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Wednesday, December 8, 2021

A Sip of Cappuccino in 2021

 Hello 2021.

It is been a while. It still feels like yesterday I thanked God for giving me one more chance to pass 2020. Since 2020 was a survival year for me. I was being away from home, alone, amidst of COVID-19 pandemic situation. And now I have to say goodbye with 2021 in no time.

 

For me, 2021 is like drinking hot cappuccino with double shot espresso. It smells nice; roasted and nutty. When you hold the cup, it feels warm. And when you take a sip, it tastes sweet and creamy at the beginning; then going bold and strong in the middle; and finally here comes the bitterness in the end. And for some people who love coffee, they also can detect a hint of fruity note or sour note in the aftertaste from the selected coffee bean.

 

That's how I recap my 2021.

And I will never forget the taste journey.


I started this year in Malang. I stayed in Malang for almost 2 weeks since end year of 2019. It was rainy season but I felt warm because finally I could be with my family after many difficulties to go home in this pandemic situation.

We went to a beach for holiday even though we saw news about people drowned at the beach a day before. We also brought our lovely cat, Bocil to that beach. We were lucky because on that day the beach was not busy so we can have like a private island for ourselves! We had a picnic with a beach view and Bocil played around.

 

After 2 weeks day off, my heart was full with those "sweet and creamy taste". My brain was fresh and ready for work in Bogor!


When I came back to Bogor, I realized that I already work as a Foodtech for 2 years. And after 2 years of working, surprisingly I felt that I love my job more. FYI, I was working as a Foodtech who formulates food and beverage product before it launched to the market; which always difficult to be explained when I was in the family gathering, and Bunda always said that I work as Quality Control to end the conversation and make the other relatives understand LOL.

 

I used to complain about every single rock in front of me. Since it was my first time professional working experience, I already cried 3 times in the office (which I exactly remember, I forgot the rest). I was very weak before, but in 2021, I think I am getting stronger and wiser LOL. 


Somehow I can easily handle my emotion like magic! And I became more logic that everything happened in my life must have a reason. Because we are only human, guys. We sometimes get angry or we make people angry. Because life is about choices. We also can choose to not angry and move on for good. #saveenergy #saveplanet

 

Since I had that thought in my mind, I become enjoy with my job. In 2021 for the first time, I got a new beverage project, which should be developed from scratch. The product was new category. Therefore, I need deep research. Sometimes I felt overwhelmed but I became stronger than before. I love the process from interviewing the target consumer, brainstorming to create concept, formulating the product, sensory evaluation; through many trials, difficulties but still happyy.

 

The year of 2021 also makes me grateful because I am not that lonely while working far away. I still had great colleagues/friends around. Especially during Ramadhan, in the middle of trials in laboratory and factory, we still had a time to escape for a while. We went to Bandung and had enjoy Bandung culinary for a few days. I also had more time to catch up with my friends again from high school and university since the covid cases decreased.


After Eid Al-Fitr, I went to the beach again with my family! I finally can had proper "mudik" compared to last year. The reason why I love beach holiday because that was the only place where my entire family member can gather. Seeing ocean and waves was calming and suitable holiday for the elders. Meanwhile the youngsters still have enough space to play around the beach.

However, at that time my annual leave was not as calm as that beach view. Because I had two big presentation coming all of sudden. My friend and I were selected to join a competition as representative of our department. We had very limited time to prepare the material, revision, and presentation training. Meanwhile, I also accidentally chosen to present my project for idea screening in regional as well. Everything was so quick but finally with God blessings and supportive teammates and supervisors we made it *tears of happiness*.


After that, here was the journey of bitterness.

Remembering all the sweets alaways makes me flustered. Because life can be so funny like two kids playing sesaw. When you already go up, there's no other way to go but go down. 

It was the month when I had 4-5 times of swab antigen test. We had Covid Delta variant in Indonesia and sadly, some of my colleagues were infected at the same time. It was so scary for me but thankfully, my test result was negative. Everyone had difficult time, including my family who were feeling unwell but refused to take swab test. They were afraid that their immune will drop if they knew the result. I was so worry about them since I was far from then and can't take care of them. But at least they wanted to have self-isolation and take medicine. And their condition were getting better.

 Then in the next month, I had do "tahlilan" for days since the owner of my dorm passed away. In next several weeks, we also lost one of our colleagues in our department after she gave birth. Then in the next month I didn't expect that I will lost my beloved father too.

 

It was like serial of sadness. 

I was going to go out with my friend when Bunda called me that Ayah was admitted to the ICU. I was shocked, Bunda only cried and asked me to pray. Bunda said that Ayah was suddenly unconscious during check up with doctor. I still can believe that it was real. Because Ayah never told us that he had pain or sick.

 

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Help Developing Country for Better World

The significant distinct between rich countries and developing countries has creating symbiotic mutualism in many aspects. It is argued that people in developed countries should giving aid to poor nations during natural disasters. Considering the essential of international relations, I strongly agree with this opinion and will explain the reason in this essay.

Helping others is one of moral actions to show empathy that is good for the relationship between rich nations and third world countries. It may established good bonding that can end to a beneficial agreement in the future--good for both of these countries. Take Tsunami disaster that happened in Aceh, Indonesia in 2004 as an example of natural disaster that end to good bilateral relation between Indonesia and Japan.

Furthermore, it must be all countries over the globe responsibility to keep this world as a safe place for all populations, Both wealth nations and people in developing countries have a same vision to look after world natural resources and also the endangered creatures--where mostly located in Asia and Africa. Another example that illustrated this condition was happened in 2016 where forest fire had devoured almost 30% of the world's lungs in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Indonesia was given money and technology aid by several wealth countries. The fact is that most of industrial countries like European nations pay tax for pollute they produced and for reforestation of green areas in the world, particularly in a number of developing countries.

To conclude, it is certain that natural disasters in developing countries is also rich countries’ concern in order to maintain the relation of both countries and obey world environmental agreement to keep the world secure and convenience for people, flora, and fauna all over the globe.

Nursing Home for Old People: who will pay the cost?

Nowadays, nursing homes have been a preference to live for most of old people in England. They assume that in this place the nursing will take them care well and also stay connected with other old British community. However, there must be cost that usually paid by government.

In my view, covering Britain people needs in their old days is appropriate policy. Since the people had been contributed in this country for a long period, it is certain that the government should give feedback such as old age guarantees. As a wealth nations, it is very possible for UK to administer this community.

Nevertheless, we can not directly give this privilege to all of people in Britain. Although the British government can assist, it may cause over demand and side impacts if we do not fund the proper person. Beside that, their sons, daughters, or relatives should held accountable first as the significant part of the old people to look after at. Not only that, the government should consider their financial status--whether they are poor, average income, or rich people who do not need extra fund from the government to live their old days. By regarding several circumstances, the government will allocate money wisely.

To conclude, funding Britain old people's live in nursing homes supposed to be government social responsibility. However, it should be focused on homeless and people who live alone. It is highly recommended to their children or relatives for caring them instead of sending them to nursing homes and depend on government funding.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Blaming Parents for Obese Kids

The prevalence of obese children has increased in developed countries in recent years. It is argued that parents accused for making their children gain excessive fat and should be punished. I disagree with this view because parents tend to give the best for the children and this condition involved several other factors.

 

Parents are kid's influencer who will never want to teach bad or give negative impacts. They always provide what the best for their children including food. However, we should consider some educated parents who have less information about healthy and nutritious food. Instead of giving them punishment, they should be informed or warned by government and society to serve high quality food for their children.

 

Blaming parents only lead this condition to the endless problem. We should look up to several factors which also contribute in children obesity. Furthermore, the environment and the genetic issue also affected to kid's eating habit. Children need direction to balance it with physical exercises such as sports.

 

To sum up, blaming parents and giving them embracement because of their obese children will make it become worse. Yet we can acknowledge the parents about the essential of nutritious food and sport activities for balancing the intake calories to prevent the children obesity.

