15 Things I Did In My 15th Year

The 15th year of my life has been a very interesting and life-changing one filled with a lot of very high ups and very low downs. I must say, it has been one of the best years of my life so far (but I dare not say best yet). However, I must say though, if AYC 2010 happened after my 14th birthday, or even on my birthday instead of just before it, I think I would have labeled this year the best one. So, I've chosen the 15 things which I feel were the best things I have done or achieved from the day I turned 14 to the day I turned 15. So, in chronological order, here it goes...

1. Gold Medal in Mathematics Division at the Indonesian Young Scientist Competition 2010 (InaYS 2010) in Bandung, Indonesia together with my dear Science Club partner Toby.

2. Organizing the ASEAN & Youth Empowerment Day event for the entire Junior High Unit of Santa Laurensia School. It was like bullying the entire school for a whole day!

3. Published the VieR School Magazine with the team under my leadership (=D)!

4. On top of number 3, my Cerpen (Short Story) in Bahasa Indonesia was chosen to be published in VieR!

5. I was awarded the scholarship in Singapore! (See previous posts)

6. I endured my first surgery which was to remove my appendix.

7. I hit the American continent for the first time in Houston, Texas, USA after taking the longest flight of my life (16.5 hours from Dubai to Houston)

8. Bronze Medal in the Energy Category for the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Project Olympiad (I-SWEEEP) 2011 in Houston, Texas, USA! Met with people from 70 different countries.

9. I climbed up the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, and second tallest building, the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada.

10. I braved the Leap Of Faith water slide in Aquaventure at the Atlantis Resort on The Palm in Dubai, UAE. An almost vertical drop that catapults through a Shark Lagoon.

11. Passed my UAN (National Exams) with unbelievable results (both in good and bad ways)!

12. I had the opportunity to meet and work with many students from the 16th cohort of Santa Laurensia Junior High School and we inspired each other!

13. Junior High School Graduation. Graduated in a toga for the first time!

14. The Most Proactive Student Award at Graduation! Unexpected but at the same time very expected!

15. First time hang out with a Laurensian, and the hang out was in the form of a Productive Hang-out (LOL).

So there you go, 15 things I did in the past year that I will always remember for the rest of my life. I know some may find my life a bit boring, but hey, some of these are really big things for me!

There Is No Hiding A Birthday From A Laurensian

First of all, for those of you who I told that my birthday is on 29 February, which means that my birthday comes only once in four years, and believed it, you fell for my trick. My birthday was indeed a few days ago.

It has become a bit of our tradition that we would have a meeting, or a productive hang-out as we like to call it sometimes, the second weekend after the return of a GYCi Delegation. So we did have our AYC + GYF + AYC Productive Hang-out, which happened to fall on my birthday...

I have never really liked celebrating birthdays, especially with other people. To me, a birthday is just like ending the financial year where you count all your profits and losses. I treat my birthdays as a time to review what went wrong, what I could have done that I didn't do and all the things that went well. To me, it's more of a personal time.

Therefore, with the objective of making sure that the meeting was focused to productive stuff and not my birthday. So I decided not to tell anyone that the event would fall on my birthday and for those who insisted days before the event that I treat everyone to lunch, I came up with the silly scheme about my birthday being on 29 February.

But unfortunately, that morning, I was awoken to a text greeting me "Happy Birthday". Somehow, the whole world found out and denied all information that it was not my birthday. So, when I got to Living World (it's a mall in Alam Sutera Complex where my ex school is), the whole Laurensian WORLD that was there seemed to know what day it was. I had so many Laurensians who I don't know the names of come up to me and give me a signature AYC hug (nothing really signature about it really, just a hug). Text messages also kept pouring in till my phone hanged (no kidding). Including the most shocking yet meaningful of the texts saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY WORLD LEADER!" and the text from someone who was right there in front of me but just had to SMS his/her birthday wishes. Thanks for the texts guys! Sorry if I didn't reply any of them because I either overlooked them or missed them and sorry to those people who got replied many times because I did not remember replying them. (=D)

