Thank You Alfamart

I talked to Sir Irwan this afternoon. I told him about my Pre Departure Orientation (PK) which will be held around January, taken place in Jakarta for about more than a week.
In personal, Sir Irwan will absolutely give me a permission to go. Yet, according to the company rules, I will be a hundred percent not permitted.

I realized this would be the end of my journey in PT. Sumber Alfaria Trijaya, Tbk.
A year ago, when I applied for this job, I never thought I would come this far. Being in this company for almost two years is really surprising. First I thought I would not survive, then I always had terrible feeling that I did not have enough capability to be in this big company. A little me. Finally I can prove the people around that I can do something bigger than I usually did before. Being a branch trainer, the pioneer in Pontianak Branch, from 7th until 8th grade in a year and admitted as a fixed employee within 6 months, taking responsible for 115 stores in Kalbar which has about 800 employees, and has joined a selection among 9 trainers all regions for the trainer in Philipine (though I was not selected).
 
These past two years have been very incredible.

I am not good at saying goodbyes. I don’t know how to say goodbye to my office- mates, especially Sir Irwan. He is not just my manager. He is a father and a best friend. He always supports me in every condition. I remember one morning when I got caught by Sir Rhenaldi for not being there in morning briefing and Sir Irwan was the one convincing him that I did not come late. He had to work hard when arguing with Sir Rhenaldi just to avoid me signing my name in the list of “Employees That Did Not Join The Morning Briefing” (or in other words, “Employees That Come Late”).

I don’t know where else I could find that kind of manager.

He teaches me to be a leader. A leader is always there for his or her followers, no matter what the condition. He also teaches me to be an optimistic. He said, “Saying optimistic words is another way of uttering prayers.”

LPDP Scholarship Final Announcement

It was 4.30 pm something and I just finished Training for the Intermediate Crew in the office when my phone vibrated. I opened it and..... there was an email from LPDP. I viewed it, read it very carefully.

I WAS ACCEPTED.

Tears streaming down my face. I couldn’t bare it. It was the most beautiful and heartshocking email I’ve ever got in my life these past few years.

Thank you ALLAH SWT. You made it possible for me to make my dream comes true. Thank you Mom, for always taking care of me and praying for me.
Thank you Dad, for being my greatest hero all the time.
Thank you Abang, for always being there for me.

I am so grateful. There is no sincere words that can describe     what I truly feel at this moment.
I realize I am not perfect. I know that nobody’s perfect. But, many times I feel that I am really far from perfection. I have lots of weaknesses. I make mistakes every day. One thing that I am so thankful for is that I am always surrounded by good people. Allah always brings me, directs me to the right people and right place. I believe Allah always guides me home everywhere I go, makes me never gets lost. I believe in Allah, and what He planned for me in Lauhul Mahfudz.

Getting this scholarship brings me to realize I have a big responsibility. Allah has put His trust in me. I will always try to do my best. I know there’s still lots of challenges ahead and all I need is just Allah, to be with me all the time.

LPDP Interview, October 11th - 13th in UNJ

I arrived in Soekarno Hatta International Airport with my cousin, Riana Dwi Agustin. We went to PGC with a damri bus and we separated there. She went to her dorm and I would continue my journey to East Jakarta. I needed to find Universitas Negeri Jakarta (UNJ) and a place to stay for a couple of days. I planned to book a room in Wisma UNJ soon after I found the Brigjen Latief Hadiningrat Hall which spotted in Dewi Sartika floor 2, UNJ, a place where I would be interviewed for my LPDP scholarship. That was what I planned. Yet, sometimes, what we planned did not go as the way we wanted to be. When I got there, I realized my phone beeped and I looked at the BBM message. It was from Ella, Riza’s friend who was taking her master in UNJ. She told me that there was no room left in Wisma UNJ.

I realized I had to find another hotel or wherever place to stay. I got confused. While thinking in a taxi, I looked out the window and saw the crowd of UNJ students. I felt grateful because I finally got here. This place would be the history for my life adventure. This would be the place to struggle my biggest dream. 

This place was the first time I met Ella Anugrarista, a very kind friend who was beside me, and the nearest supporter when I went through the selection process. She took me to the spot where I saw a lot of intellectual people struggling for their own future. In LPDP selection process I met many great people (though I did not talk much at that time, I just observed them). First test we had to have was writing essay about certain topics. There were 3 topic options to choose, and I chose about “People who gain money through online job”. The second test was LGD (Leaderless Group Discussion), there we had to discuss about a topic related to religion conflict in Papua. The last test was the interview. In this interview, there were three interviewers.