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Fossil fuels vs Electric Cars

These days, the number of cars has increased rapidly, especially in developing countries. This condition is directly proportional to the using of fossil fuels which lead to several impacts in terms of natural resources and environment. Therefore, the idea to replace the conventional cars with electric cars should be applied.

As the energy of conventional cars to move, fossil fuel has came from non-renewable natural resource. Indonesia's government suggested the amount of oil tend to decrease ugly 80% by 2030. Despite the reducing of fossil fuel, the innovation of electric cars using light energy from the sun may be our new hope. Light energy might be people preference in the future due to its limitless resource. Hence, we should use fossil fuels wisely for now, while preparing for new alternative energy resource in the future.

Furthermore, fossil fuels has negatively affected to the environment. The result of fossil fuels burning process is by-product such as carbon monoxide which contribute to air pollution that affected to respiratory system. The Health Ministry of Indonesia stated the number of citizen who got respiratory infection then to surge in several province's capital cities in Indonesia. In addition, electric cars using light energy may overcome this problem. Theoretically, light energy will be cheaper in the future and environmental friendly because the source is abundant and has no pollute.

There are many benefits by changing our conventional cars to electric cars. To sum up, the utilization of light energy to electricity for electric cars will keep the environment and the entire of natural resource in the world.


 

Should parents spend more time for helping children with their homework?

Nowadays, parents send their children to school in order to ensure the best education for their children. Some parents may think that education is school responsibility. Although the school education system has been designed well, parents still have to take a part in this system, especially for homework children get after school. Many types of task teacher gave for children requires parent's control. It appears to me that parents should spare their time for children in terms of education.

It is certain that children are the best imitators who have to always be influenced by good models. By helping children in homework, they will absorb knowledge effectively. Parents can make two way discussion which trigger children's critical thinking remarkably rather than a teacher who has to handle 30-40 students at the class. Not only that, while parents assist their children in homework, they can also tell some motivations and advices which build their son/daughter's personality.

Although parents have much workload at the office, they may spare at least an hour for their children to do the homework together. It is also one of the best way to create parental bonding. Though this way, a good communication will be established and parents can be more understand their kids. Moreover, will feel a huge support from their mom and dad in education. Then, they will feel more in charge in their study in order to make their parents proud.

To sum up, spending extra time for giving aid to do homework should be done by parents. This may be a good and effective learning method to nurture their children and also make a good relationship between father, mother, and son/daughter.

Monday, April 2, 2018

Seleksi PPAN AISEP 2018

Hi, I am back!

Kali ini aku mau cerita gimana serunya seleksi PPAN AISEP yang diadain sama PCMI Jatim. Kalau mau merangkum minggu ini dalam 2 kata: Serba ndadak! Mulai dari daftar aplikasi, aku kayaknya ngumpulin jam 9 pagi  tanggal 31 Maret 2018 sedangkan penutupannya jam 1 siang. Emang sempet galau si, antara daftar apa enggak. Tapi the power of kepepet selalu punya caranya! Dan malemnya jam setengah 7, aku dapet telepon kalau aku lolos tahap pertama dan ditanyain bersedia nggak ikut seleksi tahap selanjutnya dimana itu besok jam 6 pagi di Surbaya. Aku mikir lagi, kalau nggak sekarang kapan lagi? Ngerasain pengalaman yang dinginkan sama ratusan aplikan lainnya. 

Tanpa mikir lama-lama, aku segera konfirmasi kehadiran. Masalah transport ke Surbaya dipikir belakangan utuk menyesuaikan biar jam 6 udah bisa sampai Surabaya, bahkan sampai kantornya malah. Tapi mikir lagi, aku nyiapin apa? Tesnya gimana? Nggak tau lagi.kok kemarin bisa semau itu ikut seleksi yang aku sendiri nggak tau isi seleksinya ngapain aja. Aku search di web nya nggak ada info tentang model seleksinya kayak gimana. Yang aku stalking dari IG nya PCMI Jatim, di tahun-tahun sebelumnya ada tes tulis dan interview. Tapi, ternyata tidak sesederhana tes tulis dan interview sumpah! Abis ini aku ceritain!

1. Cara sampai ke Kantor Dispora Jatim
Sebelum cerita tetang seleksinya aku mau cerita tentang gimana aku bisa sampai tepat waktu ke tempat seleksinya, yaitu Kantor Dispora Jatim. Jam setengah 3 pagi, aku berangkat ke terminal Arjosari dianter sama ayah. Di hasil gooling aku, bus patas berangkat jam 3.30 paling pagi. Nah, estimasi ku kalau 2 jam perjalanan berarti sampai 5.30 di Terminal Bungurasih. Terus naik gojek 20 menit ke Kantor Dispora. Tapi, sepertinya Allah punya rencana lain. Pas sampai di Terminal Arjosari jam 3 pagi, orang-orang di terminal bilang bus patas itu dateng jam 4. Udah harap-harap cemas ini gimana kalo bakal telat. Mana aku ngga familiar sama tempat seleksinya, kan.

Jam 4, bus patas belum dateng juga. Ayahku nggak menyarankan buat naik bus ekonomi karena suka berhenti-berhenti sesuka hati. Dan aku ditemeni ayahku tetep nunggu bus patas yang akhirnya baru dateng jam 4.10! Kzl gak, mau nangis sumpah pas itu. Dan kenek busnya bilang, bus patas ini baru akan berangkat jam 4.40! Ya Allah. Rasanya pagi itu cuma bisa shalawatan biar tenang.

Akhirnya, aku shalat subuh dulu di masjid terminal. Beberapa menit setelah itu, aku naik bus patasnya. Aku juga langsung konfirmasi sama panitia tentang kondisiku sekarang yang mungkin bakal telat.datengnya. Dan seperti kebanyakan jadwal keberangkatan bus pada umumnya, selalu molor! Bus patasku berangkat jam 4.44! Ya ampun, untuk saat seperti kondisiku ini, beda 4 menit aja udah bakal jadi masalah kan.

Selama perjalanan, cuma bisa shalawatan. Nangis dikit-dikit. Kayak minta ampun sebanyak-banyaknya kalau emang bukan jalannya buat berangkat tes, minta diberi kelancaran, terus inget perjuangan orang tua, campur aduk! Dan rasanya kayak begitu aja, tiba-tiba bus aku udah nyampe terminal jam 6 pagi! Pas! Ya Allah, nggak tau lagi rencana Allah emang luar biasa. Aku langsung pesen gojek di luar terminal buat ke Kantor Dispora. Masih antara nggak percaya kalau aku udah ada di surabaya dalam 1 jam 16 menit! Padahal busnya kayak kecepatan bus patas biasa yang umumnya memakan waktu 2 jam kurang 10 menit lah paling cepet.

2. Seleksi Dimulai!
Pas aku sampai di Kantor Dispora, temen-temen sesama peserta lagi pada ngisi form daftar ulang. Pas banget lah nggak begitu telat. Alhamdulillah. Setelah itu, kami dibariskan buat masuk ke ruangan utama tempat kami memulai dan mengakhiri rangkaian seleksi disana. Abis itu, pembukaan sebentar, sambutan dari Pak Sekretasis Dinas. Kami diberi sesi kenalan sebentar dan upload tentang seleksi ini. Seru banget sih kenalan sama benerapa orang yang cerita mereka udah pernah kemana-mana, bikin buku, dan lain lain. Duh semoga nular ke aku!

Dan seleksi pertama, pun, dimulai. Kita harus ngerjain tes bahasa inggris sama matematika selama 45 menit untuk 40 soal total. Kita ngerjainnya kayak di google form gitu. Tapi kita juga dikasi kertas kosong buat coret-coretan.

Tes nya berjalan cukup lancar alhamdulillah. Meskipun beneran bikin mikir! Materinya itu kayak tes TPA dicampur tes SMA gitu. Jadi udah agak lupa-lupa dikit haha. Tapi, pas aku udah ngerjain 35 soal, situs yang aku pake hang gitu kayak nggak bisa di klik. Sedangkan kalau direfresh, aku harus ngerjain dari awal tanpa tambahan waktu! Aku bilang ke panitia, katanya suruh catet aja beberapa jawaban nomor yang masih bisa dilihat di halaman itu (mungkin kayak cuma 15 nomor), terus refresh lagi dan isi ulang lagi. Hiks.

