Education to Build A Better Future for All: Indonesia's Education System

          As Indonesian students, most of us feel that Indonesia’s education system still has so many deficiencies; from facilities to lessons. Students often complaining about these problems, yet things don’t get better. In our eyes, the government keep making our education system more complicated which makes the students feel burdened by this. It has made many students, and some teachers too, think about how Indonesia’s education system should be made so that it will bring enjoyment for both teachers and students in teaching and being taught. And below are some opinions of mine about how our education system should have been.

            Firstly, in my way of thinking, we should not be forced to learn dozens of subject; instead, I think we better follow the other countries whose students just study things or subjects they want because every student has their own specialties. That way, students must not feel burdened and would obviously enjoy their study in school. Compared to our education system, even since we were in kindergarten, we have already been taught to read, to write and do math, while mostly developed countries have kindergartens for place toddlers can play and totally having fun. From the fact above, we can simply conclude that Indonesia’s students have been burdened even since we were toddlers who were supposed to feel no stress at all and having fun a lot.

            Learning too much kind of subjects also lead to such long study time at school. Usually, Indonesian students—especially junior and senior high students—have their school started around six to seven o’clock and ended in late afternoon. Moreover, they can possibly be arrived home in evening because of extra-classes or courses. Even many students say that it is like they leave for school right after sunrise and go back home when the sun sets. This depicts how we, as students, are physically tired. So, this also supports the reason why we should not be taught so many subjects in school.

            Besides, we should not be given too much homework. I bet we should not elaborate much about this because we definitely know the reason why. As I have mentioned in the previous paragraph, we have already been tired physically because we have stayed in school for about twelve hours, or even more. So, it will actually just make things worse if teachers give us too much homework with their deadly deadlines. However, sometimes we cannot just blame the teachers regarding to this but the government itself. Why? It is because they are who made the curriculum be so complicated and burdening. If we compare the other countries again, it seems like the students do not really look stressed by school and it probably because they are not given as much homework as we are. That is why we often find Indonesian students sighing about how stressing, tiring and burdening their schools are.

            However, as students, we cannot only think about the negative impact of Indonesia’s education system we have felt, but we also have to think that the teachers may also feel the negative impact. One of it is about their salary, which seems to be the biggest problem out of all. They are supposed to teach their students diligently and well, but they are not respected financially. Though teachers are often called as “unsung heroes”, they still also make their professions as their source of income and it is the government’s responsibility to solve this problem.

            In brief, we can see that Indonesia’s education system still lacks in many things. However, we should not only see the negativity of one thing. Let’s just keep studying hard and less complaining about the burdens because everything must have its own lessons. Probably the hardship and fatigue we feel might lead us to know ourselves more and help us to decide what we want to be in the future. However, we still hope that the government could improve our education system to be much better and less burdening.

HKU: Study Abroad, Why Not?

Hi again everyone!! It's kinda unusual because I diligently write posts these days, isn't it? Well, yeah, I just feel like writing since my mood is up nowadays, which is obviously good! And... today's topic is about universities! Seriously, if someone ask me to talk about my dream universities, or going abroad, or anything related to future studies life... then I'm gonna tell it enthusiastically!! It's because I'm highly interested in going abroad since I was in junior high, and I just can't stop dreaming and keep searching for more information about it until today hehe. OK, no need to make this any longer, I will get started now!

So, what I'm going to tell on this occasion is about one of  my dream universities which includes its profile and how to apply to the university. Mm, can you guess what university it is?

Yes, It' Hong Kong University! It is one of Asia's best universities, or even in the world as well. I actually was considering about bringing up Oxford University since I really really wanna go there, but I choose HKU as the one I'm going to discuss here instead because I am now applying to there! So I feel like I will be able to do this better if it is about HKU 😁

OK, so, The University of Hong Kong (often abbreviated as HKU, informally known as Hong Kong University) is a public research university located in Pokfulam, Hong Kong, founded in 1911 during the British Colonial era. It is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong, originally established to compete with other Great Powers that had opened higher learning institutions in China at the beginning of the twentieth century. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Hong_Kong)

Based on the latest university ranks by www.topuniversities.com, Hong Kong University is #30 in the World University Rankings, second in Asian University Rankings, #14 for its Social Sciences and Management, and also second best in the world for its Dentistry. Very cool, huh?? Those rankings clearly depict the high quality of HKU, and that is why I am interested in applying to it! Plus, Hong Kong is still located in Asia whcih means its mother tongue isn't English, so it's pretty suitable with my average English skill ✌🏻

