academic life | Edo Danilyan

My undergrad years: busy, messy, and some of the best years of my life

Mon, 26 May 2025 09:47:21 +0700

When I think about my undergrad years, I remember all the unusual places where I studied. I once gave a presentation from the middle of a forest. Another time, I hiked up a volcano with a ppt file on my phone and hoped the signal would not disappear. I did assignments at the beach, travelled between deadlines, and ended one day of fieldwork by lying under the stars and looking at the Milky Way. Those years were busy, tiring, and sometimes strange. But they were also some of the best years of my life.

Slice of uni life

I started university with one simple goal: meet people. I said yes to almost everything. I talked to students from many departments at ITS, made friends from other universities, and joined trips that I had never imagined doing.

One of my first trips was a biodiversity survey in the highlands of Pasuruan. The area was quiet, green, and managed by the local community. We walked slowly and stopped whenever we found something colourful birds between the branches, butterflies on wet leaves, or beetles on the plants. I kept stopping to take photos with my old Sony camera.

We ate salak straight from the tree. It was sweet, a little sour, and crunchy. Later, our hosts gave us a delicious home cooked dinner and let us stay in a guesthouse. That night, I photographed the Milky Way. We sat together and talked about MaxEnt, coffee beans, birds, and how people find research funding. It was very cold, so we slept in sleeping bags.

That night, we spent hours talking under the Milky Way

Another time, I joined an overnight camp at a mangrove site in Gresik. We walked along muddy paths, watched birds, cooked together, and talked late into the night. We slept in a simple hut near the sea. The next morning, we helped with a small event for local kindergarten children. I also lost my water bottle along the way. I never told my foster mom because I knew she would scold me, lol.

Overnight camping at mangrove forest

In Bangkalan, I joined a project called Mangrove Sister School. We taught primary school children about mangroves. Explaining science in a way that children could understand was harder than I expected, but I enjoyed it. We planted trees, visited the beach, and ended the trip with a plate of bebek hitam Sinjay. For me, nothing beats bebek Sinjay.

One of the most difficult projects was in Kediri. We monitored tree mortality and returned to the forest several times over a few weeks. We started early, walked through thick vegetation, and stayed until sunset. We found huge trees, rare terrestrial orchids, many cute fungi, and once, a snake. During one visit, I had to give a class presentation while sitting on the forest floor. Bugs were flying around me, and my phone signal was only just strong enough for the call.

Tree mortality assessment

Before all these trips, there was kaderisasi. At ITS, it is more than a student orientation. Senior students plan the program with input from the faculty to help new students adjust to university. We talked about our values, expectations, goals, and areas where we wanted to improve. We answered surveys, joined discussions, and used gap analysis to set goals. It was intense, but it helped. Senior companions, mentors, and classmates were always there to check on us.

One part I still remember is malam keakraban in 2019. Our whole class rented a villa in the highlands and spent the night together. We played games, shared food, and talked openly about our lives and hopes. Many of the friendships from that night stayed with me for years.

Even our practical classes could become small adventures. Sometimes we had to bring live specimens, such as ferns, guppies, birds, and even a monitor lizard. Once, we travelled two hours from Surabaya and hiked near a waterfall to find the right specimens. We caught guppies and tried to catch a monitor lizard. In the end, we gave up and bought one instead from the local seller in bratang market.

Waiting for the lab activities

The workload was serious. The fifth semester was the hardest. I took 24 SKS, around 32 ECTS, including five lab courses. Every week, I had to write five complete lab reports by hand. Each one needed an introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references in APA style. There was no copy and paste. I spent hours bent over the paper, hoping my hand would not cramp too early, hahaha. i survived tho.

Handwritten report

On many nights, we worked from one coffee shop to another. We started around 7 pm. When one shop closed after midnight, we moved to the next one and continued until morning. At 2 am, it was normal to see students still working around the library.

We also had to earn credits from extracurricular activities. ITS tracked both our academic results and our non academic activities, and we had to meet the minimum for both. It was exhausting, but somehow we kept going.

Organizing biological opus fair

At the same time, I joined competitions in scientific writing, business proposals, debating, and anything else that looked interesting. In my second semester, I represented ITS at a national debating competition at POLINEMA. Once, I submitted three proposals in one week. After a while, that kind of schedule felt normal.

