"Mistake"

"I grow up making mistakes. I grow up trying to fix it. I grow up learning from it. Mistake is my faithful friend."
- I do something. I make mistakes. I regret it. I get down. I realize. I learn.
- I do it again. I don’t make mistake. I do better. I learn.
- I do it again. I do much better. I enjoy it. I learn.
- I do it again. I do great. I get used to it. I master. I learn. =)
THAT’S CALLED A PROCESS.

Laskar Liansipi from SMPN 1 Mandor (KKN Part 2)

At the end of our activities, we decided to hold a fellowship night to present some entertainments which were performed mostly by the students. And one of the performances was English drama. I and Ery (our team leader which was also an English teacher) were responsible for this.
Seriously, when we got this idea, I still worried about the students. I was thinking, “they were still really beginners, even they had poor pronunciation, how could they memorize and even perform conversations in English?” Those thoughts echoed in my mind and some of my friends even brought me down. They said it was impossible! I was really frustated.
But luckily, we had Ery Ermawan there. He was the one who supported me and convinced me that we could do it together.
Then about three weeks before the fellowship night, I started to choose the students. I made a kind of selection and I got 7 students; Ari (as Ikal), Ichwan (as Lintang), Yano (as Mr. Harfan and mail man), Joko (as Harun), Iyan (as Meme), Fitri (as Ms Muslimah), and Essa (as prolog and Lintang’s sister).
We decided to perform the drama entitled “LASKAR LIANSIPI” that I performed previously with my friends entitled “F.R.I.E.N.D.S” which was adapted from Laskar Pelangi. Because of the limited number of the students who joined the selection, we decided to add the participants into twelve and they were; Heru (as Mahar), Mutia (as MC), Jenny and Yeni (as the students from SD Pelita Harapan), and the youngest was Nisa (Lintang’s youngest sister), our neighbor’s daughter who was still eight years old.
They were the eight- graders of Junior High School 1 in Mandor and they really have a GREAT SPIRIT to perform the English Drama.
At the end, two weeks of practice……………… their pronunciations were getting better and they could act like the real movie stars! :D
Saturday, March 31, the fellowship night was held and they could perform almost perfect! From scale 1- 10, I could say they got 9! Although with no microphones clip on, they still could manage their English and kept concentrating on their memorization.

They made my day, my month, my year! The time I spent with them was really precious and I would never forget that! Their spirit to learn and their efforts to make things better are impressive. I LOVE THEM. I love Laskar Liansipi.
From that experience I learned that we must be sure of ourselves and do not underestimate something. We never know what people have inside themselves. Everybody has their own strength and weakness. But it what makes them unique and special. Sometimes one doesn’t know what ability they have inside. And especially for teachers, it has been their duty to look over their students deeper than others to motivate them, convince them, and keep their spirits on fire so they can show up their hidden- abilities well.

Berguru di Tanah Liansipi, We Teach, and We Learn (KKN Part 1)

This is the story of my experience when I was having KKN (obligatory social action internship for advanced university students) in a countryside called Liansipi, Mandor Regency started February 17 - April 4.There we lived in a building named PNPM (Program Nasional Pemberdayaan Masyarakat).
In KKN, what we have to do is that we have to serve the society around the village based on their needs. And there, after we did some observations, we found that the people were no longer left behind.
They were already prosperous and had realized the importance of education. It could be said they lived in a developed district supported by the amount of their latex forest and gold. Yes, Mandor is famous for its gold. Many of the inhabitants work as miners. But still, the education facility was still low, especially the teachers.
That was why we were there. We decided to be the education facility for them, to transfer the spirit of the students in learning. We made a free course of all subjects for elementary students and a special English course.
At the first time, the English course was only focused on the elementary students because we found that English was not taught in elementary school (we wanted to introduce English to them before they went to junior high), but surprisingly the participants also came from junior high school students.
So, every Monday and Tuesday our camp was crowded by the children around the countryside. They came to learn and they were so excited. We were very happy to teach them. We had one hour for the all- subjects course, and one additional one hour for special English course. All- subjects course we did in our camp, and English course in SDN 33 Liansipi (another school bulding).
What we learned was that the students were really enjoyed to learn. They came REALLY on time. Can you imagine, the course started on 14.00 WIB, but they already came since 12.30 WIB. We really appreciated that, something we rarely found in Pontianak city. They really respect us. We miss that moment.

"Lost and Found"

In some public places in US, there’s an area in the buildings where you can look for things that you lost or give things you found that aren’t yours.
I didn’t know this place existed until I lost my watch in the food stall at campus (@MemorialUnion). That watch was a gift from my sister-in-law and that was the only watch I had when I was in US. FYI, I really depend on that watch. In US, “Time is Money” is not just merely a quote. I learned this when I took a bus and light rail to go to campus. This was the most frustating thing I had. Everyday, waiting for the bus and if you came late even for one single minute, you’d miss it and you had to wait for another 15 minutes and come late to class and automatically miss the quiz and unfortunately lose your credits.. *sigh* But it’s a good thing. Teaching us to be ON TIME, right? :)
About this watch, I really didn’t know what to do until I told about my problem to one of my American friends, she was Rizma’s convos partner. She then told me about this place around campus.The place where you might find the things you lost.
I wasn’t sure I could find my watch, but when I came over I just saw it. Right on the table and the lady who kept that place was pleased to give me back what belonged to me. She said somebody found it in the restroom and brought it here. I couldn’t be happier than that.
So, I guess this place is really impressive. I wish I could have it in my country. Where you don’t have to worry in case you lose your stuff or if you find something that doesn’t belong to you. By that, you will know where to go. :)

"What are you?"

If you look up to the sky, you have’ll no idea how small you are compared to the universe.
Above it, there’s hundred satellites with thousand galaxies, million planets and more than billion stars.
You are a small living thing stays under the brimless sky filled with air supported by water surrounded by other animate creatures and standing on a firm marvelous massive ball called Earth.
"It is He Who has spread out the earth for (His) creatures. And the earth hath He appointed for (His) creatures. And the earth, He has set it for living creatures." (Ar- Rahman, 55:10)
"Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?" (Ar- Rahman)
Can you imagine how special you are?
If you have nothing to do in your life, just look up to the sky and think, “What am I doing here?” “What am I?”
Then figure it out.
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You are created in this life “On Purpose”. If you have understood enough the purpose of your living, then there’s no use being sad, confused or even hopeless. If you have known “who and what are you” then there’s nothing you can do beside always be GRATEFUL.