OK, let's we talk about the admission thingy. I will obviously tell about its international admission only since we're non-local students. Well, the International Admission Scheme, or is usually called as Non-JUPAS Admission Scheme, is welcomed for the students who are applying on the strength of qualifications other than Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) or mainland China's National Joint College Entrance Examination (NJCEE), regardless of whether the students are studying in Hong Kong or overseas. The admission period are divided into 3 parts; Fast Track, Main Round, and Late Application. As for the Fast Track application, it has now been closed. However, if the students are not selected during the Fast Track period, they will be considered further in the Main Round so they won't be disadvantaged.

Next one is the Main Round, and this is the admission period I take for my application. It has opened since early October, 2015 and will be closed on December 30, 2015 at 12.00 a.m. (Hong Kong time).

The last one is Late Application. Only small numbers of the university's study programs might accept late applications after the Main Round deadline. According to their official website, the details will be finalized and announced on the website after the Main Round application deadline.

Before starting to do the application, it's way better and important to know what the entrance requirements are, so that your application will be considered for admission. To make it short, I will just insert the link so that you can see the details yourself: http://www.aal.hku.hk/admissions/international/admissions-information?page=en/university-entrance-requirements

Let's now talk about the application procedure. First of all, you should register and create an application account. After you already have one, then you can log in for completing the online application form. When you have finished filling in the online application form, you should pay the application fee of HK$450 by credit card, and you won't be permitted to make any changes in your form, so it is better to use the Preview Final Report function to ensure you have filled in all sections with correct information. After successful online payment, you will be given a final report and you have to save or print it out for your own records. For further detailed information of the application procedure, you can check it out here: http://www.aal.hku.hk/admissions/international/admissions-information?page=application-procedures

You may be called for an interview or test at any time after submission of the application. This means hat not all applicants are required to attend an interview or test and not all programmes conduct these assessments; being invited to an interview or test is not an indicator of the chance of admission. You will be notified by the Faculty / Programme Office individually of the arrangements for any interview or test, if applicable.

You will be informed by e-mail if you are offered admission to the University and you are required to pay a deposit of HK$10,000 upon your acceptance of the offer by the date specified in the offer letter or the offer will be withdrawn automatically. You can also view your application status using your registered application account. Candidates should consider their application as unsuccessful if they do not hear from the University by the end of August 2016. What you have to note is that all documents will not be returned once submitted, and will be destroyed if the application is unsuccessful.

I myself have almost done my online application form until today. I just have to upload some supporting documents and write and essay about my interest of studying in Hong Kong University. Here is my current Final Report:

https://extranet.hku.hk/admission/servlet/ReportServlet/previewFinalReport

Sighs, this is real hard to do :( but I like it anyway and I am very enthusiastic for this!! Well, just wish me luck, buddies! :)

Source:

http://www.aal.hku.hk/admissions/international/admissions-information

http://www.aal.hku.hk/admissions/documents/General%20Information%20and%20Instructions_IAS_NJ.pdf

Dream Job of Mine

HIII!!! Wow, I am excited for this post because the topic is what I have waited since long long ago... yes, it's about my dream job!! Okay, let's just start it now.

Hmm, talking about dream job, I have always dreamed about being a doctor since I was a kid. I used to had no idea what kind of doctor I would like to be, but by time I finally have decided that I want to be a dentist. To tell you the truth, many people asked me, "Why a dentist?" "Why should dentistry?" "Why not medical school and planning to be a doctor instead of dentist?" OK, to those who was ever asked me one of (or maybe all) the questions above, I will answer all of it now.

My reasons are actually simple. First of all, in my opinion, to be a doctor, someone will take a long period of time for the study only. And in this era, I don't think becoming a doctor with a bachelor's degree is a good idea because nowadays specialist doctors seem to be more needed by the patients. I didn't say that the general doctors isn't needed, but if you also assume being a doctor as your livelihood, then I think being a specialist doctor is better and it definitely will take longer time for you to finish your medical study. Meanwhile, if you want to be a dentist, then you just have to go to dentistry and it may take shorter period of time to finish the study, or may be vise versa if you're too lazy. The point is, no matter how long it would take, if you only finish the bachelor degree, you can be a dentist and make it as your livelihood without taking any specialist study, because unlike medical school, basically dental school has aimed or specialized its major since the beginning. However, if you want to continue your dental study, then it would be beneficial because you might earn more... hehe

Second, as a soon-to-be woman, I obviously think about my future life. If I already have my own family, I want to have a job without disregarding my responsibility of taking care of my family. So, I think being a dentist is one of the most suitable job for women because you can manage your time between the practice schedule and taking care of family well.