I'll be honest, I have lately come to realize and accept the harsh fact that throughout my time in Santa Laurensia Junior High School, at least in my final 9th Grade year, every student in the school at least knows who I am one way or another (as if I'm Student Body President or something) but I don't know everyone. I do recognise the faces of every Junior High Laurensian in 14h to 16th generation, but I don't think I would know all the names, all the more have saved their phone numbers on my phone and know who's is this text from. I would not really say that I am a "popular" student. I don't even know if people associate their knowledge of me to good things. But my point is, it just feels weird. In PSB, everyone knew who I was, but that was because it was such a small school and everyone knew everyone else anyways. But here in Laurensia, it's all different. Whatever it is, I don't like this concept of being "known".

So, long story short. The conclusion: the whole world found out it was my birthday, despite that I still forced everyone to work (actually, it was kind of the other way around at the beginning) and my parents decided to treat everyone for dinner (which was still mostly a work-based session) and it turned into a birthday party when there was a cake (damn birthday cakes!). But despite my frustrations that I didn't pull off my trick, it was an awesome day, as any AYC + GYF day is. It was my last birthday spent in Jakarta for at least the next few years and I'm glad that in my last year in PSB, I spent a birthday with my PSB pals and now I have one birthday with my fellow Laurensians as well.

But the thing is, I don't want to think of that day as a celebration of my birthday. I prefer to regard the festivities as a celebration of my relationship with these Laurensians. The people who came were all AYC or GYF or the 2 people who inspired me to end up in Houston. They are kind of the perfect representatives of the group of people who have shaped my Laurensian Journey (ok, not perfect, certain people were not there and those people would have perfected the day, but it's ok). It's a celebration of our journey together and at the same time, the perfect time for me to close the book and let go of them to continue on without me.

So what was the lesson learnt on that day? There is no hiding a birthday from a Laurensian!

Be A Communicator, Not A Speaker

Today, work begins. As we entered the room, we came into our first session. To be a world leader, you have to be able to get the people you are leading to have the same vision as you do. Nothing can be achieved if your people have no intention of reaching the same goals as you. To do that, you need to be able to persuade them and there is really only one skill you need to master, Public Speaking!


We were asked to give a 1-2 minute speech on the topic "Your Most Embarrassing Moment" and I must say that I was very surprised to hear 2 stories that had something to do with me (thanks a lot guys *sarcastic mode on*) but hey, it was part of the fun. Long story short, we had a great time and I want to thank Yu Li for the very interesting session!

We then moved on to the Icebreaking session where we got to know the other Youth Delegation Leaders (YDLs) from Singapore and Vietnam. It was nice to get to know them better, especially the Vietnamese YDLs who we were staying in the same hotel with.

I came the time to do a Mock-up of the things that would be happening at the actual convention. We each presented about ideas on the problems in ASEAN and how we could fix them.

As the presentations went by, we started to learn about how the problems each country was facing was very different from one another. For example, the Singapore Delegation talked about Youth Empathy. From an Indonesian's point of view, and I guess the Vietnamese also felt the same way, there are problems in our countries far more serious than Youth Empathy such as Poverty. The Vietnamese talked about how Youth Empowerment is a very hard thing to achive in Vietnam and the best place for them to start taking action is by improving the educational system. According to them, 98% of the school curriculum is dedicated to sciences.

Through the presentations I learnt how different the problems facing each country could be. However, at the same time, two or all of the countries could be facing one common problem but at different levels. Two issues that we found were common to all three countries were the Education System and the Environment.

Tomorrow we will be meeting with Ambassador Ong Keng Yong at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Ong is the former secretary of ASEAN.

On Friday we have to present on the topic "Can Indonesians Think?" Can Indonesian people think and get creative and innovative? Can they think as well as people in the US or in the EU? We will be very strongly considering your comments since we were asked to get the opinions of the people back home. This is you first and one of the best chances for you to make a difference. So come on people of Indonesia, Can Indonesians Think???