Masih nggak tega, aku pun nyalin jawabanku di kertas sebelum ini semua di refesh. Pas aku mau refresh, tiba-tiba aja aku kepikiran, gimana kalau link nya di copy terus di paste di tab baru? Jadi nggak perlu refresh. Dan ternyata berhasil alhamdulillah! Dan itu mungkin waktu kurang 6 menit! Jadi, aku langsung ngebut wes ngerjainnya, mana itu matematika ekonomi gitu.

Selesai ngerjain, panitia cepet banget langsung ngasih pengumuman siapa yang lolos ke 20 besar. Mungkin karena kita ngerjain online, jadi sistem langsung ngerekap skor dan ranking. Alhamdulillah,  lolos bersama 19 besar srikandi lainnya. Dan kami disuruh bersiap untuk seleksi selanjutnya.

3. Rasanya di 20 Besar...
Tau nggak, sih, rasanya ikut diklat kepemimpinan, yang kamu disuruh kesana kemari melakukan tantangan yang diberikan? Mungkin di 20 besar emang udah mulai intens, atmosfernya beda aja sumpah. Nggak terlalu banyak keceriaan kayak pas masih 30 besar. Mulai keliatan teges-tegesnya para panitia dari PCMI ini. Tapi, banyak banget nilai yang tersirat ditanamkan, jadi aku ngerasa fine-fine aja. 

Kami diminta membagi diri menjadi 4 kelompok. Aku sekelompok sama Ike, Yusril, Dewi, dan Sinta. Terus, kami disuruh bikin yel yel selama 1,5 menit dan berdiskusi selama 5 menit. Nah, pas udah 5 menit, emang salah kami nggak on time langsung baris tapi malah masih asik nerusin diskusi. Fix lah marah kakaknya. Dan pas yel yel, rata-rata ngga ada yang sampai 1,5 menit. Akhirnya, kami cuma ngulang yel yel nya sampai 1,5 menit. Marah lagi lah kakaknya. Dari situ aku belajar gimana caranya menghargai waktu dan memanfaatkan waktu semaksimal mungkin.

Selanjutnya, kami disuruh pindah lokasi buat FGD. Buat aku sendiri, basicnya bikan soshum, jadi jarang debat tentang isu-isu sosial sebagai pemerintah, pengusaha, dan masyarkat. Apalagi pake bahasa inggris! Waktu itu, tim ku kebagian sebagai pemerintah. Uh gatau lagi, sih, sebenernya. Tapi aku bersyukur dapet tim yang kritis dan kooperatif. Maksudnya, nggak terlalu ingin mendominasi diskusi gitu, tapi solusi dan alasannya tetap tepat sasaran.

Selesai FGD, perjalanan 20 besar belum sampai situ aja. Kami dibawa lagi ke hall buat tes pertunjukan budaya. Kelompokku bikin konsep musikasilisasi geguritan, tarian, dan nyanyi bareng. Tapi mungkin feedback penguji agak nyelekit, ya. Semacam audisi Indonesian Idol. Dari waktu yang nggak efisien kami manfaatkan, sampai kurangnya filosofi penampilan tadi. Terus kami ditanya tentang budaya khas daerah asal masing-masing. Berbeda dengan FGD, semua itu kami lakuin sambil berdiri yang sampe bikin keringetan nahan hak sepatu. Nais. Dari sini aku belajar buat memahami keinginan satu tim biar bisa menampilkan yang maksimal.

Selesai pertunjukan budaya, masih belum selesai saudara-saudara. Tes selanjutnya adalah interview bergilir dengan 5 topik: Komunikasi, Nasionalisme, Sospro, Budaya, dan Psikologi. Rasanya sesi interview ini yang paling cooling down. Duduk di ruangan ber-AC, interviewer nya baik-baik semua. Aku lebih bisa jadi sendiri pas less pressure gini. Lebih bisa mikir. HAHA.

Daaan begitulah akhir seleksi 20 besar. Kami break ishoma sambil menunggu pengumuman 10 besar. Yeah, masih belum berakhir guys seleksinya. Jujur aku udah ngerasa legowo aja waktu itu kalau aku harus terhenti di 20 besar. Semua kasih sayang Allah dari sebelum subuh tadi pagi sampai hari ini bikin aku sangat bersyukur dan makin percaya: mungkin kamu punya beban yang besar, tapi kamu juga punya Allah yang Maha Besar. (sumpah aku nulis ini sambil merinding)

Begitu pengumuman, ternyata Allah masih mengizinkan saya buat lanjut ke 10 besar. Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar.

3. Welcome Top 10 !
Masuk top 10 udah bersyukur banget. Masih nggak percaya kalau udah setengah hari disini dan harus menyiapkan setengah hari sisanya buat berjuang di 10 besar. Tantangan pertama adalah menganalisis berita hoax atau engga. Lagi-lagi, beritanya tentang isu sosial politik gitu. Sumpah aku jarang baca teks berita kayak gini kecuali pas les IELTS. Pas tiap anak gantian ngejelasin, mungkin beberapa dari kita sibuk menganalisis teks kita sendiri, karena topik yang diberikan berbeda. Lah, pas di akhir, jurinya nanyain isi berita temen lain ke tiap anak. Rata-rata pada nggak nyimak karena sibuk sama teks sendiri. Akhirnya, kami dapet evaluasi: Kalau kamu mau dihargai, kamu harus menghargai orang lain terlebih dahulu.

Tes kedua dimulai setelah break shalat ashar. Konsepnya semacam cerdas cermat individu tapi berkelompok. Yang paling banyak menyumbangkan kesalahan ya bertanggung jawab sama nilai kelompoknya. Kemudian, ada game menyusun kartu remi sebanyak 3 susun menggunakan seluruh isi kartu remi. Selanjutnya, ada game menghafal nama menu makanan yang panjangnya luar biasa dan pakai nama asing.

Setiap game tersebut, kami selalu menganalisis siapa yang paling berkontribusi dalam tim dan yang paling tidak berkontribusi. Agak gimana gitu, ya, secara kalau cewek kan perasa banget.  Pas di game main kartu, aku sempet disebut sebagai yang paling tidak berkontribusi dan harus pindah ke tim sebelah. Tapi nggak masalah, sih. Justru kayak titik balik aku buat buktiin kalau aku bisa berkembang di tempat baru. Overall game nya fun banget meski kakak panitia tetap nggak puas sama hasil game kita. Mereka sangat berharap lebih lah dari kami yang udah tinggal 10. Dari game ini aku belajar buat saling memahami kebutuhan antar anggota tim, dan mencari solusi baru dengan cepat kalau plan pertama gagal. Aku juga belajar buat meredam ego demi kelancaran kerja tim.

Seleksi selanjutnya disambung setelah break shalat magrib dan makan malam. Seneng banget ber 10 bisa makan bareng, makan nasi pula. Soalnya seharian mungkin kita sama sekali nggak kepikiran buat makan saking padetnya seleksinya seharian ini. Nah, tes selanjutnya adalah nulis surat buat Pak Imam Nahrawi, Menteri Pemuda dan Olahraga. Abis itu, kita sharing-sharing tentang seharian ini, namanya circle check. Jadi kita suruh menggambarkan diri kita sebagai seorang hewan hari ini dengan makna tertentu. Sambil circle check, kita dipanggil satu-satu buat interview akhir. Setelah itu, kita cerita tentang diri kita yang mereka pada belum tau, beberapa nangis, merinding, haru, sweet pokoknya.

Terakhir, kita foto bareng buat kenang-kenangan.