Below are the summary of their questions.

First interviewer generally asked me about my future plans and research in Lancaster University.

1. Tell me about you and your study plans.

2. What is literature?

3. Why do you choose Lancaster University?

Second interviewer asked me about my current activities and my contribution to society.

1. What do you do now? What is your job?

2. What have you done to society around or community you have joined?

3. What did you do in United States? (Since I told them I had been there..)

Third interviewer asked me about the possibilities that may happen if I am accepted.

1. If you get this scholarship, what will you do after you come back to home country?

2. Are you planning to have part- time job there?

3. If in some cases something wrong happened in home country while you were studying, would you leave your study?

The interview ran smoothly. I was very happy and relaxed at that moment. We were just like having chit- chat.

That was the end of the selection process. I had given my best, and the result would come out on December 10th. Thank you for today ya Allah. Now I will let You do the rest.

Rani, my second self.

Nurhairani Alviana. Dipanggil Rani. Branch Finance Staff di SAT Pontianak. Kenal dia pertama kali, gara- gara kita satu kontrakan waktu di Cikokol, Tangerang. Dari awal kenal udah kerasa ni anak easy going banget. Easy going buat Tia yaa karena kita punya hobi yang hampir sama: sering males mandi. Kalo udah siang baru mandi. Kita juga males gerak kalo udah di kontrakan, tapi kalo udah urusan jalan- jalan, baru deh paling cepet responnya. Dia anak yang gak perlu waktu lama untuk bisa akrab sama orang. She is pretty, attractive and fun. 

Rani termasuk orang yang gak malu buat mengekspresikan apa yang dia rasain. Dia selalu tampil dengan apa adanya dia. Dia lakukan apapun sesuai kehendak hati dia, sesuai dengan apa yang buat dia ngerasa nyaman. Karena dia selalu ngerasa nyaman sama dirinya sendiri, itu juga yang buat orang lain ngerasa nyaman kalo di dekat dia. 

We love to share many things; about love, our feelings, and our future. We believe in fairy tales and always dream to live a ‘happily ever after’ life. Sosok suami impian kita ibarat seorang pangeran berkuda putih yang bakal menyelamatkan kita dari sebuah istana yang penuh drama. Terkadang hidup kami memang agak drama, dalam artian, kita selalu memaknai setiap detail dalam hidup sebagai sebuah filosofi yang berharga. Kita selalu belajar dari setiap pengalaman dan tidak menganggap remeh setiap kesalahan. Drama kami adalah drama dalam artian positif, tidak ngerugiin orang tapi terkadang cukup membuat ribet diri sendiri. Yah, itulah kami. Makanya dalam hal pencarian jodoh kami menghindari cowok yang banyak drama. Cukup sudah drama itu di diri kita aja. Gak mau kan kalo sifat dramatis yang ada di diri kita jadi kuadrat.

Senengnya ada Rani, walaupun dia lebih muda dalam hal umur tapi pemikirannya jauh lebih dewasa. Sejalan juga sama dia yang selama ini udah terbiasa hidup mandiri, jauh dari orang tua, dan terbiasa ngerjain apa- apa sendiri. Someone told me kalo kita uda terbiasa jauh dari orang tua, kita bakal mendewasa lebih cepet. And it was right.

Rani, salah satu orang terbaik di SAT Pontianak. Ramahnya, ketawanya, manjanya, gokilnya, isengnya, dan meweknya, khas banget. Hal- hal itu yang mungkin bakal Tia kangenin banget dari dia.

Nurhairani Alviana. Dipanggil Rani. Mulai besok, akan jadi Branch Finance Staff di Balaraja. Dia bakal berangkat malam ini ninggalin Pontianak, buat merantau ke branch baru. We’re gonna miss you so much, Rani. Thanks for everything you share, for everything you give and everything you do. You have no idea how precious you are. Keep being you and never stops to do good and spread happiness around you. Take care my second self, we’re gonna meet again. See you. We love you.

