I am Willson Gustiawan, a student of Business Administration PhD Program in National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, and also a lecturer in State Polytechnic of Padang (Politeknik Negeri Padang) West Sumatera-Indonesia. I am an enthusiastic person and eager to learn new things as well as a result oriented person that would like to work with certain target.

1. What made you decide to study in Taiwan?

In 2013, I joined Degree Bridging Program – the joint cooperation program between Taiwan and Indonesia Government. During April to June 2013, I have learnt about Taiwan culture and education environment. In my thought, Taiwan has conducive circumstances in education atmosphere in terms of abundance of academic resources, open-mind Professors, and academic/education facilities. The most important thing is I found an appropriate Professor to be my supervisor that interesting with my research topic.

2.  Briefly tell us about the program you are studying. What subjects are you studying? What have you enjoyed the most in your studies?

I am studying in Business Administration PhD Program-NYUST, in Douliou Taiwan. This program is in line with my study path in bachelor and master degree which as an Indonesian lecturer have to keep consistent linearity of study field to maintain lecturer career. My field of study is human resources management and organizational behavior. In NYUST, I take Seminar on Human Resources Management, Seminar on Organizational Behavior, Cross-Cultural Management, Quantitative Research Method as optional subjects, as well as Research Methodology and Seminar in Management Theory as mandatory subjects. I enjoy all those subjects because I can meet Taiwanese students and discuss with them with Chinese culture background perspective.

3. How is studying in Taiwan when compared to studying and being a student in your home country? (Teaching Quality、Environment、School Equipment、Laboratory or others) 

Compare to my home country, frankly, Taiwan has better quality in education environment. In term of teaching quality, all the subject in PhD Program are taught by a competence Professor with a lot of teaching and research experiences. Besides books, in class we always use some academic papers (the most one that PhD students must depend on) to discuss. Teaching environments are really supporting. All Professors are open-mind with different perspective. My research topic is spiritual leadership with Islamic perspective. This is what amazed me, it turns out the Professors can accept the use of the Islamic perspective in knowledge/science. I have to say honestly that Taiwan has good school equipment in terms of class facilities, class interior design, library, discussion room, study room, out-class activities as well as laboratory. One another important thing I have to mention is “school buddies”. This is one of facility for me as international student. My university provides me school buddies – one or some Taiwanese classmate(s) whose fluent English that assist me in class. They help me to interpret and explain everything if teachers speak in Mandarin.

As a guest lecture in International Human Resources Management Class in NYUST 2016

4. What has been the most difficult part about applying to study in Taiwan? How did you overcome the difficulty?

In general, there are not any difficulties in applying to study in Taiwan. The most important thing in pursuing study, was easy to obtain. Professor/Supervisor, academic staff and International Affair staff are very helpful and easy to understand what I need. So, everything is easy for them to provide. One of requirement to enter the Program is English proficiency. I have to study hard in English to get a favorable grade in TOEFL. One time, in Degree Bridging Program, NYUST gave us a free TOEFL ITP test.

5. What do you plan to do after you have finish your studies in Taiwan? Would you like to stay in Taiwan?  Why?

After finishing studies in Taiwan, as Indonesian lecturer and faculty member of State Polytechnic of Padang, I will and have to go back to Indonesia to dedicate to my home country and institution. Nevertheless, one time in future, I may come back to Taiwan with other reasons, perhaps pursuing post-doc program; joining research program; exchange lecturer; or conference.

6. How do you think studying in Taiwan can benefit you in your future career?

Taiwan benefits my future career in some ways. Firstly, Taiwan allow me to get my PhD degree that indeed it is very significant point for my career as lecturer. Secondly, in Taiwan my “seed of thought” begins to blossom. As I mention above, that my research topic is spiritual leadership with Islamic perspective. In Taiwan, I found very cooperative and open-mind professor with this topic. In our research work, we find (or propose) a new variable in workplace spirituality concept. Thirdly, Taiwan with Chinese culture background also open my mind to conduct another research with other perspective and other unit of analysis.

7. What do you see as your key achievements when studying in Taiwan?

The key achievement in my study in Taiwan is finding/proposing a new variable in workplace spirituality, namely the Connectedness to the Supreme-Being. It is a new concept in workplace spirituality with Islamic perspective. I believe the research result has significant contribution to organizational behavior literature especially in leadership theory.

8. What advice do you have for other interested overseas students who want to come to Taiwan to study?

For other interested overseas student who want to come to Taiwan to study, I would like to advice, that:

1. Do not ever hesitate to consider to choose Taiwan as a pleasure place to study, since Taiwan provide everything for International students.

2. Especially for Muslim students, it need to be informed that Taiwan currently become a Muslim-friendly country. In some cities/universities, there is a halal food restaurant and place for prey