Daan begitulah akhir dari seleksi PPAN AISEP 2018. Jam udah menunjukkan jam 9 malem pas kita salam-salam perpisahan. Tinggal nunggu pengumuman, deh. Siapapun yang terpilih nanti, pasti udah keren banget dan cukup strong! Cukup padat hari ini tapi seneng banget! Salut sama kerja panitia yang udah menyiapkan serangkaian acara kayak gini. Bersyukur banget ketemu banyak ciwi-ciwi keren di Jawa Timur! Semoga semua pengalaman yang udah didapet bisa jadi pembelajaran dan dibagikan ke sesama pemuda di Indonesia. Tetep jadi diri sendiri dan berani buat mengekspresikannya! #ShareYourSpark

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Curhatan Ketika Jadwal Yudisium Barengan dengan Jadwal Interview di Nutrifood

Tau nggak sih rasanya udah laper banget pengen makan nasi, tapi pas lagi mau pesen makan malah ngiler liat ada es krim atau cake hits yang harganya bisa sama dengan atau malah lebih dari seporsi nasi komplit?


Dan berakhir menjadi super laper gara-gara malah milih beli kue atau es krim.


Entah perumpamaan tadi cukup mewakili kondisi saat ini, ga, ya. Kira-kira mirip gitu lah.

Ketika tanggal jadwal yudisium kamu barengan sama jadwal interview magang di suatu perusahaan kece, pilih yang mana?

---

Ya, dua minggu yang lalu kayaknya aku apply magang di Nutrifood (perusahaan yang bikin tropicanaslim, hilo, nutrisari, wrp, dkk)  gara-gara nonton vlog Arief Muhammad. Serius. Di vlog itu, Nutrifood menampilkan vibes yang sangat asik dan berbeda dengan kantoran konvensional. Pokoknya bener-bener sejalan visi misi produk dan cara kerja mereka: fun in a healthy way, Dan kemarin, aku dapet kiriman email pemberitahuan dari Nutrifood tentang program magang yang aku apply. Isinya bilang aku lolos ke tahap kedua dan mereka mengundang untuk interview tanggal 27 Maret. 

Seneng dong, bersyukur gitu. Udah mikir nanti tgl 26 aku bisa berangkat, biar ga terlalu mepet sama jadwal interview tanggal 27 yang jam setengah 8 pagi banget. Tapi setelah dipikir-pikir lagi, tanggal 26 Maret itu udah ada ultimate plan yang aku tulis di planner dan isinya: First day IELTS Class! Yup, aku udah merencanakan tujuan utama itu dari lama. Terlepas bayar les nya lumayan, aku selalu excited sama hal-hal yang berbau "pertama". Jadi agak berat aja kalau aku ninggal hari pertama les karena harus berangkat ke Jakarta.

Pas aku nanya pendapat ke orang tuaku, bunda sih ga masalah kalo mau cari pengalaman, tapi ayah yang nggak setuju. Ayah berharapnya aku bantuin marketing di usahanya ayah. Takut aku disuruh kerja selamanya disana hahaha. Terus aku bilang, "Kan nggak mesti keterima juga, Yah. Belum dicoba." Dan berakhir ayah nyuruh aku istikharah.

Sorenya, aku nanya ke adekku, temen-temenku, mereka sih bilang go ahead. Mungkin makin mantap ya hehe. Terus malemnya aku lupa isitkharah! Padahal udah pasang alarm jam 2, jam setengah 3, sama jam 3 pagi! Tetep aja bablas langsung subuh! Untuk pertama kalinya bangun subuh itu kayak nyesel gitu pas melek.

Alhasil sepanjang hari aku sukses goler-goler di rumah. Lemes. Belum nemu keputusan bulat. Aku coba tanya pendapat beberapa temen lagi, mereka ngasih beberapa perspektif yang intinya semua keputusan di aku. Makin galau sih kalau gini. 

Tiba-tiba, aku dapet info dari Jessica, kalau jadwal yudisium udah keluar. Jessica ini anak paling encer otaknya seangkatan THP. Dia kebetulan daftar yudisium di periode yang sama kayak aku. Di pengumuman yudisium yang dikirim Jessica, tertulis tanggalnya: 27 Maret 2018!

Allahu Akbar.


Disaat kamu udah mulai agak yakin buat interview ke Jakarta, ternyata jadwal yudisium kamu barengan sama jadwal yudisium. Kalo boleh milih membelah diri aja bisa gak si?


Seketika merenung lagi. Inget deh tujuan awal itu apa: lulus, beasiswa S2. Jadi, magang ataupun kegiatan lainnya itu cuma pernak pernik aja. Kayak nasi versus eskrim sama kue yang tadi aku bilang di atas. 

Dan bener, pas aku bilang gitu ke bunda, beliau yang awalnya setuju setuju aja kalau interview bilang, "Yauda nanti kesempatan setelah kamu lulus bakal lebih banyak." Aamiin.

Dan aku memutuskan dengan yakin buat yudisium aja. Pertama, ini udah kurang dari 5 hari lagi tanggal 27 Maret. Fix kurang persiapan sih, kecuali kalo emang cuma pengen tau rasanya interview. Selain itu, kalau aku mundurin yudisium, takut semester 8 kena bayar UKT juga huhu. Padahal kemarin udah bela belain ngurus ke keuangan tentang penundaan UKT, dengan deadline yang sudah ditentukan. Bismillah makin banyak opportunity setelah yudisium diluar sana!

----

Sebenernya galau 2 pilihan kayak gini bukan yang pertama, sih. Tahun 2016, aku juga pernah melepaskan kesempatan interview Beasiswa Djarum karena jadwalnya pas banget sama rangkaian agenda PIMNAS. Nah, mungkin kali ini lebih galau karena banyak banget aspek yang dipertimbangkan. Kalau dulu masih bocah kali ya, jadi semua ngalir aja. Dan alhamdulillah rejekinya emang di PIMNAS. Semoga berlaku juga ke pilihan yang ini, aamiin ya rabbal 'alamiin.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Sebuah Percakapan dengan Diri Sendiri

Halo. Kembali lagi dengan sebuah postingan random yang tiap hari selalu membuat kepikiran di pagi hari dan menjelang petang. Mungkin harus ditulis supaya lega aja.

Nggak kerasa sudah memasuki fase-fase "memilih" lagi. Abis lulus mau ke A atau B? Mau jadi X atau Z?

Mungkin ini yang dibilang orang kalau hidup itu pilihan. Dulu pas SD kudu milih mau lanjut ke SMP mana. Rasanya kayak gampang aja, gitu buat milih SMPN 1 Malang. Secara Bundaku, Budeku, alumni argowulas (nama keren SMP 1). Spensa (singkatan SMP 1) juga termasuk SMP favorit di Malang. Dan nggak sulit buat aku mutusin buat nyoba daftar program akselerasi waktu itu. Kayaknya aku udah paling percaya sama pilihan kedua orang tua. Selain milih spensa untuk menyenangkan orang tua, mereka juga pasti mau yang terbaik buat anaknya.

Yah, meskipun jadi anak aksel (singkatan dari akselerasi) di SMP juga banyak suka, duka, dan tantangannya, sih. Nggak mulus-mulus aja gitu. Sebenernya lumayan, sih, menghemat umur setahun. Tapi, jadi nggak bisa aktif ikut ekskul dengan maksimal. Belajar terus? Ya gimana nggak belajar kalau bagi anak aksel setahun ada 3 semester. Sempet banyak drama dan pro kontra, sih, pas menjalani kehidupan aksel di SMP. Stress sih. Tapi nggak segitunya bikin stress kayak mata pelajarannya yang semua serba 'ngebut'.

Baru-baru ini aku dapet info kalau program aksel ini udah dihapuskan. Kayaknya mentri pendidikan akhirnya menyadari kalau program ini cukup menekan psikis siswa. Huhu sebagai alumni anak aksel saya berasa jadi korban di masa lalu.

***

Pun, ketika memilih lanjut ke SMA mana setelah SMP, rasanya juga nggak terlalu sulit. Berbekal kepercayaan dan latar belakang keluarga yang banyak alumni sana, akhirnya milih masuk SMAN 3 Malang. Bangga dan senang juga, sih, masuk SMA favorit apalagi dengan dukungan penuh keluarga. Sekali lagi, memilih untuk menyenangkan orang tua.

