Anisah Herdiyanti

Why FSU?

At first, I was looking for a doctoral program that offers majors in information systems. Interestingly, since the nature of the field is interdisciplinary studies, U.S. universities/colleges offer a very broad range of programs under various different schools, such as Business, Engineering, and Library and Information Sciences (LIS). FSU is among the top universities offering LIS majors. Given my previous degree in information systems and policy analysis, I am looking forward to researching how societies, including families, can help children develop and grow while facing the digital world. The School of Information (iSchool) offers me the opportunity to study topics related to children and young adults’ information behavior and information needs and other information policy-related subjects. Furthermore, the iSchool faculty are well known as respectable scholars in the LIS field. In fact, I was attracted by the highly esteemed work of FSU iSchool faculty and inspired by their passion for working on their research interests in many different ways, from teaching and researching to publishing books.

Motivation to pursue a graduate degree

I am the first woman in my family who has been blessed with the opportunity to continue a degree abroad. While raising our two daughters with my husband, I realized that teaching them how to do things may become handy for them, but giving them an example of how one should always seek knowledge is important. We figured out that our daughters' first teacher should be us, their parents, and found a way to experience the adventure of studying abroad together as a family. While I enrolled in the doctoral program at FSU, our first daughter enrolled in her first school at Kate Sullivan Elementary, and my husband also enrolled in an English program at TCC. So, yes, my family is the only reason why I am studying for a graduate degree abroad!

Importance and/or impact of research and work

Researching digital child topics is challenging for at least two reasons. While the digital world has become an integral part of our daily life, we might have also realized this new world could bring us harm. The pros and cons of integrating information technology into a child's life have been widely discussed, but to what extent it has been used to help parents practice childrearing has yet to be determined. Furthermore, as we understand the importance of environmental support for a child's development, we can study one's perspective on using technology for parenting, for instance, from the perceptions and experiences of mothers. Although their parenting practices can vary, we could learn how technology can be used domestically in everyday family life.

Tell us about your Fulbright experience

I was blessed to have a supporting system to motivate me to pursue further degrees abroad. I learned everything about pursuing a degree in U.S. universities when I joined an intensive program in 2019 that the U.S. Consulate General held in my hometown: Surabaya, Indonesia. The program allowed me to interact with other students seeking scholarships, aiming for the same goal to pursue a degree in the U.S. Even after the program ended, the program graduates kept track of each other's scholarship application progress, and many of us decided to apply for the Fulbright Scholarship. It took us almost two years from preparing for the scholarship to being a candidate and then being awarded as a grantee. Four of us who graduated from the intensive program are now Fulbright scholars, and our friendships have strengthened. In summary, it would not have been possible for me to be here as a Fulbright scholar without endless support and meaningful feedback from family, friends, program coaches, AMINEF and IIE Fulbright advisors, and FSU staff and faculty.

Career aspirations

I have always been a teacher, inspired by my mother who was also a teacher. I taught undergraduate students prior to joining the doctoral program at FSU, and I will return to my home university once I finish my studies here. I love being surrounded by people who seek knowledge. I have also liked the fact that this is the only profession that allows me to discover knowledge and share it with others.

Advice for anyone considering graduate school

Being a doctoral student at the FSU iSchool has offered me a great opportunity to excel in teaching and course organization during my teaching assistantship. I learned a great deal, from course preparation to evaluation from experienced instructors. Moreover, the doctoral program at the iSchool offers me the flexibility to choose the research path I am interested in pursuing and facilitates supervisor matching with faculty researching a similar area. The school also supports skills upgrading to attend training and conferences related to the field. Furthermore, Fulbright offers frequent programs to balance academic skills, on topics such as presentation and time management, in workshops or seminars. I could not ask for more than the productive environments both FSU and Fulbright have given me so that I could have full experience while I am here.

Accomplishments during graduate career

I worked with my doctoral student colleagues in writing a paper about open government; the work will be presented in the iConference 2023 and published in the Springer’s Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS).