Since I was young I always like math and analytical thinking.

I believe that math is fun

simply because they are it is an exact and I can teach my friends how to answer the questions;
well, since numbers never lie and up until high school they are not that complicated. I won some
math competition in my elementary school, junior high school and senior high school years/
periods. As for analytical thinking, I like it because it helps me to know anything better.
Consequently, when I had conversations or debates with my peers, I had competitive advantage
over them. I like to ask a lot and get into conversation or debate with my classmates, so that
sometimes my friends thought I was annoying. I am also a serious man when it comes to
achieve my goals, like when I got North Sumatera Elementary School Model Student Award in
2000. Dont be too serious is a sentence that I get every time, but I dont mind it because
fortunately, this behavior helps me to exchange point of views, to understand new ideas and to
get the best of myself as I was awarded North Sumatera Elementary School Model Student in
2000.

Another reason is my parents, particularly my father, used to encourage me to master

them because people in my country appreciated them more than other subjects. My father was
a smart man. I talked to several friends of him and they said that he was known to be one of the
best students when they were young. However, because education was expensive at the time,
he only managed to get an accounting diploma and worked a civil servant in a governmental
hospital in my town. He actually liked his job and really dedicated to it since become a civil
servant was his dream and a most wanted job in our country, but I knew that sometimes it
became less entertaining for him because he got stuck in his career out of his educational level.
He told me that I can do better than him, especially in getting a better education because today
it is not as hard as in the past. He apprised me that one day I can get my doctorate and
motivated me more by telling people that one day I will become a professor, a nickname he
had when he was young. His support and motivation inspired me to become an honest civil
servant and to get a higher education from the best sources.

State College of Accounting (STAN) is one of the best campuses in my country, for only
1% participant accepted each year. It situated is located in Bintaro, Tangerang, adjacent to
suburb area of Jakarta, a the capital city of Indonesia, which is nothing like my home town.
People here are highly competitive, creative and clever. STAN was very demanding as there
was this drop out system where student who got GPA of below 2.4 (out of 4) ought to leave the
campus. This regulation caused approximately 1% to 5% of total students dropped out every
year. Here I was introduced to accounting; the combination of math and analytical thinking, a
subject that can be used to make decision by using numbers. During my three years in STAN, I
was persistent to achieve better understanding of accounting. I studied diligently and
meticulously so that I can be the best. I woke up early in the morning, studied in a group, and
practiced every day. This relentless work resulted in my achieving a good GPA. Fortunately, in
my spare time, I still can learn some managerial skills as I took part in some student
organizations.

I was actually had been a class representative several times since I was in elementary
school, primary school and high school, so it was not a big deal when I was appointed to
become a class rep when I was in STAN. However, joining student organization was a new thing
for me. This made me feel excited so I joined several organizations at the same time, such as
STAN Auditing Club (SAC), STAN Olympiad Club (SOC), STAN Student Cooperative Movement
(Koperasi Mahasiswa STAN KOPMA), STAN Tax Student Organization (IMP), and STAN
Chess Club (SCC). Those organizations have quite different activities. I spent some times
getting involved in academic activities with SAC and SOC where I took part as a finalist at Atma
Jaya National Accounting Competition in Jakarta 2008 and STAN National Accounting
Competition in 2008.

The other student organizations helped me in building managerial skills. KOPMA was a
student organization that focuses on marketing where I was chosen as its leader in 2007. I got
an opportunity to attend a two-day-national-co-op-leader training in Bogor, in which I learned a
lot about communication skills, and managerial skill. In IMP, I took part as an officer in several
student events such as teaching other students who got difficulties with lessons, giving tax
material for student newspaper and organizing welcoming ceremony for new students and
annual tax event. SCC is basically a place for having fun with my colleagues. Being part of
these organizations helped me not only in STAN but also when I work in my office.

Graduated in December 2008, I have been working in Directorate General of Taxes

(DGT) for almost 9 years now. I was placed in Medan Belawan Tax Office, which is not far away
from my hometown in 2009. Up until Mid-2015, I changed was assigned to various
division/section several times so that I can have comprehensive understanding about tax
administration and procedures explore my understanding about tax office administration and
jobs thoroughly. I found this satisfying because it will help me in case in the future when I
become will be a leader in such office. My studies and my organizational skills helped me a lot
in my workplace to contribute to my job performance. I have no problem working with my
colleagues and become a good significant team member in my office. As a result, I was
awarded as the best service officer in 2012 and then appointed as a member of internal
compliance unit where my job is to ensure the office works well and do their best.

In August 2015, I was promoted as an Account Representative in Lubuk Pakam Tax

Office. My responsibilities mostly are consulting taxpayer about tax obligations and reviewing
and analyzing tax report. This job provides me a chance to to be able to use and implement all
lessons that I have learned at STAN not only organizational part skills but also academic ones.
Accounting is a key element to perform in order to do well in my job and this makes encouraging
me want to improve my capacity and my knowledge. I got my undergraduate degree from
University of Sumatera Utara in 2014 because there is a regulation in DGT saying that STAN
graduates must wait 3 years to continue their education, counted from when they were placed. I
think this regulation is quite fair because there will be enough time for a person to contribute to
their job. Furthermore, the this period will help the person to prepare himself if there is a chance
to pursue higher education, which is still quite expensive nowadays.

The opportunity came for comes to me in 2016, when Ministry of Finance offered its
employees some scholarships for post-graduate programs from World Bank called Scholarship
Program for Strengthening the Reforming Institution (SPIRIT) joined together with Finance
Education and Training Agency (FETA) that aim to develop human resources in my country. This
program will give me a chance to take a higher level of education by studying at university of my
choice. Despite the high competition and the demanding requirements, I managed to get this
scholarship. This opportunity leads me to choose one of the best universities in the world.

I am applying for a masters program in Accountancy at Tilburg University hoping that I

could gain an a in-depth deeper knowledge and understanding of financial accounting,
management control, and other related subjects in order to help me to achieve my goal in the
future. Tilburg is ranked third in Europe and eleven worldwide by Times Higher Education
Ranking, 2016, in the field of Economics and Business, so it is quite an honor to study in this
university. Furthermore, Tilburgs program, particularly financial statement analysis, is seem to
be very helpful for me to understand and analyze how managerial accounting choices affect
reported numbers as it will help me with relevant concepts, principles, and insights from recent
academic literature and practice.

This is essential because not only it is related to my job in DGT today but also in the
future. Indonesias taxes and economy is growing every day so I need to develop my capacity
and be able to possess adequate knowledge and better understanding of accounting. As the
Netherlands is the worlds 5th largest exporter, and home to many of the worlds most successful
multinational companies, including Philips, Shell, and Unilever, this is a perfect opportunity for
me to understand more about business from another perspective. This is will be a strong
foundation for my future management position because after completing my master study, I
hope that I will have more opportunity to be involved more in my organization. Positive
contribution will bring impact on the Indonesian economic growth, for tax is the main source of
income in Indonesia, and I want to be a key part of it.

I strongly believe that my determination, my undergraduate study background, my

organizational experience, and my current position in my institution will be a substantial part
helping me in my postgraduate studies. Attending Joining Tilburg University would give me an
opportunity to receive relevant concepts, principles, and insights from recent academic literature
and practice, taught by leading professionals and top academics/ academician, and sharpen my
business knowledge and also analytical and practical skills. Taking this master program is not
only important for my future career but also crucial as the ground for my higher education level,
to fulfill my and my fathers dreams, to be a real professor one day.