Book Review: Melipat Jarak

source: www.goodreads.com

I got a really interesting book from my best friend for my birthday, it is titled as Melipat Jarak by Sapardi Djoko Damono. It consists of the poems made by Sapardi from 1998-2015, that's why it is titled as Melipat Jarak, meaning folding the distance.

I always love the poem made by Sapardi, the most famous poems are probably Hujan Bulan Juni and Aku Ingin Mencintaimu dengan Sederhana. So, when I got this book as a present, I got really excited! There are many poems in the book, my favorite there is Sajak-Sajak Kecil tentang Cinta. 

SAJAK-SAJAK KECIL TENTANG CINTA

/1/

mencintai angin

harus menjadi siut

mencintai air

harus menjadi ricik

mencintai gunung

harus menjadi terjal

mencintai api

harus menjadi jilat

/2/

mencintai cakrawala

harus menebas jarak

/3/

mencintai-Mu

harus menjelma aku

(translated)

Little Poems about Love

/1/

to love the wind

has to be rustle

to love the mountain

has to be steep

to love the fire

has to be lick

/2/

to love the horizon

has to slash the distance

/3/

to love You

has to become me

The poem, in my opinion, is a kind of admiration to God. That to love Him, people need to be themselves. My favorite poem is still Hujan Bulan Juni, though, but that doesn't mean this book isn't good.

I really suggest this book for those who love poems or those who are really interested in learning Indonesian literature. The book is the compilation of contemporary poems made by Sapardi Djoko Damono, one of the most famous poet in this era. Enjoy!

Education to Build a Better Future for All

source: www.thisissierraleone.com

Education, according to Oxford Dictionary, is the theory and practice of teaching.  Today, education is one of the topics most often discussed all over the world; it is said that education is responsible for making human civilization the way it is right now and therefore is also the main concern to build a better future for us all. The question now is, how would education improve our quality of living in the future? Is there any of the education principles that needs changing?

In my opinion, the reason of education’s importance is because it is the guidance of what the currently-young people will do in the future; when they will already have the strategist positions to change rules, principles, etc.  If those successor generations study well, they will be able to decide wisely so that the effect of the choice will bring good to everyone. There are several definitions of “well-studied”, it really varies between people, but by considering the way the world is working at the moment, I guess “well-studied” that could bring prosperity for all is not seen from the students’ scores in the report card, or their ranks at school, their ability to solve Math questions, etc. Those things, unfortunately, are the way most people think at this era. At the very least, the way my country’s residents think.

There are three important things that are missing from the current education curriculum, in my opinion; first, schools today don’t teach leadership and entrepreneurship. Second, students are being given only theories, not how the theory could help them in their daily life. Third, the system has made the students focused only on how to get good scores, not on enjoying the beauty of learning. Those things, in my opinion, are the things that define the quality of people.

Leadership. Why is that even an important thing? In order to get success, people need leaders. Good leaders. Not just a good leader for the society, but at the very least, people should be taught how to be a good leader for their own selves. A good self-leader will not be late, throw rubbish anywhere carelessly, or do any other thing that is against the society’s norm. In my opinion, obedience is one of the most important things that could bring society into a better way of living. Before we are able to lead, we need to obey, so that is why leadership needs to be taught at school. Beside, the condition of the world right now demands people to stop being an employee; and instead, begin businesses that could open new employments. The world right now needs entrepreneurs, and to start to be one, people need to have bravery and leadership.

Now, the questions probably have shifted to the way of teaching leadership in school. Do we need to arrange a new subject? In my opinion, it is unnecessary, but to make that shows that the policy makers concern at the problem seriously. The leadership, in my opinion, should be taught in every occasion. This is the solution of my second point; that education needs not only to enlighten students with new knowledge, but also on how to use it to solve daily life problems. The condition should not be applied only for teaching leadership, but also for students to understand each topic in every lesson. This way, the school will not only be preparing great theorists for the future, but also problem solvers.

Innovation is also an important thing for future’s life. In order to innovate, people need to be excited in learning new things first. Now, how would students be excited if what they learn is to be judged by how their scores in tests are? Instead, the joy of learning would be replaced by the fear of being false. In fact, being false is what the scientists had faced before their invention changed the world. That’s not only the problem showing up; when students fear scores too much, they could choose wrong paths to be good, like cheating, etc. That kind of attitude is what would make students become a problem in the future; cheating, in my opinion, is how corruptors learn to do wrong, and corruptors is a really major problem right now.