I'm pretty sure that some of you who read this might disagree with my opinions above. Well, I don't mind it, of course... but I just want you to know that this writing isn't purely my opinions. On the contrary, I have asked some dentist I knew; my mother's friend, my aunt's friend, my dentist who takes care of my teeth, my neighbor who is also a dentist, and other dentists I have met. So, I can say that those opinions are pretty legit ;)

Oh, and just to emphasize... if some of you also think that I assume being a dentist as a livelihood only, nah, then you're totally wrong, because my main reason for dreaming to be a doctor or dentist is because I want to help people to have better health levels. And if it is possible, I even want to help unwealthy people with health problems (especially mouth and dental problems) by giving them free treatment in the future... However, someone must think about his/her livelihood and consider about the earnings too, am I right? ✌

So, yeah, that's my dream job and the supporting reasons as well! What about yours? :)

In God We Trust - Ranti Aryani: Merentang Hijab dari Indonesia sampai Amerika

You might find this book quite boring just by taking a look at the cover because it's sort of too formal and stiff; well, it is, for me. I like to read an autobiography novels, but this one is the most rigid. However, it is a good autobiography written by Ranti Aryani, who was a former military officer in USA. It was first published in 2013 and told us about her ups and downs during the struggle to maintain her hijab back then.

Ranti Aryani, an Indonesian muslim, who was born and raised in Bogor, lived happily and well as the only daughter out of the other 3 brothers, which made her was so close with her dad and mom. Her childhood was sadly introduced with legal issues due to the company's problem faced by her mother. By time, more problems had come to her childhood life and slowly disrupted it. That's what started her to try to find out the meaning of life. Then she met someone who inspired her to learn more about her religion, and made her to attend a pesantren in between her busyness of studying at school. Her first struggle was when she decided to wear hijab when she'd started her study at SMPN IV Bogor. But, wearing hijab wasn't as easy as she thought before; instead, she had to undergo her early teenage life hard because at that time (in Soeharto's era) hijab was strongly prohibited to wear by the government. She and some of her friends kept their hijab at school, and finally they were permitted to wear it freely.

The struggle hadn't ended yet; after she got her bachelor degree in Indonesia and married to an American muslim, she had to move to the USA with his husband due to Indonesia's monetary crisis on 1998. Her struggle was much harder since the incident of WTC attack on September 11, 2001 was happened when she had moved to America--which caused the discrimination for Muslims was worse. In there, she also continued her study and enrolled for military officer (as a dentist). Still, it didn't get easier for her to get in there just because the matter of her hijab, though at the end she finally got accepted as a military dentist. Moreover, she got the Dental Corp Captain military rank there. Unfortunately, her 14 months of devotion in USAF should be passed by terrible discrimination because of the same reason.

All the storms that kept coming to her life made her realize that she should understand every lessons given by Allah swt. through those rain and storms. She then found a great man who led her to know herself better, and her understanding made her to feel and see that all of the problems in her life was the form of God's affection for her to make herself be a better human being and to teach her to have stronger soul for facing the future life.

Truthfully, sorry to say this again, I find this book quite boring, but once again it's a very good writing especially for those who are interested in religious or spiritual stories because this book is dominated by Mrs. Ranti's spiritual adventure. I'm actually not that kind of person, but I'm interested in this book because I like her adventure in America while struggling with her hijab through the hard discrimination there. It has inspired me to be brave to keep my hijab no matter how hard the storms try to ruin it.

So, are you as much interested in this story as mine? :)

A Few Words about Peace

Well, hi, everyone. It's been a while since my last writing, and uhm... yeah, I have postponed this assignment for a month (or more, perhaps), so for the sake of having my grades increased... I'm gonna finish this right now. ((I really apologize Mrs. Wiwin for this case))

OK, so, today's topic is PEACE. Hm... I bet each of you must have different opinions about that word. Some of you may think about Palestinians whose rights is taken away by the Israels, or maybe you'd imagine the situation where there is no any fights nor bullied kids in a school, and so on.