Bhawikarsu (nama keren SMA 3) ini isinya orang-orang yang kompetitif dan punya bakat semua. Amazing. Aku yang dulunya pas SMP ekskulnya kayak setengah-setengah karena tuntuan aksel, jadi menyesal karena nggak punya bakat menonjol. Kesenian nggak jago, olah raga cuma kalo mood, ngerjain soal olimpiade gitu otakku nggak nyampe. Berada di lingkungan yang anaknya udah jago-jago tanpa membawa bekal, serba salah sekali bukan?

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Pesan dari Kereta (2)

Menyambung Pesan dari Kereta (1), tulisan ini harus segera diselesaikan sebelum menguap. Setelah sampai dengan selamat di Stasiun Blitar, perjalanan aku, Ulfa, dan Momon berlanjut. Naik Kereta Kahuripan menuju Solo.

Jujur kami ngantuk banget karena kereta kami berangkat jam 12 siang, jam-jam ngantuk. Kebetulan, Kereta Kahuripan lagi sepi banget. Kami yang seharusnya duduk di bangku yang berdekatan, justru memilih bangku-bangku lain yang masih kosong supaya bisa tidur.

gerbong kosong. itu ada kaki nyempil, kaki Momon lagi tiduran
Kira-kira setelah 1,5 jam perjalanan, kereta ini baru lumayan terisi dengan penumpang. Heran deh padahal kami naik kereta hari Sabtu. Akhir pekan. Sangat berbeda kondisinya dengan Kereta Penataran. Yah, kami heran sekaligus bersyukur, sih. Karena ini kereta perjalanan jauh, kami bisa lebih nyaman menikmati perjalanan.

Pesan dari Kereta (1)

Siapa, sih, yang nggak suka traveling?

Aku pribadi bukan orang yang "hobi" traveling, sih. Tapi kalo dibilang "suka"? Iya. dong! Masih "suka" aja sampai saat ini. Secara aku ini tipikal anak rumahan yang cuma ngeliatin orang jalan-jalan di mall aja udah seneng. Mungkin jika diberikan kesempatan lebih buat jalan-jalan, bisa jadi bakalan hobi hehehe. People change, guys!

Sabtu kemarin aku dapet kesempatan buat ke Solo bareng 2 adik tingkatku yang super receh: Ulfa dan Momon. Bukan buat jalan-jalan, sih. Pure niat buat lomba. Jadwalnya simpel banget: Sabtu pagi berangkat. sampai di Solo sore hari. Hari Minggu full lomba sampai malem terus pulang. Alasannya? Karena Senin pagi jam 8.20 Momon harus kuliah dan ga berani dispen setelah kena coret absen di pertemuan sebelumnya.


Seketika langsung teringat berapa banyak bolos atau skip kelas yang selama ini aku lakukan :(


Sebagai kakak paling 'senior' diantara Momon dan Ulfa (iya aku semester 8 niw), rasanya kayak punya tanggung jawab lebih hehe. Yah, meskipun mereka berdua ini juga nggak bisa dibilang bocah banget, sih (fyi, kami bertiga sama-sama kelahiran 1997 LOL). Hanya saja, kerecehan dan keresahan mereka kadang kebangetan dan butuh diminimalisir.

Ulfa ini jiwa rasa ingin tahunya tinggi banget. Saking keponya, dia bisa bener-bener nggak sadar kalau kadang sikapnya itu malah dikira ngelawak. Tapi pantes, sih, ternyata dia anak bungsu gitu. Dia selalu mencari sesuatu dari orang lain yang bisa dia jadikan role modelnya. Ulfa ini contoh manusia deadliner tingkat super akut! Dan sikap deadliner parahnya ini bakal aku ceritain nanti di sepanjang perjalanan kami ke Solo.

Nah, kalo Momon ini ngakunya nggak pernah nonton TV tapi diajak ngobrol segala macem hal dia tau. Wawasannya luas banget. Siapa yang ngira ternyata dia juga paham tentang perdigitalan, desain web, dan segala hal berbau start up. Momon ini juga on time banget. Sehingga sudah bisa dipastikan ketika Momon dan Ulfa bertemu pasti adaa konflik-konflik receh.
Sama Momon dan Ulfa di stasiun kereta api
Oke, cukup perkenalan singkatnya tentang 2 orang yang akan berangkat bareng ke Solo sama aku. Sekarang, waktunya bahas perjalanannya!

Rute perjalanan berangkat kami cukup seru. Berawal dari mencari jalur termurah supaya menghemat biaya berangkat ke Solo, aku akui justru perjalanan berangkat ini seru abis! Ini sekaligus TIPS Trip Rute Malang-Solo yang murah, yaa hihi. Pertama naik kereta lokal Penataran (12ribu) dulu dari Malang ke Blitar, terus lanjut Kereta Kahuripan (84ribu) dari Blitar ke Solo. Kalau mau jalur langsung tapi perjalanannya nggak asik bisa pakai Kereta Matarmaja (109ribu) dengan 7 jam menekuk kaki :(. Iya, kereta Matarmaja sudah dikenal sebagai kereta jarak jauh yang murah tapi bikin pegel karena sempit dan 90 derajat banget kursinya.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Film Normies

Kemarin, aku belajar kosa kata baru: Normies.

"Sorry, yo, aku guduk normies."

"Apaan, sih, film normies."

"Sing ndelok iki normies kabeh."


Nate yang mempopulerkan kosa kata itu kemarin. Aku sama Ebil yang denger statement Nate cuma ngakak-ngakak geli gitu. Bukan karena ngerti maksudnya, tapi kocak aja cara Nate menghujat dan menjadi sarkas. Sampai akhirnya setelah sekian lama aku baru nanya, "Normies itu apaan, sih? Webtoon?"

Well, setelah Nate jelasin, ternyata Normies itu semacam ungkapan untuk sesuatu yang orang kebanyakan lakukan/mainstream. Dan Nate menegaskan, "Dan aku gak bakal dadi normies."

Hahahahaha oke.
_________________________________________________

Ceritanya, hari itu aku, Ebil, dan Nate mau kumpul-kumpul cantik setelah lama ga ketemu padahal kita sama-sama di UB!!! Kami ini temen SMA, sekelas pas kelas X gara-gara sok ide milih kelas Bahasa Mandarin. Nggak tau kenapa kami jadi akrab ya pas kelas X padahal kami punya banyak karakter yang beda.

Nate (nama aslinya Nadia) orangnya paling santai diantara kita bertiga. Otak kanannya super bukan main kalau disuruh menghias catatan atau bikin mind map. Jago gambar juga apalagi manga anime gitu. Aku sempet ngira dulu pas SMA dia bakal milih jurusan DKV atau arsitek mungkin. Tapi ternyata dia milih.......... Kedokteran Hewan! Iya, dia juga suka sama hewan, terobsesi sama NatGeo. Pengen jadi mentri supaya bisa melindungi satwa liar yang diperlakukan secara semena-mena dengan merubah sistem dan regulasi. Nggak mainstream banget, kan?

Ebil (nama aslinya Nabila) orangnya supel, ramah, dan mandiri. Definisi wanita independen. Tapi seindependen-independennya Ebil, dia juga terobsesi sama segala sesuatu tentang Korea. Dulu sempat menularkan obsesinya tentang Korena gara-gara ada nama girlband 2NE1. Dia kayak excited gitu bilang kalo nama 2NE1 juga bisa jadi singkatan nama kita bertiga (Nabila, Nadia, Emerald). Meskipun genre favorit kami berbeda (Nate suka anime, aku suka yang barat gitu), kita tetep saling toleransi HAHA! Oh iya, Ebil ini dari SMA udah paling jelas, sih, mau kuliah apa: Kedokteran. Yup, setelah berjuang sekian lama sekarang dia tinggal nunggu pembekalan buat koas.

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Syarat Yudisium

Hai!