British American Tobacco Business Competition—we made the top 10, babyyyy!

Some courses required us to present scientific papers. We had to read difficult articles, understand them, and explain them clearly to the class. I still remember one day when I presented three different papers for three different courses. Honestly, I barely remember what I learned. I was just trying to survive the semester, lol.

During the breaks and sometimes during the semester when I had time, I managed tp travelled. I visited Ijen Crater, Baluran National Park, Bromo, and Mount Penanggungan. I went freediving at Ketapang Island and birdwatching at Mangrove Wonorejo. I also joined beach clean ups, mangrove restoration activities, and fundraising events. I was always doing something, anything almost.

Penanggungan mountain

My exchange program in Thailand was not calm either. While I was collecting insects, a group of dogs chased me and I had to cycle away as fast as I could. I was not used to seeing dogs so I panicked. On another day, I almost stepped on a cobra chilling in a bush. I froze even though I actually like snakes! These stories are funny now, but they were scary at the time. I did not expect insect sampling to involve escaping from dogs and nearly stepping on a cobra.

Student exchange program - Chulalongkorn University Thailand

When I look back now, I still cannot believe how much happened during those years. I never planned to make my university life so busy. One thing led to another, someone would invite me somewhere, and I would usually say yes. Sometimes that meant long days, late nights, and not enough sleep, but somehow I kept going.

What I remember most now are the people and the small moments in between. Sitting around talking after an event, laughing about something stupid, going somewhere I had never been before, meeting people who later became important to me. At the time, many of those moments felt normal. I did not think much about them. Now they are some of the memories I miss the most.

I learned a lot at university. I learned from the people I met, the things I tried, the competition I failed, the mistakes I made, and all the unexpected things that happened along the way. I went there hoping to get a degree, and I came home with so many stories.

Sometimes I miss that version of my life. It was messy, tiring, and full of things happening at once, but it was also a lot of fun.

And to all the friends who shared those years with me: maybe “sorry” will never be enough, but I will always wish you happiness, good health, and good things ahead :)

How does it feel like to have dreams?

Sun, 30 Jun 2024 22:37:32 +0700

I didn’t grow up imagining a life full of academic degrees or international opportunities. For a long time, I thought just getting by was enough. If you’ve ever felt like your dreams were too far away, I hope my story gives you a little hope. I’ve been through moments where even surviving felt like a win. But life had other plans, and this is how I learned to dream again.

Part 1: Early Childhood (Kindergarten and Primary School)

Me and my mom, circa 2003

I grew up in an upper-middle-income family, and my early childhood felt safe. We had a home and everything we needed. I thought life would always be that way. Then everything changed.

Just after I finished kindergarten, my mother was scammed by her colleagues. We lost our rice fields, our house, and almost everything we owned. With no other option, she went abroad to work as a TKW (Indonesian migrant worker). I was in the second grade of primary school when she left, and my grandparents raised me.

Living with my grandparents brought a new set of challenges. My grandfather worked construction and did everything he could to keep us afloat. He pedaled his bicycle from Bondowoso to Situbondo every day just to earn enough for the family. My grandmother held the household together and looked after me. Their support was the backbone that kept me standing during those years.

To help keep us afloat, I collected coconut leaves, made them into brooms, and sold them. I helped my grandmother sell kerupuk whenever we had the chance. I even taught myself to forge knives and sold those too, adding whatever I could to the household income. At one point I roamed around with magnets to collect iron scraps. I would do anything that I could to survive.

A house where I used to live, captured in 2023

When my grandfather died while I was in fifth grade, life became even harder. Money was tight, and I almost had to leave school. At that time, dreaming about a better future felt impossible.

Part 2: Middle School (SMP)

By middle school, I was used to finding ways to make things work. My mother’s situation had improved, but her previous employer kept her passport and work permit. She also lost money to people who promised to fix her immigration problems but never did. At home, my grandmother and I still received monthly letters from the bank about our debts.

My grandmother gathered rice left in nearby fields after the harvest, and I went with her. We mixed it with government-issued Bulog or Raskin rice. It was often dry and had a strange smell, but it was what we had. We also collected fern shoots, taro leaves, water spinach, mushrooms, fish, and snails from the river.

I started to see education as a way to change my life. But my dreams were still small. I only wanted to finish school, find a stable job, and make my mother proud. Even becoming a cashier at a minimarket felt like more than enough.