There are three important things that education right now needs to change; teaching leadership, solving daily life problems and that learning is a joy and what enlightens people. With those things, there is no doubt that education will be able to build a better future for all.

Getting the Yellow Jacket: Ways of Entering Universitas Indonesia

Universitas Indonesia's logo, the makara.

(source: id. wikipedia.org)

The University of Indonesia (UI), is one of the best universities in my country. Every year, many high school students from all over Indonesia (and some other countries, perhaps) struggle to get into the college. With the name of the country used to name the university, in my opinion it's not a strange thing.

An advertisement that inform about the usage of jakun.

(Source: www.anakui.com)

There are three ways for all students to enroll to the university that is famous by its yellow jacket (or jaket kuning in Indonesia, often abbreviated as jakun): via Seleksi Nasional Masuk Perguruan Tinggi Negeri (SNMPTN) Undangan, Seleksi Bersama Masuk Perguruan Tinggi Negeri (SBMPTN) and Seleksi Masuk UI (SIMAK UI). One other way is also available for those who won the National Science Olympiad (Olimpiade Sains Nasional or OSN), but the choice of faculty is restricted; the medalists are only able to choose the faculty that study about the lesson he/she won.

1) SNMPTN Undangan is an enrollment that based itself on the scores given by school in students' three-year (or two-year for accelerated student) study. Every school gets its own quota; the determination of this is an authority for the universities joining the program, the universities owned by the country. The students of each school are then ranked according to their scores; especially the scores of the lessons tested in the National Examination (Ujian Nasional or UN). For those who chose Maths and Science (MIA) branch, the lessons are Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Bahasa Indonesia and English. Social (IIS) students should be more concerned about his/her Mathematics, History, Geography, Sociology, Bahasa Indonesia and English. There is one more branch, the Languange Branch (IBB), but I don't know what subjects are tested for this branch. The website for this enrollment is snmptn.ac.id.

2) SBMPTN is the enrollment which included testing as its way of selecting new college students for public universities. The test subjects are mostly the same like the ones tested in the UN; there are two question sheets need to be answered, Tes Kemampuan dan Potensi Akademik (TKPA) which includes Basic Maths, Bahasa Indonesia, English and some types of psychotest (numeric, verbal and figural tests) and Tes Kemampuan Dasar (Sains dan Teknologi or Sosial dan Humaniora) which consists of subjects tested in UN MIA and IIS, according to the branch the participants choose. Even so, some of the materials are not taught in high school. Most of them are, though, so there's no need for the students to worry if they have studied hard in their school times. The questions are much harder than the questions asked in UN, so keep practicing is really the key to success in this way of enrollment. The website for this enrollment is sbmptn.ac.id.

3) SIMAK UI has the same type with SBMPTN; it is a test. The quality of the questions are even harder than the SBMPTN, though. The quota for each faculty in this test is also very limited.

The university, as well as another public university, offers a kind of scholarship named as Bidikmisi. The Bidikmisi is applied together with the SNMPTN Undangan, as far as I know.

More information about the ways of enrollment to UI can be checked in penerimaan.ui.ac.id.

Have the Mobile Phone Made World Better?

As technology is getting advanced every year, people get to argue about the advantages and disadvantages of the technology products more often. Does technology make the world better? Or instead, worse, despite the fact that it is claimed to be the thing that brings Earth’s civilization way further.

One of the most used product in this world is perhaps the mobile phone. The invention of telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in the late 19^th century has opened new ways of communication ever since. The telephone makes communication a lot easier by removing the limiting borders between people, so that the invention has been one of the  main product to be innovated until now. The mobile phone is one of them.

In my opinion, the mobile phone has made people’s life far better than before. Mobile phone has helped people communicate easily anywhere they are. Smartphones, the most recent innovation of mobile phone, has even included many features of other technology product, for example, camera, music, and internet facilities. People are able to get many facilities from such a small, easy-to-bring thing.

