Medina Savira: Keep Writing while Making School as No. 1 Priority

Young, smart, talented, and humble; those words are the right ones to describe her, I think. I have actually been admiring her since the first time I knew that she's a writer, which brought my interest to interview her for this blogging task.

This interview was begun by my greeting for her through LINE on Sunday evening. Firstly, I told her that I got this task to interview someone I found inspiring, so I asked her whether I could interview her or not; if she didn't mind it, of course. And... fortunately she said yes!

Since she said so, then I started the short virtual interview with her.

First of all, I asked about when and how she started to write. Then, she answered, "I have started to write books since I was 10. When I was a 5th grader, my teacher took me to a journalistic training where I met Sri Izzati, a famous, senior children novels (KKPK) writer. There, she told me about how fun it was to be a writer, how to write, and also she introduced me to KKPK (Kecil-Kecil Punya Karya) books. Since then, I started to write short stories. After collecting all of them in a month, I sent them to DAR! Mizan Publisher. Alhamdulillaah, they gave me positive response. That's why I have addicted to write until now, hehe."

This 17-year-old girl has produced 18 books until today. Well, it means she's been very productive during her 7-year career as a writer. I wonder how does she manage her time so well, because she's also an acceleration class' student like me and I thought it'd be hard for her to spend her time for writing during her accelerated study in high school. But, she just simply said that she kept school as her first priority. "I started to write if I've done my school things; finishing my assignments and study. So, I wrote whenever I had free time, like during weekends or school's holiday, for example."

After that, I asked her if she had any plans ahead, whether it'd be writing again or something else. This new student of SAPPK ITB then answered, "I actually have a plan to continue my novel script which was delayed due to the exams preparation. Just wish me luck :)"

Sure, I immediately wished her luck. And for the closing, I would like to quote the words from this 2014 West Java's Students Language Ambassador for her juniors in SMAN 3 Bandung, especially for me and my fellow friends as acceleration class' students. Here it is:

"Although you undergo Kurtilas (Kurikulum 2013), don't make it as a burden. Do not waste your 2 years needlessly (for the accelerated students). Look for new experiences as much as you can, because life lessons will not come from your study at classes, but if you are willing to try new things :)"

So, that's how my short interview with Teh Dina ended. Thanks for being so much inspiring, Teh!

Here is the photo of me and Teh Dina! :)

One Day at Braga Street

I often pass this iconic street, especially when I'm on my way to school. Many people also walk on its sidewalks or just sit on the benches which are placed along the sidewalks; were many of them who like to take some pictures there, too, just to capture every single moment they spent at the beautiful street.

Yes, Braga Street. It is a small street in the center of Bandung, Indonesia, which was famous in the 1920s as a promenade street. Chic cafes, boutiques and restaurants with European ambiance along the street had made the city to attain the Paris of Java nickname. The street starts from a T-junction with the Asia-Afrika Street (or De Groote Postweg during the colonial times) to the north until the city council (Balai Kota), which was formerly a coffee warehouse. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braga_Street)

It is still famous until today, anyway. It has not only some historical buildings, but also its part of street called Braga Andesit since it has andesites used for the road instead of bitumen (asphalt). Unfortunately, this Braga Andesit often gets roadwork because the andesites are not so firm that it's easily broken. This roadwork always cause traffic jam along the street, too.

However, yes, Braga Street has this unique views for me, especially at Braga Andesit. It also has many food stalls and painting outlets. There is also a mall called Braga City Walk (BCW) located at Braga Andesit. Despite not having so much things in it, BCW still quite worth it to visit. Besides foods, you can also watch movies at the cinema with low price! :p There are usually some events held in this street, like Braga Culinary Night and Car Free Night that was held just few weeks ago.

Even though I often pass this road as I said in the beginning... but actually I haven't spent so much time on its sidewalks with its beautiful views, which I'm really waiting for! But, since I hardly have someone to accompany me... would you like to visit Braga Street together with me if you are free? *winks*

PAMAN GOBER 2015

Paman Gober is one of annual events held right after Dewa Athena--SMAN 3 Bandung's sport event--tournament's over. It's an event where all of the school's students and teachers ride bicycles together and plant some trees in certain places at the end of the ride.

This year's Paman Gober was held on May 9th. Most of the students brought their own bicycles; like I did, and some others had to come earlier so that they could borrow the bicycles provided by the committees. That day, I woke up late so I had to get myself prepared in a hurry. I'd decided to ride my bicycle from home to school since the day before anyway, but since I was late so I had to rush to school--well, it's Lapangan Bali to be precise. Lucky me, I arrived there on time. I just needed to wait for few minutes and finally all of us started the bicycle convoy.

We left Lapangan Bali to head to Tegallega. We passed through Belitung St., then we down the Sumatera St. and passed Tamblong and Lengkong Street. The police car which guarded us during the convoy suddenly stopped us before Pungkur-Lengkong intersection. I personally didn't have any idea about it, neither nor my friends. After waiting for quite a while, the polices started to drive their car again, but it turned out that they're heading back to Lapangan Bali since they said that Tegallega was too crowded for us to stop by and take a rest there at that time. So, yeah, we just followed the police car. When we arrived at Sunda Street, our group split in two; some of us were heading back to Lapangan Bali, and some others were going to watch the symbolic trees handover from our committees to the representation of the residents at Buton Street; including me and some of my friends. After that, we finally went back to Lapangan Bali.

There, at Lapangan Bali, the committees gave each of us a box of nasi timbel since it's time for lunch already. My classmates and I sat together and ate our lunch, before we started the final round of Dewa Athena tournament. Our class went to three finals; tug of war, dodgeball for girls, and table tennis. And... guess what??? We finally won all of those finals which brought us to be the 2nd Grand Champion! Yeay, congratulation to us!!

Well, for me, these annual events have given new experiences and it was very exciting as well, though me and my fellow friends who are also acceleration class' students would probably not experience next year's Dewa Athena and Paman Gober... but anyway, thanks to everyone involved in these events this year!! :)

Photo of me and my friends during the bicycle convoy~