Tulisan ini meyambung postingan sebelumnya tentang Syarat Daftar Ujian. Alhamdulillah kemarin baru aja ngumpulin berkas yudisium. Yah meskipun ada yang kurang aja ternyata.  Well, ternyata daftar yudisium nggak seribet yang aku pikir. Berkasnya lebih sedikit daripada syarat daftar ujian; draft jurnal acc dosbing, poster acc dosbing, lembar persetujuan, lembar pengesahan, surat pernyataan publikasi, form U9, form U5, dan screenshot bukti upload jurnal ke JPA (Jurnal Pangan dan Agroindustri). Nah, 2 berkas yang terakhir disebutin itu, belum ngumpulin.

Buat yudisium, skripsi yang sudah selesai wajib dibuat jurnal dan poster ilmiahnya. Pembuatan jurnal nggak terlalu sulit karena tinggal copas intinya dari skripsi. Nah, buat poster ini agak PR ya, karena saya tidak jago desain. Aplikasi ngedit yang saya bisa cuma Photoshop disaat lainnya udah pindah Corel Draw. Awalnya ngedit pake Photoshop. Dan jadinya aneh banget.

Pake Photoshop (nggak proporsional, kaku, berantakan)

Logo fakultasnya gede banget, sama isi tidak proporsional. Terus peletakannya kayak masih berantakan dan kaku gitu. Terus, dapet saran dari Ima, kawan seperjuangan PKM Bhawikarsu, biar gampang ngatur proporsi dan peletakan, pake Power Point aja. Dan bener, setelah aku coba, prosesnya lebih gampang dan hasilnya lebih nyenengin!

Pake Power Point! (bikinnya gampang, lebih rapi dan proporsional love it!)
TIPS Buat kamu yang skill desainnya payah kayak saya, coba pake Power Point deh buat bikin poster skripsi! Cukup berbekal kemampuan mengatur fitur "shape" dan sedikit imajinasi. HAHA

Setelah poster dan jurnal yang dikonsultasikan ke dosen udah fix, langsung minta ACC dosbing (acc poster di balik poster, acc jurnal di atas jurnal). Terus minta tanda tangan buat surat pernyataan publikasi, form U9, lembar persetujuan, dan lembar pengesahan.

Pas aku kumpulin berkas-berkasnya, aku baru inget kalau masih kurang 2 berkas: form U5 dan bukti upload jurnal. Petugas admin jurusan ngasi tau aku kalau 2 berkas tersebut bisa nyusul. Lega banget lah rasanya.

Malemnya, aku langsung coba upload jurnal skripsi aku ke JPA. Pertama buka web JPA, terus klik register. Setelah punya akun, aku langsung upload jurnal skripsi yang sudah sesuai format JPA ke link tersebut. Langah-langkah penguploadannya udah jelas banget di web nya, tinggal diikutin sesuai panduan. Setelah selesai upload, pihak JPA bakal ngirim email tanda sudah upload jurnal. Nah bukti ini yang discreechot dan diserahkan ke pihak admin jurusan.

Buat form U5 ini agak ribet sih. Isi form U5 ini adalah tanda tangan 6 pihak yang wajib harus fardhu ain menerima skripsi dalam bentuk soft copy (CD) ataupun hard copy (skripsi yang sudah dijilid), yaitu dosbing I, dosbing II, ruang baca FTP, perpus UB, akademik FTP, dan admin jurusan THP. Kalau semua persyaratan itu sudah terpenuhi, selamat! Tinggal menunggu nilai  anda keluar di SIAM UB dan jadwal yudisium!


Nah, karena form U5 masih dalam tahap menjilid, doakan semoga dilancarkan yaa ketika menjilid dan menyebarkan skripsi ini ke seluruh FTP dan UB supaya tidak menjadi beban dan bisa menyenangkan hati  orang tua. Aamiin :)

Friday, February 2, 2018

Mawapr*s

Halo!

Kali ini aku bakal cerita lagi soal keajaiban di tahun 2017, yaitu sesuai dengan judul di atas. Agak gimana gitu ya. Awalnya nggak pengen menulis tentang ini di blog. Tapi akhir-akhir ini, ada beberapa orang yang suka tanya ke aku tentang hal ini. Akhirnya bikin flashback. Akhirnya ditulis, deh! Mumpung inget!

Jujur, ya, ajang mawapres merupakan salah satu "suprise" yang aku belum tau relevansinya sama semua "ekspektasi" aku selama ini. Aku nggak pernah berpikir buat jadi mawapres. Nggak pernah kepikiran sejak maba sampai hari terakhir aku PKL di Bulan Februari 2017.

Suatu hari, salah satu temenku, Yoga namanya, tanya ke aku, "Em, kamu ikut mawapres?"

"Hah? Enggak, tuh."

Setelah itu, Yoga cerita kalo waktu dia ke kampus, dia dapet surat dari jurusan buat perwakilan mawapres. Bukan hanya nama Yoga, namaku juga ditulis disana. Kaget banget! Kayak lompat dari kasur pas kejatuhan cicak!

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Mau Jadi Apa?

Apa ketakutan terbesar kamu dalam 5 tahun kedepan? Mau jadi apa?



Yaaah mungkin nggak jauh-jauh dari karir dan jodoh. Sama kayak aku yang akhir-akhir ini sering ngobrol atau diskusi (biar keren bahasanya) tentang dua hal tersebut. Awalnya kayak yayaaa mengalir aja lah yaa hidup ini. Fokus sama apa yang ada sekarang. Dan bersyukur.

Tapi tapi tapi, setelah beberapa kali obrolan, aku ngerasa kayak aku "terlalu tenang" gitu. Kurang berani buat mimpi dan bercita-cita. Disuruh sekolah ya sekolah, disuruh kuliah ya kuliah. Tapi nggak study oriented banget, ngambang gitu lho aslinya mau ngapain. Saat temen-temenku kayak udah lebih pede mutusin buat mau ngapain setelah kuliah, aku dalem hati cuma bilang, "(aku pengen ngelakuin) Apapun asalkan aku happy."

Aku juga ngga tau kenapa punya pemikiran kayak gini.

Sampai suatu hari, Arni, salah satu temenku di kegiatan volunteer minta bantuanku buat jadi subjek penelitain dia. Temanya tentang identitas generasi Z. Nah, pas banget sama aku yang lagi heran kayak hilang arah dan bertanya-tanya sebenernya aku mau apa jadi sih?

Lagi pula cuma diwawancara doang kan? Aku mau-mau aja, dong.


Well, setelah 2 kali diwawancara sebagai subjek penelitian Arni, justru malah aku yang ngerasa terbantu! Berkat wawancara itu, aku jadi mencoba lebih mengenal siapa aku yang sesungguhnya. Aku dulu waktu masih kecil gimana, sih? Ada ngga pengaruh dari masa kecil yang kebawa sampai sekarang? Ya ampun, setiap kali abis ditanya dan meneritakan suatu hal, sedikit demi sedikit aku jadi lega. Aku merasa jadi lebih kenal siapa aku. Hehe.

Dari hasil wawancara itu, aku percaya kalau apa yang ada sekarang dipengaruhi oleh kenangan masa kecil.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Syarat Daftar Ujian

Halo! Nggak kerasa udah tahun 2018. Tahunnya mahasiswa angkatan 2014 THP FTP UB buat siap-siap angkat kaki dari kampus. Menuju kehidupan sesungguhnya tanpa beasiswa dari orang tua wkwk apasih.


Di awal tahun yang selalu menggebu-gebu dan bersemangat dalam mewujudkan resolusi masing-masing, aku mau cerita nih tentang salah satu target aku di tahun ini, yaitu: SEGERA LULUS S1. FYI teman-teman, mungkin aku ngga kayak mahasiswa umumnya yang melakukan penelitian dan ujian skripsi sebagai tugas akhir. Alhamdulillah di kampusku ada salah satu jalur lagi untuk meraih gelar sarjana yaitu berbasis Karya Ilmiah Kompetitif, yaitu PKM (Program Kreativitas Mahasiswa) yang diselengkarankan Kemenristekdikti. Alhamdulillah dulu sempat diberi kesempatan merasakan PIMNAS dan dapet kemudahan dari kampus buat nyelesaikan tugas akhir pakai karya ini.

