September [PROLOG]

"Bulan ini terasa panjang. Saya bepergian ke berbagai tempat dan melakukan berbagai kegiatan yang lebih banyak variasi dari bulan-bulan biasanya. Saya memang belum 'sesibuk itu' untuk tidak menemukan waktu untuk nonton Youtube berjam-jam. Saya juga belum memegang peran-peran penting di organisasi atau kepanitiaan yang bisa membuat saya menjadi 'seksi segala tahu dan paling repot'. Saya puas dengan impresi yang saya tampilkan, juga menyesal pada beberapa kejadian yang mencacati impresi tersebut. Bulan ini saya mulai berubah (entah bertansformasi atau bertumbuh) dengan kecepatan yang sedikit lebih cepat dari bulan-bulan biasanya, saya bisa merasakan itu."

[Laporan selengkapnya segera dipublikasikan]

THE COLLEGE STORY [PART II]

[trying my best not to mention any names in particular, but I suppose from the descriptions, those who know will know]

I made pretty good acquaintances with “artistic” people at first, as these people are always my “friendship goals”, but later on I grew quite some distance with them. I am now the closest with people who finds theatre play boring, galleries are pointlessly there as photo studio (I kind of agree with this one, though), and my music taste don’t synchronize with theirs. But I find these people whose interests are sky and earth with me, trustable and dependable (and laughable). They are the ones whose numbers I would dial (more like LINE Free Call) when I’m in an emergency situation (like, suddenly alone after class or having to spend the gap between classes alone or don’t have anyone to eat lunch with–yes, high school never ends, honey, you gotta seat with your BFF/BF/squad).

I was also trying to approach those who seemed nice, approachable, and modest; but we hardly ever talk now, let alone hang out together. It turned out that their humor are strange for me, vice versa, and some are not as “real” as I thought they were. Not as “modest” at heart. Some are just wolves in a lambskin. Those whom I thought were going to stay ‘jobless’ with me, suddenly joined something and got super busy. Those whom I thought were mean-girls-material were as real as my breath.

(don’t misunderstood, though. I may have failed in executing the approaches, but I hardly ever miss reading someone or a group of people. Some are just as mean girls as they could, some are just as annoyingly nerdy and serious as fuck, some are just too cool to hang out with me, some groups are just full of creative heads–and my brain’s potential is not up to par to hang out with them)

I learned various social life cultures in college, and get to explore the one area in Jakarta I hardly ever step a foot on: the South. If you’re not a Southern kid, you will get so perplexed with the roads as there are lots of small roads and the map seems intertwined. I still can’t navigate places very well (in general), but at least I learn how to read maps, navigate a little, and predicting distance. New skill gained: navigation.

A friend of mine (love-hate that bitch) explained to me excitedly about the lifestyle (especially the social part) of the Southern kids, while another friend would listen passionately. I get to embrace the culture of “nongkrong” (I couldn’t translate it in English, because the translation would be “hanging out” and it’s too general to define “nongkrong”–similar case to “jayus”). Before college (and these bitches), my peers are the kind who don’t do “nongkrong”. When we hang out together, we’d eat happily at a restaurant or the food court, something, then window shopping or go to the theatere, then go home. We wouldn’t spend, like, Rp50.000,- for a cup of coffee with artistic foam, and just stay seated at the coffee shop for hours. I personally couldn’t get any focus in public places like that (exception for bookstores, my heaven on earth –but not library, though, they got different vibes, which I’ll have to explain in a separate post), let alone working or reading. I’d rather be at my room, on my bed, where I could wear whatever, look like shit, and not wear pants. I only go to coffee shops to chat with some friends, a light activity that doesn’t require much focus.

[My mom said that it’s a perfect combination. My (Chinese-dominated) peers taught me how to thrift, have strong principles to not get easily swayed by others, good manners and morality, while the Southerns taught me how to have fun, deal with social life and explore stuffs.]

THE COLLEGE STORY [Part I]

Freshmen year is always a fresh start. New school, new friends, new teacher, new subjects, and, unfortunately, seniors. Most freshmen would dread the seniors and orientation the most; oddly enough for me, I kind of  look forward to it. The (so-called) scary seniors, the funny hairstyles, the strange tasks, the humiliating and bothersome customs for freshmen to accustomed to. Fortunately and unfortunately, I didn’t get to grasp that awful (yet memorable) freshmen “bully” since my university (and most uni now) has banned any acts of bullying. We escaped most of the dreadful parts of orientation, except for the tasks. They were not exactly strange, but rather tiresome. The nametag, the journal, the song. Seemed pointless, and they partly are, seen explicitly. But implicitly, they all had a point (read: bonding).

