you’ve read on the first sight. Always check other reputable sources to verify the fact.

Misinformation can happen to everyone. As a communication practitioner, I was ashamed I didn’t screen thoroughly all written information on the internet, including social media. My blind faith put me in a difficult position and it did affect my well-being that much. Finding the professional in the respective field is the viable solution I have - which in this case is my dermatologist. She even lost words when she saw my face condition. I remembered how painful it was to be injected with Vitamin C directly to my acne in two different sessions. This (bitter) experience motivates me to always reminding people the importance of trusting legit professionals rather than following random micro-influencer advice. Long story short, I put all my experience and thoughts about how fake online information affects people’s well-being on an academic paper and it got published (click to read the article)! This makes me more than just happy, but also as my first step in campaigning the right information on social media. Feel free to read it and let me know what’s your thought!

A year after I went to a dermatologist and using legit products afterwards. It’s not at Asian-perfect level, but it’s waaaay better than my previous condition. Always follow professional’s advice!

From East to West: It Took Me 3 Years to Get the Scholarship and Here is My Story

In the last 4 months, I got some messages from people around the globe asking about the master programme that I’m doing now. I am more than happy to explain things, the programme, and life in Europe. Everything that’s written here is not sugarcoated, I’m going to say things as truthful as it is.

On 15th January 2019, my heart almost stopped beating when I got the email from DCLead (Digital Communication Leadership) joint-master programme regarding my scholarship application. I was selected for the selection interview and finally secured the fully-funded scholarship by Erasmus+ exactly two weeks after that. It’s not a short process, rather it took me three years to finally figure out the suitable programme and got the funding. To make a long story short, I was selected for another Erasmus+ programme as well in Health Economics and Management (EUHEM). The second scholarship option has a higher university ranking, but I believe at the end of the day it’s not about the number written on the paper. It’s about the people inside the programme, who you are, what you want to be, and things that you want to learn in the future. This story will give you a bigger picture of what the programme looks like according to my own experience.

It’s Started in Austria, Not Australia

You won’t find a kangaroo in Austria since it’s a native animal in Australia. It’s a different country, people. The fact that my mobility programme started in Austria made me wonder what the country looks like. I was surprised as well figuring out there’s a university in Salzburg. Whenever I said to my friends that I was going to study there for a semester, they thought I was pivoting my career to become a musician. That’s the last thing that I’ll never anticipated, even my blues harp is still stranded somewhere in my room.

During the first semester, I was learning the foundation of digital communication as if I knew nothing at all. Even though my previous job was related to the same thingy, the programme pushed me to see the paradigm from different perspectives. In fact, Aristotle already proved that a long time ago: the more you know, the more you realise you don’t know. I am not going to explain details of the courses, but metaphorically, it was structured into two kinds of categories: the course that teaches you what life is and how to live.

The first category taught me about all things related to digital communication theories in general and the pro-contra. The professor invited a lot of guest lecturers during the whole semester, and students were asked to critically think from different angles across various topics. The second category complemented learning from the first one, students were challenged to do a semester research project on a certain topic and critically review a phenomenon with resources from various literature. Overall, the programme is well-structured for everyone from different backgrounds. There was a time when I felt so stupid for not knowing the alien-topic and that’s totally okay - you don’t need to rush. Everyone is (re)learning from scratch :)

Moving to Brussels: It’s Getting More Serious Than Before

I thought classes in Salzburg were already brain-squeezing. I was totally wrong; things got harder when I enrolled in Vrije Universiteit Brussel, with specialisation in Digital Communication, Policy and Innovation in Europe (POLINN). The course content is way even harder than I had before in Salzburg. But on the bright side, you’ve got chances to design your own course based on your interest and that’s your gateway for the upcoming thesis topic.

The courses in VUB are generally categorised into three big topics: economics, media and journalism, and lastly policy and governance. Although you can still see courses that are not related to those three groups. I’ve designed my courses focus on (digital) economy as well (yes, my Chinese bloodline never lies) with a sprinkle of journalism and technology in between. Somehow, I feel the courses are interconnected. No matter what kind of topic you’re going to pick later, those courses will be beneficial for your critical thinking and knowledge.

Working Experience Before Master Programme

Having experience in the industry is totally beneficial before you pursue the master study. Sometimes it’s hard to slap your ass off the office chair when you already enjoy monthly salary transferred to your bank account. It was also hard for me, but hey, you’ll get more knowledge for your future career after the master. I felt I can relate things with what I’ve done in the past and critically review what I did. Is it ethically right or wrong? Can I do it better? If I already have that knowledge before, what will I do? Although having no professional experience is completely fine, but I highly encourage you to test the water first.

Always Ask Yourself: Is This the Right Programme for Me?

Never forget to question yourself why do you want to pursue this master programme. I know living in Europe can be a wholesome (yet awesome) experience. You’ll have the luxury to travel between countries easily, enjoying new cultures, finding good beers - but that’s not the purpose of the programme, isn’t it?

If you’re still not sure about the programme, there are ways to figure out where Rome is. You can find the alumni or current students on the DCLead website, find them on LinkedIn or any other platforms, or see the details of the programme content - even though it might change in the following years.

I understand finding a suitable programme is hard and there’s no such thing as the perfect one. Each programme has its own flaw but there are things that you can still compromise. You need to evaluate all information that you’ve got, carefully select which one is relevant and not sugarcoated, and ask yourself again: is this what I want? You clearly need to know where you are going to navigate your ship a.k.a. life.

If you have any further question about the programme, feel free to reach me through these mediums. I am more than happy to answer your question :’)