Cerita tadi bukan bermaksud gimana-gimana ya hehe. Emang ngerasa bersyukur banget ngga usah ujian skripsi. Tapi itu bisa terjadi mungkin karena salah satu lagi doa ayah bunda yang dikabulkan sama Allah.

Sindrom leha leha
Jujur, awalnya sempat kena sindrom leha-leha karena merasa ga usah ujian skripsi. Well, tetep aja kan namanya tugas akhir tetep harus ditulis sesuai dengan format skripsi meskipun karyanya udah ada. Bedanya cuma ngga ada seminar proposal dan sidang akhir skripsi. Seluruh persyaratan buat lulus-apalagi secara administrasi-tetap harus dipenuhi, salah satunya adalah berkas-berkas daftar ujian skripsi. Nah, meskipun aku ngga ada ujian skripsi, baik mahasiswa yang pake jalur penelitian maupun tidak, tetep harus memenuhi berkas-berkas ini yaa.

Bedasarkan pengalaman seorang mahasiswi semester 7 yang pengen segera lulus tapi deadliner banget, sebaiknya berkasnya bisa dicicil dari kamu penelitian. Nah karena pengalamanku sendiri buat daftar ujian itu ribet, aku ingin share tahap-tahapnya agar kebingunan ini tidak terjadi turun temurun.

Ada banyaaaak sekali berkas-berkas secara administrasi yang harus disiapkan. Nah, ini adalah checklistnya.

Berkas-berkas tersebut bisa diunduh di web jurusan sama web fakultas. Ati-ati ada file yang ngga update hehehe terakhir kali file yang baru itu (Revisi 2017) kayak gini: (link)

Nah, sebenernya setelah download semua berkas-berkas itu aku bingung banget. Dari awal Desember 2017 sampe pertengahan Desember 2017 file itu aku anggurin padahal itu udah mau akhir semester 7. Padahal jujur aku sangat menghindari bayar UKT semester 8 karena tinggal beberapa hari lagi semester 7 mau berakhir. Terus panik dong?!?!


Again, ketika makin banyak yang harus dilakukan sementara waktu makin dikit, akhirnya tetep ngga ngapa-ngapain sampai akhir Desember daaaaan ke skip libur akhir tahun.
Panik panik panik

Sunday, December 24, 2017

YOUCAN EMPOWER LOMBOK 2017! (2/3): Mendure

Been a week in Mendure was amazing!

From left to right (Kak Glenn, Bagus, Kak Ima, Ryan, Dadan,
Kak Reyhan, ME, Kak Uni, Kak Nining, Kak Dyah
Kak Ardina, Dimas
Kak Laili (blur ): )
Since the first day, we were treated like "kings" by people there, when actually we want to mingle in the society. The girls volunteer stayed at Kak Uni's house, while the boys stayed at one of elders's house. In Mendure, a bathroom inside a house is very rarely, include at our houses. There are some bathroom build by some people scattered at some locations for all people in the village. Don't be surprised, if you want to shower you have to go around the village looking for an empty bathroom. Usually we had our favorite bathroom, so we can scramble the bathroom and the loser had to find another bathroom. But, IF you are lucky, you will be invited to shower at her/his house with bathroom inside because the house owner were kind and feeling pity at you.


Most of people in Mendure are farmers of rice and tobacco. As you can see from our selfie picture above, February is perfect month for rice because it was rainny season, right? Rice paddy need lots of water to grow up! In fact, it's not too rainy in Mendure. The weather was pretty good to dry your laundry, just took 2 hours from 10 AM-12 PM! Moreover, the temperature in Mendure is always above 30 degrees celsius! It only happened once a heavy raining on the last day during the farewell ceremony :(

Move on from the weather and livelihood, I will tell you about Mendure's all time favorite beverage: LOMBOK COFFEE! Yeah, Inaq-Inaq in Mendure love to serve coffee for guests like us. They were pounding and blending the coffee with their own recipe. I don't drink coffee, but the other volunteers said the coffee was really good and unique. Maybe because the coffee blended with rice pounding that increased the flavors. In the last day, some of my friends ordered to inaq-inaq to make coffee because they want to buy some kilos of Lombok Coffee! I think they've been addicted with the coffee after a week non stop consuming caffeine XD

caffeine time with guava and rempeyek
By the way, I've been talking about children in Mendure on my previous post. Yeah, they are so lovely. After dhuhur prayer, we held our programs and mostly our target is children. While their parents were busy on the farm, we taught them how to turn garbage into useful things, the important of clean and healthy lifestyle, and the spirit to dare to reach their dreams! Kak Uni said, the children were very excited about our programs. They even had their own "Kakak favorit". I will tell about Kakak Favorit later. Anyway, the pictures below were about the kiddoss!



I was using bahasa mixed with Sasak little bit while explaining to the kids 

Beside their cuteness, the children in Mendure are very religious. After Ashar prayer, usually they went home, took a bath, and went together to Masjid in the different village before magrib. Actually there was a mushola in their village. But, they don't have any ustadz or ustadzah to teach them read Al Qur'an in that mushola. The high learning spirit of the children eventually making them accustomed to go to the Masjid even though the distance is far.

Saw this problem, finally we asked for permission to teach the children read Al Qur'an after Magrib prayer for a week. After reading Al Qur'an, usually we help the children to make their homework.This is also being one of our unexpecting program, so they didn't have to go that far to learn qur'an and enliven their mushola too.
my dream when I was in elementary school was beeing a teacher LOL

In that mushola, we made a mini library from a small unused room in the mushola that is being our main goal to increase their reading interest. We called it "PERPUS KANCIL". PERPUS KANCIL  stands for Perpustakaan Pustakawan Cilik. Beside many books for the children, there is a section for writing their dreams inside the PERPUS KANCIL, called "Aku Mele Jari" means "I Wanna Be". They wrote their dreams in the notes then sticked it all. We were advised them to always keep this library and keep those dreams by being Agen Kancil. Agen Kancil is a team that will look after this library although we (kakak-kakak) are not there. The children were very excited to be Agen Kancil. Again, I want to thank you for those books donation because it means a lot for the children in Mendure.



Saturday, December 23, 2017

YOUCAN EMPOWER LOMBOK 2017! (1/3) : Adaptation

Before this year ends, I finally decided to open my little diary and share my  volunteering experience in Lombok Island on last February. It was our promise as volunteers in YOUCAN EMPOWER deployed into 4 regions in Indonesia (Lombok, Labuan Bajo, Raja Ampat, and Lebak Muncang) for posting at least a writing or vlog in this digital era. And I just realized that I haven't share anything yet after almost a year since I came back from Lombok Island!


Besides keeping promise, in fact I do really miss people in Mendure, a small village in Lombok where I stayed for a week--especially the children! So, I tried to recall those memories and immortalize them in writing. Enjoy my story :)


We are YOUCAN EMPOWER 2017!

After passing a long selection (administration, interview, and survival test in Yogyakarta) to be part of YOUCAN EMPOWER Volunteer, here we are 9 volunteers for Lombok Island. Actually there are 12 volunteers but 3 of them couldn't make it due to academic duties. It's quite difficult at first to discuss about our programs because we are seperated by distance. Luckily there are 2 volunteers from Malang, Dimas and Kak Reyhan. We met several times with the other volunteers from Malang but deployed in different regions. I think met them really help me especially in preparation because you have friends who had same problems where you can ask to discuss anytime.


What you need to prepare before volunteering in a region you never visited before is all about mindeset. Volunteering is different with vacation. That's why we had to pass a survival test in Yogyakarta (part of YOUCAN EMPOWER Selection) before deployed. We had to make a research about the village in economics, education, and health. Then, we arrange the programs and timeline. But remember, the expectations usually is different with reality, so we should be flexible with our timeline and programs. To avoided bad things, we always stay in touch with the committee of YOUCAN EMPOWER until the D-DAY, because one of them, Kak Uni is natives of Mendure.


