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Representation and responsibility through the Beasiswa Indonesia Maju scholarship
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Dhira and fellow BIM recipients attend the Independence Day celebration on Aug. 17, 2023 at the MoECRT.
D
hira Dharmakusuma of the Global Jaya School graduating class of 2023 had always dreamed of pursuing an international education abroad, and was shocked when she received the life-changing news of her acceptance into the fully funded Beasiswa Indonesia Maju (BIM) scholarship program, led by the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry’s Pusat Prestasi Nasional and the Finance Ministry’s Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education Agency (LPDP).
BIM is a prestigious full-ride scholarship award granted to final year high school students in Indonesia who have previously made trailblazing achievements in the fields of STEM, culture, humanities, sports, arts and beyond. Dhira was selected as a recipient of the “non-preparation” scholarship route, meaning that she had received outstanding letters of acceptance from the world’s top universities prior to her scholarship acceptance. Some of these include the University of California Berkeley, University of California Los Angeles, University of California Irvine, all in the United States; University of British Columbia, Canada; University College London, University of Birmingham, King’s College London, all in the United Kingdom; as well as the University of Indonesia’s International Faculty of Law.
The selection process of the BIM scholarship was conducted in multiple rigorous stages. The first stage was the administration stage, participated in by thousands of students nationally. Non-preparation route students, such as Dhira, were required to obtain letters of acceptance prior to the administration stage and follow through a highly challenging interview stage before proceeding to receive their awards. Preparation-route students, on the other hand, were required to obtain letters of acceptance through a fully funded preparation program preparing them for language-proficiency tests, standardized testing and more. Qualifying candidates, such as Dhira, were finally able to secure scholarships after the arduous process.
“Although I’d applied to different scholarships from different universities worldwide, I was especially captivated by the BIM scholarship due to its commitment to national development,” Dhira says. “Despite studying in a ‘global’ environment my entire life, my parents and teachers never failed to demonstrate the importance of Indonesian pride and nationalism,” she said, “today this translates into my determination to tackle and share diverse Indonesian experiences that other internationally raised Indonesians may feel distanced from.”
Dhira shared how her internationally focused, yet locally grounded, education at Global Jaya School had strengthened her scholarship application and afforded her opportunities that were not open to her parents, one of which was being the first and only Indonesian team to reach the global final of the 2021-2022 Wharton Global Youth Investment Competition, held by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business in the US. Dhira and her team, Wu-Tang Capital, was one of the top-10 teams worldwide out of 1,300+ teams, representing Indonesia and Global Jaya School.
“Today, universities and scholarships look for individuals who are not only interested in studying abroad, but also determined to contribute back to Indonesia,” Dhira says. “I think a big part of my university applications talked about this very trait of determination and also love for ‘the Indonesian experience’ […] a trait I wouldn’t have developed as strongly without my time at GJS.”
Prior to her scholarship acceptance, Dhira became the first and only Indonesian Teen Advisor for the United Nations Foundation, particularly working with Girl Up, a UN-affiliated organization focusing on women and girls’ leadership development. Dhira was selected out of over 250 applicants worldwide for her internationally recognized projects aimed at increasing Sustainable Development Goals education in Indonesia and stimulating Indonesian youth empowerment. At the UN Foundation, Dhira represented Indonesia in an international team of young girls to tackle various issues, including her field of passion, education policy and curriculum reform. Today, the organization has impacted more than 150,000 girls in 130 countries, inspiring a generation of girls to become a force for intersectional social change.
For Dhira, the BIM scholarship is not merely a means of financial support, it is a deliberate effort to make “the Indonesian experience” heard in academia. Last November, she conducted a research project at her North American university, studying “The Dynamics of Gen-Z Political Engagement in Indonesian Democracy” in light of the upcoming 2024 presidential election. To her, remaining connected with crucial Indonesian topics, such as Indonesian politics, even while studying abroad, was a matter of representation and responsibility.
Dhira has chosen to continue her studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, listed as the number-one political science department in the nation (Shanghai Rankings). She hopes to specialize in political science or public policy and ultimately pursue her dreams of developing a just political education curriculum in Indonesia.
“Entering such an international environment has not only been a great opportunity, but an even greater responsibility,” Dhira says, “I believe it is my personal responsibility as a BIM scholar to return Indonesia’s favor by sharing one-of-a-kind Indonesian perspectives, experiences, identities, cultures and achievements with the world.”