So, I was a little devastated by the boring orientation (I went through three orientations; from the uni, faculty, and major. The orientation from my major was the hardest, though, yet it is the most memorable). I tried to stay excited by joining committees out of interest (not based on who were in the committee), but later I learned the importance of sticking to your closest friends (read: your peer) at any occassions. I always hated to appear alone (or lonely) in public places as much as I hate being an outsider. There were many events I joined out of pure interest, and I ended up not enjoying them very much because I was whether by myself or with the wrong friends.

[I was also devastated by the fact that I gained weight instead of losing (since most of my friends are, starting college), transitioning from homecook to street food. (now I’m trying to take control and try to inhabit the eating style of my “naturally” skinny friends) Guuurl, feel me!]

I joined very few committees in the first semester (and the semesters following). I picked them out carefully as I feel the need to take interest in the event itself and the committee won’t force me to fund raise by selling snacks. Plus, I feared that if I took too many non-academic activities, I will struggle with my academics as many seniors have warned the freshmen. Believe me, that’s bullshit. Well, if you major in heavy stuffs like medical, engineering, science, or law, then yes, you will suffer in academics, let alone juggling both academic and non-academic life. But I’m in communication! I would say that I’m not bragging or underestimating when I say  your academic life is that easy to put up with in the first three semesters. SO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR FREE TIME! Learn from my mistakes:(

(but don’t be in committees forever, though, as it will frain the cash out of you. From fund raising to set up costs covered by the committees–and rare case of reimbursement. Committees are “jumping rocks”, so unless you want to build an EO, you better start finding other ways to be productive–which wouldn’t cost you for nothing and, better, earn you some money)

Some committees disappointed me as the spirit was down already, while some other kind of ditched me, as in ignoring my (perhaps stupid) ideas. I joined a club I thought I’d be passionate in, but turned out the other members just didn’t work with me in terms of chemistry (and now I’m considering to resign myself as a member). I failed to get into the organization I desired the most, because (I think) I was not professional and prepared enough to join; therefore I wasn’t qualified. Maybe I should’ve chosen different department, maybe I should’ve given other organizations a go, I thought.

But shit happens anyway. You might be trapped in a committee or club that drains your pockets, or obligated to attend regular meetings to discuss about topics you don’t even want to hear. You might get super busy and dilemmas about whether you should skip class and attend an event you’re involved in, or otherwise. The best advice I could give is to keep professional. Whatever trap it is that you’re in, how much money you give away to fund an event, just don’t ruin your name for not being professional. Do your best; whether at doing your jobdesc or escaping your jobdesc (give logical or dead-end reasons).

The College Story [Intro]

In freshmen year you’ll remember new names and forget names. In freshmen year, you’ll join some peer groups, but as the months go by, your peers will narrow and grow fonder relationships. Beause in freshmen year, you’ll be forced to do activities that bond you with various people, but as the orientation’s over and your classmates are not picked by the system, you’ll have to build relationships on your own.

In freshmen year the academic life seems blurry. Most will be late to class or enter the wrong class. Some will find college life so easy as if they’ve studied the manual book ahead of other freshmen. Some will be “trapped” in committees they dislike–in which they have to fund raise. But, hey, freshmen always try everything as everything is fresh for them.

In freshmen year you’ll try to be as attractive as you are allowed in front of your new friends and seniors of the opposite (or the same) sex.  Though some would not care much; whether because they already have that someone in particular or they are just not interested in such thing. Some will have special friends by the end of the semester, some will have a crush on the same person until they graduate.

In freshmen year... you promise yourself that you will be this kind of senior or that kind of senior, which you never will be. But you will be a particular kind of senior, that’s for sure. In freshmen year, you diss your superiors and plot a revenge on your upcoming freshmen, but suddenly new rules applied in which you cannot cross anything in your revenge-bucketlist.

Later throughout the year, you’ll be a different person, see the world slightly differently, maybe develop new skills or traits. Some changes will be obvious, some will subtly appear, some will not be appearent at all. But no matter what the occassion is, human will always change as they always grow. College has different effects on everyone, surely, so it is highly reccomended that you don’t miss a thing.

(aren’t you curious on what effects it has on you?)