Eda Rida

Going to the UK and getting a master's degree has been one of my dreams for a long time, most of my old friends from my previous workplace know that I dream of going abroad to continue my higher education. I can say for a long time that dream was only in 'sleeping mode' which means I did not do anything to achieve that, I have been busy with my teaching career, and I was in a comfort zone doing the same activities each day.  My desire to learn and to improve myself started when there was a new program from the government, I took the activated teachers as the first batch in my city for nine months. That is the trigger that made me realize that I could do that, I mean I learned for nine months, and I got it, a master's degree is only one year in the UK, right? So, I said to myself; you can do it! Then, I got another chance that I qualified as the assessor for the pre-service teacher training. As an assessor, I learned more about teachers' struggles all around Indonesi...

Good people create a ripple effect of positivity wherever they go. You reap what you sow. We ever heard those wise words in our daily lives and when you meet those kinds of acts, you will be amazed. So, this is my second day in Liverpool and the first thing that I had to do in the morning was to go to my university and report to the international student office that I already arrived in Liverpool. So, I checked my Google Maps to guide me to my university and I had to use the bus. Everything here is by bus, unless you have your own car, no 'angkot' here lol. So, when I waited at the bus stop and still had no idea that everything here was cashless, there was also a girl waiting there and she noticed that I always looked at my phone, she approached by asking where I wanted to go and luckily, she wanted to go to the same university as I am. When the bus arrived, I paid with my 20 pounds and the bus driver didn't want to take it. Again! That girl (later I know she is from India,...

I never imagined that one day my dream would come true. It is going to the United Kingdom to pursue my master's degree in education. So, here is my journey from my city, Bandar Lampung to Liverpool, United Kingdom. My flight was on Sunday afternoon, 22nd September 2024 from Soekarno-Hatta airport and when I wanted to check in, I had over baggage and sadly I had to pay for it. I tried to unpack and move some items into my handy bag, but it would cause over baggage for my handy bag. For me, the service from the airport was really bad since the officer at the check in counter was not nice, she even didn't smile! When I moved to another counter she even approached and said to the other officer 'She had over baggage and checked her handy bag also' and I was like 'What!?' I wanted to cry at that time, since I was alone in the airport. My sister and my mom were already on their flight back to our city.  Finally, I was on the plane, and I would have 2 transits in Singap...