Harm and Good of Stereotype

“Don’t judge the book by its cover.” When people go to the book store and try to find some books, they usually have already had some opinions and suggestions about what books they are going to buy. Their decisions really depend on what people say about the books. Others will take a look at their outlook like the covers, pictures, colors, titles, or authors. Meanwhile, the rest will figure out what topic they find interesting and explore it by themselves without considering their covers and others’ opinion about it. Those cases similarly happen  with stereotype. What is stereotype? Based on an online source, it is believed that “A stereotype is a generalization of one thing. Anything can be stereotyped.” (Chan). Why people stereotype and how people look at stereotype? Next explanation will be focused on how stereotypes affect people in daily life, whether harmfully or positively.

Negative stereotype may cause bad perceptions and the ignorance of people to accomplish new things. It can be done by two different ways; accidentally and on purpose. When it happened accidentally, sometimes the stereotypes are brought by people who know less and are not directly involved in such situations. For example, someone watches the movie about Saudi Arabia where people ride camels instead of cars, then they will create an idea that people in Saudi Arabia do not have cars. Therefore, stereotypes created on purpose mean that there are some particular groups who develop wrong ideas about something. Stangor’s argument agreed that people use stereotypes to simplify something about others and to build their own perception and groups to which they belong. (Bower)

However, some reasons may indicate that stereotypes can bring and  guide people before deciding something. This is called a positive stereotype. Stereotypes can increase people’s knowledge about something and anticipate some bad things that possibly occur. For instance, if some people say that Arizona is a place where everybody brings guns, then they must be aware to not go out late at night, especially women. Besides, stereotypes are also used to mark something becomes an identity to make it easier to remember. “Such generalizations are necessary: in order to be able to interact effectively, we must have some idea of what people are likely to be like, which behaviors will be considered acceptable, which not. “ (Livetext) 

Some stereotypes could be considered acceptable if it doesn’t harass human’s right and freedom. People will stereotype because people are always thinking, they like to generalize ideas and stigmatize something. As long as it is used in positive ways, then stereotypes can be an effective way to help people interact with other communities. According to a research project in multicultural education, “What can be done to deal with negative stereotypes: the key to reversing negative stereotypes is to contradict them, in direct interactions between people, in the media, and through education.” (Livetext). It means although some negative stereotypes spread among people, but still can be conquered. 

To conclude, stereotypes is an interesting term to be discussed among people. It all depends to every single person on how they deal with it. Whether positive or negative, stereotypes is part of humanity culture. It is a natural way of human to express their thinking and opinions. Yet, stereotypes is also an interesting field to be studied further. Studying about stereotype makes us more creative to explore the other side of the world.   

Procrastination, Habit or Situation?

　　　　As many people study and work in different fields of study, they become very busy and exhausted of their everyday activities. Some people only focus on studying, some people only focus on working, and there are some people who do both studying and working. As a consequence, these people will always have homework or a project that should have been done on a due date. All their grades or qualities really depend on how they manage their time to be punctual to the due date of their work. Nowadays, many of these people can’t avoid the best enemy in their homework: procrastination. By identifying what are the causes that overcome the procrastination, the procrastinators may find the solution on how they can minimize it.  There are two basic factors that often cause procrastination, internal factors and external factors.

　　　　The first factor is internal factor.  It means the cause of the procrastination comes from the willingness of the people themselves.  They do it because they enjoy doing it.  Furthermore, there may be two reasons why they enjoy it.  The first reason because they think they can handle it in a short period of time since it is too easy, so they become lazy.  Their perception is that the homework is less important than their video games, television or ipod.  Another is due to the paradigm of working best under pressure.  It indicates that people cannot think clearly and accurately if it is still long times before its due.  These kinds of people are used to stimulating their minds to work faster and better under pressure, in this case, time pressure.  It is better to decide which reason the procrastinators are currently in before taking a look at another factor.

　　　　The second factor of procrastination is the external factor.  An external factor is the factor that comes from the environment or situation. Most of the causes can be from friends and family.  Those are two most intimate relationships around people.  This type of procrastination appears because the procrastinators are easy- influenced people.  If they meet their friends who are on the way to the movie while they are working on a research paper, then they will postpone their work easily.  As a result, the procrastination occurs and it happens again and again until the final due.  From a family perspective, the majority of procrastinators confess that their parents or siblings ask them to do something like cleaning, doing house works or just relaxing with other family members, simply called as an obligation.  Sometimes it makes the procrastinators frustrated but at the same time they have to respect their family.  It has been clearly stated that friends and family have a big influence on the procrastinators.