There were times when things got really tough. Our family was struggling so much that we had to sell almost everything we owned, our fan, our TV, until the only thing I had left was my bicycle, which I used to get to school. In those moments, I tried reaching out to my dad, hoping maybe he could help, or at least respond. But I never heard back from him.

Part 3: High School (SMA)

In 2015, my grandmother had a stroke. I became her main caregiver, changing her clothes, serving her meals, and keeping the house clean while continuing school. None of it felt optional. She had cared for me throughout my childhood, and now it was my turn to care for her. My uncle helped when I needed time to study, and somehow I still managed to do well in class.

After high school, I applied to several universities and programs. I was rejected again and again. Every rejection made me wonder if university was really meant for someone like me. Then, at a campus expo in Bondowoso, I joined an entrance-exam tryout and placed in the top ten. I received a scholarship for an intensive preparation course at Primagama Bondowoso. One month later, I was accepted into Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS).

Part 4: University and Beyond

I could not have started university without help. My aunt supported my living costs and tuition, and the ITS finance office gave me the lowest tuition rate of 500,000 IDR. In 2019, I also received the Bidikmisi On-Going Scholarship. For the first time, I could focus on studying without constantly worrying about money.

During my first two years at university, things weren’t always easy behind the scenes. There was a time when I only had 12,000 IDR (0.62 EUR) left, and I had no idea how long it had to last me. I ended up buying a pack of Roma Kelapa biscuits for 9,000 IDR, and that’s what I ate for the next three days.

I never shared this story with my friends. It wasn’t because I was ashamed, but because I didn’t want to be a burden. I didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. I just kept walking, believing that someday things would get better.

In 2020, I received a fully funded scholarship to study at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. Studying abroad had always felt impossible, but suddenly I was doing it. After returning home, I joined competitions and took side jobs in tutoring, photography, and design while continuing my studies and helping my family pay its debts.

In 2022, I started a full-time remote job and received an Erasmus+ scholarship to study in Poland. Both gave me new experiences and more financial stability.

I later received a fast-track scholarship and completed my master’s degree as the best graduate in my cohort. Looking back at my childhood in Bondowoso, I still find it difficult to believe how far that path has taken me.

A rare moment where I actually believed in myself :D

A few months later, I applied to PhD programs at ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich, and the University of Vienna, and I was grateful to receive offers from all three. Today, I am pursuing a PhD at the University of Vienna.

I know I did not get here alone. My family, teachers, friends, scholarships, and a lot of luck helped me along the way. Their support is one reason I now try to help other students find their own paths.

Few slices of Uni Life

I now mentor students for free, especially those from backgrounds similar to mine. I help them navigate university life, scholarships, and academic opportunities. Seeing them find their own paths brings me joy and reminds me how much the right support can matter.

Some of my mentees who continued their studies abroad

Sometimes people look at my life now and think everything happened easily. They do not see the rejections, the financial problems, or the people who helped me keep going. I am not sharing this story because I want anyone to feel sorry for me. I am sharing it because someone with a distant dream might need to know that life can change.

‘Mimpi itu selayaknya sayap, ia yang akan membawamu terbang kemana pun’

‘Dreams are like wings, they’re what will carry you wherever you want to go’

Terima kasih :))

Postgraduate Life

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 09:00:00 +0000

A workshop on an introduction to Introduction to life after graduation and how to prepare college life and being able to thrive in academia or industry. Participants in the workshop would be able to gain a better understanding of how to optimize the college life moment and also prepare the graduate period. I generally talk about:

Early Career Planning and Exploration
Building a Strong Academic Foundation
Developing a Network of Peers and Professionals

I also talked about what I wish i knew earlier as a freshmen college including:

Learn how to manage time effectively - use calendar
Learn how to study efficiently
Study with friends - efficient, effective, enjoyable
With rest time not spending to study - Join Clubs and Societies
Learn Skills in the Universal Toolbox - Public Speaking, Negotiation, Video Editing
Experiment with Side Hustles
Take more photos
Surround yourself with energisers cause it’s all about energy

In the final part, I presented the prospect of biology student graduate in both academia and industry and also the minimum skillset required for a certain position and leveraging the campuss fascility to hone basic skillsets and being able to strive for balance: excel in your studies, engage in meaningful activities, and cherish moments with friends.

Cheers!