Mendure, a small village in Central Lombok was our destination on February 23th. The preparation was complicated because everyone had their own way. Dimas, Kak Reyhan, and I from Malang still had not book tickets 2 weeks before the D-DAY. The definition of "ruwet karepe dewe". After all of dramas and confusions, I was so excited after finally arrived at Lombok International Airport. Because it's my first time traveling without my family and almost alone if I don't have same friend with same destination. Fortunately, Dimas also departed form Surabaya so we took same flight, while Kak Reyhan from Jakarta to Lombok.

believe me there is an airplane in front of me! YOLO!

My first impression about Lombok is.... HOT! Quite different with Malang or Batu, East Java. Not so long after we arrived at Lombok International Airport, The YOUCAN EMPOWER Committee, Mbak Ima picked us by car to the Mendure Village. Our driver is from Lombok Island, called Mr. Z. He was very nice and told us some daily language and histories about the orgin meaning of Lombok. "Lombok is not chilli literally. Lombok in Sasak means straight, true or commonly interpreted honest, plain, or in other words commonly defined Fitrah," he Said.

Ookaay.


It took an hour until finally Mr. Z stop the car in front of a small gate. And here we are... Mendure Village!

As the first timer or newbie in volunteering, I was trying to adapt with people here. They are using Sasak Language like Mr. Z told in the car. Amaq for Sir, Inaq for Maam. Tabeq for excuse me.
"Tabeq Inaq," I said it with extra smiles when I met some of women welcomed us because finally I can practie this language with the natives LOL. And those women smiled to us and said, "Tabeq."

Inaq-inaq

FYI, Kak Uni said that Sasak Language is diverse by the villages. Not by provinces, BUT VILLAGES! It means, in the different village, there will be different structures or vocabulary used as language, but still Sasak. Beside Kak Uni and Kak Ima as committee, there were Kak Nining and Kak Bagus, YOUCAN members who also help us especially for language translator and accomodation. Kak Uni, Kak Nining, and Kak Bagus are students of University of Mataram, so they will help us to adapt here.


After all of the volunteers arrived, villagers held a welcoming ceremony and eat together.. The welcoming ceremony attended by village officials and religious leaders. Some girls, include Kak Uni were dressed in traditional clothes to welcome us, while the men was preparing the food to eat together. It's so unique for me, because in Mendure men were so helpful and not prestige to prepare the food. Most of food here are spicy so I couldn't take too much. Beside that, the eat portions are extra large. Such a culture shock for me because everyone can finished their food include the girls! Not only that, we don't use any spoon to eat something like soup :( So we had to use our hand skill to get the soup :(

welcome ceremoy
a portion without spoon :(

took photos with village officials

Maybe I was bad at adaptation with Mendure dishes, but there's something I suddenly like in Mendure at the first sight, the children! I like to went arround in Mendure Village. Everytime I went, there will be children follow me like they want to get to know me and the other volunteers. Actually, I used to hate kids because they are so annoying for me. But once I met them, they were so lovely! They taught me and the other volunteers Sasak Language, and I taught them Javanese. Amazing! They were so innocent and sincere until I don't have any reason to don't like them :)



From this event, actually I am so grateful because I can love kids more than before LOL. Maybe it is because they are using different language from me and I think that's cool to learn Sasak. That makes us (me and those children) good friends. But, I realized that I just stayed a week there and it would not be easy to say goodbye after that :(

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I think I should end this Part 1 here. It is still the beginning of journey. There will be lots of unique cultures and amazing children I met in Part 2 and 3. What's gonna happen next? Were we facing many obstacles during the empowering programs? Will there be more drama? LOL.

Cheers!
Emma

Monday, March 13, 2017

COMMUNICATION

Actually, I am bad at communication.

“The biggest problem for humanity, not only on a global level, but even for individuals, is misunderstanding.” ~Rinpoche

College life has taught me how to communicate with different persons every single day. Sometimes there are some of them who are the ambitious type having conversation to reply only or just to show their existence. I can't blame it because it depends on their personality traits. Some of them who are the calm type just give less verbal communication because they said to me it's hard to express their emotion or feelings. The worst is people who are trying to make missunderstanding when speak.

People said I am a fussy or maybe talkative person. Fussy person is used to related with good communiation skill.  I just smiled because they don't know what inside me is. It was just another side of mine. It's like I can switch my personality either to be fussy or very quite. Yeah, when I surrounded by talkative people, usually I become quite and be a listener because I am afraid of misunderstanding. But, when I am in my inner circles or hang out with quite people I can be very fussy and don't care people will be get it wrong or offended by my words..

I believe we born to be good persons. There is no person who is planned to be bad since he born in a state of purity. I can easily know weather someone try to make a sentence looked bias and caused misunderstanding but I usually keep quite because I don't want to be dominant that may ruin the relationship. Actually it is a bad habit; keep quite means you  agree to make it bias that will caused problems in future. See? I told you I have bad communication because I want to "please" everyone around me altough I know it is going to be difficult.

I don't want to blame people who loves to give bias information because I don't have any rights to judge people so I will corrected myself first. There are some tips originally made by me about how to comunicate well with people.

1. Think before Speak
          It is very useful to reduce the probability of missunderstanding when communicate with people. It will make words from your mouth arranged.
2. Ask!
          When you don't really understand, just ask like kids ask their parents why bird can fly. As simple as that.
3. Repeat the Statement
          Repeate means make sure that you and your partner have same perception about the information.
4. Get to Know
          Sometimes, misunderstanding is not only caused by bad communication but also different style of speaking. You should get to know each other especially about their background or how they usually mention something that is not really common for you. Yeah, maybe it will strange at first, but you will get used after that.


Okayy that's all my post about communication. I wrote this based on my restlessness because people nowadays always connected with social media that can trigger misunderstandings. I hope this could be useful for you that have same problem with me.

Good night!

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Mixed Feelings

Last weekend I just watched a very inspiring movie, Into The Wild. The story was about Alex, a young man who left his normal life -family and collage- looking for a truly happiness, I guess. I watched it on the Fox Movies channel while the movie already playing about an hour anyway. There is a plot of this story back to the past. He used to called Chris when his parents had a big fight in the house. I thought he just can't resist that kind of condition so he decided to escape. He left his home and there's a part he said he'll go to Alaska. Sounds crazy, right?

With full of curiousity, I kept watching this movie.

Alex -or maybe Chris in the past- met many people on the way he went to Alaska. He wrote his journey in a book. He met a guy who love to read a book and gave him some books about live in the wild. He also met an old man who never want to explore the world more because of personal excuse. Many people want to help him to go to Alaska but Alex prefer to took a job so he can save some money for his journey. He was so independent and smart so unwittingly had inspiring many people he met.

The climax of the story was when Alex really trapped in the wild on the way he went to Alaska. No animals to be hunted, ate the wrong plants in the forest, starving, and money was not worth at all. At first he thought he could handle it, but he's not that strong. In the weakest condition, he kept wrote his note in the book. Suddenly, the plot back to the past again. Yeah, Alex remembered some happy memories about his family, friends, and many people he met. He smiled, but tears fell down to his cheeks too. I wonder if he just regret about his decision to left home that made him trapped in the wild or it's a tears of joy that he finally know about a trupy happiness although he hadn't reach Alaska. The last scene of this movie had aswered my curiousity when in the weakest condition, he tried to write the last sentence before he left this world forever, 

"Happiness only real when shared."


Mixed feelings.


The fact, it is a true story and there was a real Alex! The story was addapted from his note when he found  died in the wild. I was stared at the TV although it already showed the credit title. Seriously, it's such a big regret if I were Alex :( Why a smart and independent young man who had inspiring many people had to left this world alone in the wild? :( It's a very sad ending although finally he found the meaning of a truly happiness.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sorry I really took it personal, imagine if I were Alex or some people who had inspired by him.

But the last quote from Alex really blow my mind. So I posted it in my social media LOL.

So much blow my mindddd.