　　　　Procrastination can be a serious problem if it happens many times.  Besides requiring to work harder and in a rush, it also affects brain to create it as a habit.  Once the habit has begun, then it will be very difficult to resist. In addition, not all of the procrastinators can finish their work completely, many of them just finish it in order to catch the due date without doing their best in accomplishing it.  It can decrease productivity as human resources.  And if people want to find some jobs to achieve success, they have to convince others that they are trustful, punctual, and wise.

　　　　In brief, whether procrastination comes as habit or just the situation, it is not something that people can be proud of.  It is a bad thing that people must avoid as soon as possible.  If the housework can be done right now, why wait until tomorrow?  Use time wisely, because it is the most precious thing that cannot be repeated. 

Hello AB!

I was still surprised that I could be a part of AKU BELAJAR. Eka, Jannah and I were accepted in Program Division, together with Kak Elisa and Kak Dwi. What a pride. Eka and I were very happy. Tonight was our first meeting, well.. actually it is more like a gathering to greet new members. The gathering spotted in Kak Susi’s house. We were served by donuts and bakwan lawit. I didn’t eat any of them. Maybe because I was too excited so I did not really care about the food. All boards of AB were there, except Olidd and Bang Sony. 

They told us a glimpse of being in Aku Belajar managements, which actually have faced a lot of good and bad times together.

If I can put in words what did they advice, as below;

“Just speak out what’s it in our minds, do not get afraid to give ideas, always keep in touch in online discussion, together we can make AB gets better” (#claps)

Brahma, an Ecsentric Boy

There is always a story behind every training. I realize, being a trainer, has given me many meaningful memories. If only I had much time, I would have written all their stories and experiences, and also our training activities.
This evening was the last day training of batch August 5th, 2015. We had this one boy, named Brahma, who is very unique. His uniqueness has brought much cheers in our class. He likes to be the spot of attention. Once I asked him to sing in front of us, he came right away. He sang one of the most famous dangdut songs, “Sakitnya tuh disini..” and then he acted like a professional model with a song from Taylor Swift, “22”. He also had a crush in the class named Wida. This girl he liked was pretty and nice. Unfortunately it seemed that she was not attracted to him.

Study or Career

On July 30th, on the bed, I checked on my email through the phone and found something quite surprising. It was from FASS (Faculty of Social Sciences) Admissions Team, Lancaster University. They told me that I officially got the Offer Letter to study at Lancaster University. A conditional LOA.

Wow.

I ran to my computer and quickly printed the letter. Finally, after a quite long time waiting for the LOA, I got one of the required documents to apply for the LPDP scholarship. The letter said that I got the offer for the Full Time program started on October 2016 in English Language and Literary Studies major. Since it is still conditional, so I need to take IELTS test as the prove for my language proficiency. English universities nowadays do not require TOEFL for the admission requirements. 

The next day I registered for IELTS test in Sun Edu. The fee for the test is Rp 2.750.000,00. I have made the commitment to pay for the fee by myself. I am saving money now to make sure I can join the test. I hope for the best that I can achieve 6.5 points. It is the standard for Lancaster University as well as LPDP scholarship. 

On the other hand, I also got the offer from my two beloved Managers, Sir Hengky (Alfamart Pontianak Branch Manager) and Sir Irwan (People Development Manager) to be sent to Filipine as the representative trainer. The head office was looking for the trainer that has worked in the company for at least a year, has good proficiency in English both written and spoken, and got the permission from the manager, which all pointed at me. 

When I asked my parents and my best friends about this, none of them said no. Everybody just cherished me to go. 

“This is the chance!” 

“Tia, you always dream to use English for your work. What are you waiting for?”

“The salary is good~”

“When you come back home, a manager will be your suitable position”

“It will look great on your CV”

“Filipine is beautiful for its beach”

Well, what if I say,

“Lancaster University probably has Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter...”

On August 7th I will be called for an interview in Head Office, Tangerang. I decided to go and let Allah guides me. Whatever happens, I have asked Allah’s permission, I had istigharah prayer, I involved Allah in my decision. I will still apply for the scholarship, and until the result is announced, I will try for the Filipine. 

Exhausted

Here I am in 30 minutes left before my preparation to go to work. Now I’m listening to the Yellowcard - Only One.