What You Say, What You Do, Can CHANGE The WORLD

Over 300 Youth Delegates from 10 countries from all over South-East Asia will come together in the bustling city-state of Singapore for one reason, to build the future of ASEAN. As we get closer to the ASEAN Youth Convention (AYC), I wonder if I will be able to make my mark on this world. I mean, who am I? I'm only a "kid"! Am I actually going to be able to do something for the better of ASEAN?

The Preparatory Day on Sunday was coming to an end. We were all reminded about our flights. Then, it was my turn to lead an exercises that to me, explains everything.

We form a circle, holding hands with the people beside us. Toby turned off the lights, then, we closed our eyes. "Imagine you are on a field, where not a wall is in sight." I began. I for one, kept my eyes open, just to make sure that nobody was fooling around. The main idea of the activity was to get them to imagine what was on the line. When I did a way less "dramatic" version of this when I had the Copenhagen Gala Dinner, it really made me realize that what I did there and then could make a difference, for better or for worse.

I then went on. "There are 70 million Youths in Indonesia, and there are 20 Indonesian delegates standing in this circle. Now turn you head and look behind you. Standing behind each of you are 3.5 million youths, youths of Indonesia, youths that you represent. What you say, what you do, what you achieve in Singapore, could make a difference in their lives!"  Then, I went on to telling them that we don't just represent the Youths, we represent all the people in Indonesia. That's 10 million people standing behind each of us. On that field, all 200 million Indonesians stand united as one.

As I began to picture that, I kind of started to realize how big a responsibility I had. I could make a difference in this country, and ultimately the world.

So, what is it actually that is so special about Youths that we can actually have a say in the future development of ASEAN? What can YOUTH Empowerment do?

"Kak OSIS" - Walking With The New Generation

One thing I must confess that most of the current 8th and 7th graders in Laurensia don't know is that I have never experienced MOS, MABIS or School Orientation or anything like that. I came into Laurensia in the 8th grade and PSB never seemed to have such a thing at the beginning of secondary school. I must admit that I do feel "unqualified" to be "mentoring" the MABIS (Masa Bimbingan Siswa) as I had no idea what to expect other than the unpleasing descriptions given to me by my fellow Student's Council Members. As much as these new 7th grades had no idea what was in store for them, I had no clue what was in it for me too!

After out early morning clock-in time on Monday and after 7:15, I came into my assigned class, 7E,  to start counting the number of empty seats in the classroom. I waited a little longer till there was only one vacant seat left to then finally come to the decision that it was the right time to start talking. I told them that I would be one of their mentors, though not the class coordinator (of course, I was a blank as them), and asked them to turn off their phones. Then all the other OSIS (Student's Council) mentors came in to help me out with my half-hazardly Bahasa Indonesia.

Nothing out-of-the-ordinary happened apparently, to my surprise. But it just felt weird throughout the whole process. For one thing, it was the first time in my life I had been called "Kak" (It means like older brother or the title you use to address someone who is only a few years older than you F.Y.I.), moreover "Kak OSIS"! First of all, I'm the type of person who finds no age barriers between me and younger kids. I really was just expecting them to call me by my name. I guess for formality they kinda had to address me properly, but I hated how I was kind of seen as "higher" than them. When I came to Laurensia, I didn't really have to call anyone "Kak" because no one was "higher" or more superior than me. It was like your first day in a new office. But it just felt weird that now people were "looking up" at me (probably not the best way to put it).

With that being the situation, I finally accepted that I did have some authority over them (hehehe). Having other duties in other classes, I kind of took the opportunity to "observe" what the other OSIS were doing to their so called "victims". Well, to me, they kind of basically made sure that they did their job and ensured that their individual classes were not going to make a fool out of themselves during the closing-ceremony performance (sorry guys, but this is really kinda the best way put it). I know this sounds very overly mature of a 13 year old kid to say, but seeing the situation I was in, I thought that if these kids "looked up" to me, I figured it was an opportunity for me to inspire them, so that at least they would actually get something out of  looking up at me instead of seeing me as a role model only to gain no good qualities in themselves.

So, with that said, I really tried my best to implant some good qualities in these kids so that they don't make the same mistakes I and other people made in Junior High School. How did it go, well, I guess they would definitely remember me for giving out sweets and scolding them for not singing well enough. But whatever the result, I wish 7E and all the other 7th grade classes all the best in their Junior High School Journey!