Peace, to me, is the condition or situation when there is no violence, no war, no hypocrites around, happiness is spread everywhere, and where everybody just feel... peaceful, and have calm minds. However, I think it is kind of hard to have such peaceful lives like what we have imagined in today's life, isn't it? Well, let's take a look at this quotes first:

Yes, it is absolutely true what the quotes above said; we can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves. Let's back to our previous talks. It is hard to find a peace in today's life. The war between Palestine and Israel and bullied kids at schools (as I said before), social, economic, and political problems in a country, and many more have made peace seem vague. Even us, as students, hardly feel the peace because of several reasons that comes from school, such as overload tasks, daily test, high standard of minimum grades for each subjects, etc. Moreover, we might think that this life is full of problems that we hardly be peaceful. Now, let's go back to the quotes above. The fact is, we make ourselves as the keys. It is our minds, it is what we do that determine whether we'd be peaceful or vise versa. If we think that school is stressful, then it would be stressful; and it would bring less peace to our lives. If we think a lot about something that might be a big problem for us, without even try to solve it, then it would also bring much burden in life. Instead, we should face our problems not only with such deep thoughts about it--which just make us be more stressful and frustrated-- but also with an act to solve it as well. Or, the simple thing to do is actually to suggest our own minds, our own selves, to not make so many things as a burden or is stressing for us. Truthfully, I myself ain't those kind of individual I said above, but let's we try together to be so. Perhaps, after that, we will be more peaceful and by that we can obtain peace in our circumstances, like what is said in the quotes by Dalai Lama.

Great Leader, Great Characteristics

As social human beings, we definitely do not live alone but in groups. And every group of people, or let's say, every community or organization must need a person to lead the others in their surroundings, which is normally called as leader. A leader is not only responsible of leading and guiding the members and taking care of them, but also a "role model" the members would look up to. This means one should has good characteristics to be a good leader in order to lead the organization well, some of them are commitment, good communication skill, honesty, trusty, and wisdom.

First of all, commitment. Without good commitment, a leader won't be able to lead well. A strong commitment is needed to make the leader being loyal to the organization. If a leader's commitment is just too weak, means that he/she isn't that loyal, how can he/she lead and guide the members to have good commitment and be loyal to the organization as well?

Second, it is certainly necessary for a good leader to be good at communicating with others, especially with the members. It will make the relationship between leader and members become closer and friendlier, and it is very helpful to build stronger kinship in the organization that will make the people in it feel more comfortable.

Honesty is super important characteristic ones should have, especially for someone who wants to be a good leader. When a leader is responsible to a group of people, he/she obviously has that one goal to change the group or organization to be better than before. And in the progress, you reflect your members and the organization as well. So, if you make honest one of the "key" for it, then the members will follow suit.

Trusty doesn't only mean that a leader must be able to be trusted, but it does also mean that a leader must trust his/her team. If a leader divide the group into small groups where each small group has its own function, then a leader should be able to delegate the organization's tasks to the appropriate "small part" of the group. It will be very organized and efficient, but if the leader doesn't learn to trust others, it might obstruct the progress of the tasks to be done, or even worse; the leader might be stressed by this condition and cause the organization to start having problems.

And the last one is about wisdom. Of course, a good leader is the wise one. In every group of people, there must be problems. A leader's responsibility, in this case, is to decide the best solution to solve it. Imagine if someone, as a leader, doesn't that wise to decide things, how would they be able to solve their problems? Wisdom is also needed to build justice between the people in it. And if a leader is wise, the members will respect him/her, won't they?

In brief, to be a good leader, someone should have at least those characteristics that are explained above because the characteristics reflect the whole organization someone leads. If you behave good then the group you lead will also be good, and vice versa. It obviously means other people can see what kind of human being you are. So, having good characteristics since today is absolutely necessary because even though you have no chance to lead a group of people, at least you become the leader of your own self.

References:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/

https://www.google.co.id/search?q=leadership+quotes&rlz=1C1UXZO_enID490ID490&espv=2&biw=1024&bih=537&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI3b6b_vvnxwIVxSmUCh0m6AD0#imgrc=LdxjlL9tsB9AOM%3A

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! :)