Trying to forget all things related to work. I am loaded by lots of things right now. Related to my job in Human Capital division, I don’t know whether I can survive in the company I’m working now. There’s just many things I can’t handle all alone. (Sum 41 - With Me)

I don’t like complaining, even in my own writing. 

I promise to handle it as best as I can do. I believe I was put here for a reason. To fix things that ain’t right. 

Enjoyment in Heaven

Just had a night shower soon after I got home. Today was a bussssyyyy day... Since morning, I was in the office preparing all the documents for tomorrow’s training. Tomorrow will be the first Basic Skill Store Crew Training as a Selection. Yeah, started tomorrow, my department (Learning & Development Dept) will be the decision maker, deciding whether or not the applicants can be the Alfamart’s employees, or in this case, store crews or assistant chief of stores. Quite much to do, yet it’s challenging. Can’t wait for tomorrow. 

Today was also Au’s birthday. Ayu Meliasari. Wish her all the best. We gathered in Au’s house after I finished work. I was invited via BBM. Ui, Kak Uci, Cika, Melti and I came to her house and we had so much fun. Meeting college friends after a “long time no see” makes you realize how much your life has changed. However, it does not change the way we tease each other, or in other words, teasing me. I always become the subject of teasing. I don’t know why. But I’m glad to see they laugh. Isn’t it great to make people happy because of us?

Last night, when we were in our liqo’, we talked about the enjoyment we would get in heaven. Kak Yessi said that even in the lowest state of heaven, each of us would get 80 maids who will take care of us and fulfill all of our requests. In heaven, there is no old woman since all women will be forever young and beautiful. Even the prettiest angels will be jealous to women who enter the paradise. There, we will not get bored. Forever happy.

But, how to get there?

Yes, the enjoyment of Paradise is surrounded by many difficult things. It is related with problems, trials, sadness, sorrows and patience.If there is no such things, then the paradise will lose its value. 

Nothing Lasts Forever

This morning is one of the best weekends I ever had. Simple, not going anywhere, had nothing to catch for deadlines, still on my bed, got a glass of warm chocolate milk made by my mother and on top of all, pouring rain. My happiness. This happiness leads me to open up my laptop and write. 

When I looked out the window, I realized something about time. Time, the most precious thing a human in this world has, sometimes distracting. When you are enjoying a moment so bad, you feel like you don’t wanna move. You just want to stand up there, freeze the moment and enjoying every second of the time. Yeah, every second of the time, which means that the moment is not standing still. The moment keeps going, so does the time. 

I was thinking, why can’t we stop the time for the moment we enjoy the most? So there is no ticks in every second. I just want the watch stops everytime I got my most favorite moments. 

Maybe this can be the answer:               Nothing lasts forever.

We still live in this world, which is just for a while, like a bus stop. It is not a destination, it is a test. It is just passing by. Our real destinations are either heaven, or hellfire. I always remember one quote that once said by my trainee, “Living in this world is like water that flows in our throats, just a while, very fast.” Eternity only belongs to Allah, and eternity for us, is in the here after.

KUCHING TRIP: With Ceu and Yuni

Pontianak, February 18th 2015

This is the day I’ve been waiting for. Tonight, Yuni, Ceu and I are planning to go to Kuching. We have booked the bus for Pontianak- Kuching and Kuching- Pontianak costs Rp 350.000,00. The bus is named Sri Merah. Quite funny for a bus since the color of the bus is not red. I just wonder why did the owner named it as Sri Merah. We also booked a 3 persons- room for 3 nights since two weeks ago in City Inn, a hotel near Waterfront. 

Actually this is the trip we have planned when we’re still in university. Right now each of us has the “S.Pd” after each of our names and a trip to Kuching is the top of our “celebrating struggle”.  No doubt this will be our first trip together abroad and we’re so excited about that. Honestly this is not just the trip for me, Yuni and Ceu, it’s supposed to be Cleptoner’s trip. Yeah, cleptoners consists of Chika, Zee, Kak Pu, Melti, Okta, Linda, Nemi, Yuni, Ce and me. 

Yet, the rest of us have their own barriers. If we put it off again, we’re afraid we won’t make it.

So, after I took a day off from office and asked for permission from my parents, we decided to go without them. Sad thing actually.

But we have to do it before we get more “HAWE”. Cleptoners is famous for its “HAWE-Ness”. So for the first time in forever we wanted to prove that Cleptoners is not HAWE at all. (to be continued~)