I’m Nadia, a girl from Indonesia, and this is my first time studying abroad for an extended period. With a background in industrial engineering, many people might wonder, “Why choose governance for my master’s and why the University of Edinburgh?” Well, this year marks my 4th year working at Bank Indonesia, and it’s my 3rd year in the Department of Strategic Management and Governance. Hopefully, that explains why I chose governance for my PGT. As for Edinburgh, it’s the only university offering courses on governance with a focus on the future and the digital age, which made it the perfect fit for me.
After just one week of studying Future Governance, I want to share three key takeaways. Oh, by the way, I’ll often use “3” in my writing because I come from a workplace culture that uses the “rule of three” to make explanations clearer and more efficient. So, here we go:
It’s Never Too Late to Learn Programming—
Honestly, even though I’ve never fully understood programming, the Insights Through Data (ITD) class is one I was really looking forward to! Before coming to Edinburgh, I took an R Programming course, but, yup—you guessed it—I forgot most of it. After two ITD sessions, I discovered that I wasn’t alone in starting from scratch. Many of my classmates, including some more experienced than me, were also struggling. It felt like learning to ride a bike for the first time, but it was so exciting! Thankfully, with the help of Kate (from Cultural Heritage) and Eric, I survived Pairing Week. So, how’s Nadia x Programming coming along? Stay tuned for updates in my next post!
Love What You Don’t Love—
Who would have thought I’d be writing a blog? And yes, that means I have to start loving reading too! As someone who doesn’t naturally enjoy reading, being a master’s student has been quite the challenge. But, I’m grateful, because this has brought me closer to AI tools that are actually here to help. Special thanks to Jake for inspiring me with his experience on how to write a good blog, especially for someone like me, whose first language isn’t English. Using AI to improve my English has been a lifesaver! Also, a shoutout to Microsoft Word for its Dictation feature—it made me fall in love with typing. [Credit to Emma Radmilovic for introducing me to dictation, see her here]
As for reading, so far I’ve tackled six items from the reading list. To be honest, I don’t always fully understand them right away, but ChatGPT has been a huge help. Whenever I don’t get something, I just ask, and while I know it’s not as smart as my lecturers, it makes me feel less alone! It’s been a real comfort for someone studying far from home.
Over-glorifying and Early Judgments Are Bad Habits—
My first assignment here was to read an article titled The Tools of Government in the Information Age. It’s been stuck in my head like a catchy song. Not because I can’t move on from it, but because of one particular term that intrigued me: hyper-modernists. This word carries so much meaning. We live in an age where digital technology is expected to solve everything, yet there’s a generation gap that complicates things. Seniors often think, “Oh, this is easy, just use technology abcde (insert trendy tech here),” but it’s not always that simple! You can’t glorify technology without first understanding the entire business process. That said, during my second week, I started to rethink my stance. Is it possible that technology really can solve almost everything?
Two weeks isn’t enough time to answer all the questions buzzing in my mind. Through this blog’s weekly journal, I’ll continue exploring what I’ve learned here. Up next, we’ll dive deeper into hyper-modernists and the role of digital technology in my organization. Stay tuned!