Do Others Care More About Us Than Ourselves?

The other day I was at Burger King at Supermal Karawaci about 4.30 pm. I sat between two occupied tables (well not really between, more like close to, but it doesn't matter).

On the table to my right, there were two men, most likely in collage or something. Though they looked Asian, they had very strong American English accents. I inferred that they were definitely not Indonesian.

On another table in front of me, there was a family of a father, a mother and two sons. Now there was not question that they were Indonesians.

Long story short, let's skip to the part when these two tables finished their meal. At the table in front of me, the family finished up their meal, wiped their hands with tissue, placed it on the table along with all the other rubbish and stood up and walked out of Burger King. If you're Indonesian, you might think "Nothing so special about that, it's a common sight!"

At the table to my right, I saw something that shocked me. The guy basically put all the rubbish onto the tray, took the tray with him to the rubbish bin, emptied the tray and put the tray on top of the bin. If you're Indonesian, you might think "Kurang kerjaan banget nih orang!"

Ok, I've got to be honest with you. What the foreign guy did was really something I haven't seen in a very long time. The last time was probably in Singapore or in Australia I guess. But think about it, and compare and contrast. Think about the title of the blog post and think about it. What do you make out of that. Share your thoughts and comment!

The Writers Of The Future

Ok, I’ll be honest. I HAVE been slaking off on my blog. But I have a VERY REASONABLE excuse for that. I’ve been very busy cooking up something big for the next writing club term.
I'm not quite done with my Travel Writing Assignments yet so you might have to wait a little longer!

In the meantime, for writing club, we have to do this blog post about what we think of our fellow writers (which I was supposed to do a VERY long time ago), so that’s what I’ll be doing below. Without further delay:

Willa – I was amazed when I first met her at the interview. She used to live in the UK which is probably why her English is good and she has an English accent. I must say that she’s probably the dark horse of the club and that when competition comes, she can get us pretty easily. I find that though she’s quiet, she can really produce some quality work. Because our classrooms are far away and Becky takes care of the right wing of the school, I don’t really meet her often and I have yet to get to know her better!

Natasha – This girl popularly known as Sasha is one of the most energetic ones in the club! I was really surprised to find out that she goes to the same church as I do. That just goes to show how un-active I am at church. Well, she has always amazed me with the amount of effort she puts in into her essays! Though her English is a little behind compared to the others in the club, she works very hard to produce work of the same quality. As for her personality, it’s hard to ever find a frown on her face. She always lights up the spirit in our club meetings, something we all appreciate. The club has high hopes for her!

Karin – The Pilipino of the club never fails to amaze me! Her ambitions as a writer have surpassed my expectations. I remember when we met for the first time at the interview. I was amazed by her story of how she was first raised in Manila! She writes very descriptive narratives that are always enjoyable to read. She was probably born to make writing club. Her name even has the word “Novel” in it! She does a lot of writing club work when I have other people to chase after. She claims she’s a nerd and is proud of it, but I don’t see the nerd in her. But overall, she’s nice and helpful.

Erico – This guy was probably the first really good friend I made since I came to Laurensia, though the way I treat him in writing club doesn’t really show that. He’s got vision in life, something I really admire about him. It’s very clear what he wants to be and how he’s going to be it. Sometime, I kind of wish I was like him. He does his best in everything he does. Sometimes, the things he does can be a little quirky and odd, but that’s alright, no harm done. I’ve always seen a burning passion in his written word. He’s the best guy in the club (he’s the only other guy in the club) and I hope he keeps it up!

Becky – I chose her as the PIC for one very simple reason, she wants to be an author. Sure she has other dreams that she would really like to fulfill but her passion for writing stands out. What I love about her is the way she has clear goals in life, just like Eric, that’s why he’s her bro! As much as nothing gets in her way of reaching for the stars, she knows that we’ve got to live like were dying! She’s kind of one of the only students in school who I can speak English with and have no communication problems. Well, there a lot of qualities I admire in my PIC. The road shines brightly for her.