“Don’t let problems discourage you. What’s important is that you have a plan for your studies. You can achieve what you’ve set your mind to.”
With these words, Ferry Darmawan Wibowo addressed the new students of the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessenwhen Vice President Prof. Dr. Axel Schumann presented him with the DAAD Prize during the orientation for first-year students in Friedberg. The award, which comes with a €1,000 prize, is given by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to students who have distinguished themselves through outstanding academic achievements and exceptional social or cultural engagement.
The 27-year-old Indonesian comes from the city of Surakarta. After qualifying for the national team in the Informatics Olympiad, he developed a desire to study this subject with a focus on economic applications. Knowing that Germany offered high-quality academic programs in this field, he left his home country and completed a preparatory course in Leipzig to obtain his university entrance qualification. In 2007, he enrolled at TU Darmstadt in the Business Information Systems program. He successfully completed his undergraduate studies, earning his Bachelor's degree in 2010. Although he had to work to finance his studies, he still found the time and willingness to be involved in the Catholic Indonesian University Group of Hesse, an organization that, among other things, organizes cultural events and supports international students.
To further his academic qualifications, he explored his options after completing his bachelor's degree and decided on the Master's program Business Information Systems , offered jointly by TH Mittelhessen and Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. After only two semesters – he had taken a year off for personal reasons – he completed this four-semester program in April 2012. In his master's thesis, he developed the theoretical foundations for an internet-based service system that can be deployed in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Just a few days ago, he started a position as an IT advisor at KPMG in Mannheim. His professional responsibilities include analyzing business processes in companies and contributing to the improvement of information processing.
When asked how he now assesses his decision to study in Germany, he replies: "At the beginning I had to fight. But overall, Germany has become a good country for me. If you are willing to work on yourself, you can achieve what you set out to do here."
Ferry Darmawan Wibowo says he is very pleased to receive the DAAD Prize and explains: “This recognition of my achievements means a lot to me. But I believe it can also benefit others. Because the prize shows students who come from abroad that they can achieve a lot here, even more than they initially believe they can.”
Giessen , October 10