There are a lot of reasons of why mobile phone was invented. In my opinion, the mobility of people is one of the major causes. People needs to communicate, but at the same time they need to travel, cities to cities, countries to countries, etc. Having a mobile phone solves the problem. With the product, people are able to communicate wherever and whenever they are at the time. They also do not need to spare much time to know the condition of their family and loved ones, if they are busy. They will only need to get their phones out of their pocket and do a call or text a message.

The extra features available on the mobile phone has helped people to do things too. With the camera feature on the phone, people will be able to capture precious moments even though they do not bring any digital/professional camera. The internet also makes getting information easier, other than getting it from people they communicate with. There are also features included for our pleasure like its game applications and music player.

The disadvantages of mobile phone, in my opinion, is the result of the unwise usage of the product. People sometimes get very addicted to the mobile phone that they become unproductive, but the condition could be anticipated by being wiser in sparing our time to use the product.

To sum up, the mobile phone is one of the most changing product human has ever invented. It has many features that makes people’s life becomes easier, especially in communication.

My Dream Job: Am I Choosing the Right Path for My Future?

There are some questions that always bother or are asked to 12th grade students; what would they like to be? What kind of thing would they love to do for the rest of their life? I am now a 12th grader, so the questions also bother me everyday.

Those are simple questions; well, many people say questions are always simple, what's hard are the answers. Many people of my age wonder in every single day of their study in the grade; what subject do they like the most? In what field are they good at? Schools also perform psychotests for their students to help them choose the right path for their future. To make sure that whatever the choice, the students choose it by knowing the consequences, by already thinking of everything that could possibly happen in the future. I believe that by knowing our interest and talent, we could consider things better.

A bioengineering lab in Sabancı University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Source: http://bio.sabanciuniv.edu/en/research/labs/signal-transduction-and-biotechnology

How about me? Well, sometimes I hope I could be those students who don't know what major they will choose so that I could accept the consideration of the others regarding my future. I already know what subject I like the most, Biology. I believe that by loving a subject as much as I love Biology, I will be able to improve myself at it everyday. Oh, I even know what branch I love the most in the subject; it's bioengineering. Biosynthetic. I love to work with DNAs and stuffs, it's just so challenging to me. I love the fact that by learning about it, I could change the world so drastically. Do you know that now there's a technology that could engineer a man's DNA that curing inherited diseases is not impossible anymore? These kind of news, of things... they seem so amazing to me. I'd like to be one of those people who invented those kind of things in the future. Yes, I'd like to be a scientist. I'd like to be an engineer in biosynthetic. That is really my dream job.

I'm so grateful that I am given the opportunity to explore my knowledge in Biology since I was in elementary. I read books; quite many books about Biology, but I didn't realize that I love the subject so much until I got to represent my school (and later, my province), in National Science Olympiad (Olimpiade Sains Nasional or often abbreviated as OSN). I had competed in Biology Olympiad for four years; 2015 was my last year, and now I often feel that I miss it so much. Not just the atmosphere of the Olympiad, but also the times I got to study Biology. I'm starting to feel like, yeah, Adriana, that's your path.

The CRISPR Genome Editing method uses this plasmid.
Plasmid is a small circular DNA in bacteria that is often
used as a media in bioengineering. These kind of things
interest me a lot. So small, but changing the world so big.

Source: http://www.scbt.com/datasheet-418922-control-crispr-cas9-plasmid.html

From the experience, I know that I'm not really good in Animals' Anatomy and Physiology, the subject that from what I know is all being the doctor about. Maybe not "not good", but I'm just not really into it. When I study about it, I don't feel the excitement as much as I do when I study Molecular Biology, a branch that is related to bioengineering and biosynthetic. People think differently, though, they think by loving Biology, I would make a good doctor. The truth is, maybe I would be a good one, but I'm still asking myself until now, would I do the job happily? One had said, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." What would I feel if I chose to be a doctor? Maybe I would succeed, but would I think at the same time, what would happen if I chose biosynthetic instead of studying in medical school?

When I ask for people's advice, most of them suggest me to be an engineer in biomedicine. That's a lot different from my dream job; what students learn in that branch are mostly Physics and Mathematics. I searched the curriculum myself, and really, it is different.

Someone once said to me when he's advicing me about my future, "For me, being a doctor is what I am destined for. The reason why I was born." He's also a 12th grader, and I'm always envious of people like him for the fact that what they would like to be is supported by people. I could be anything, but if I would like to be a bioengineer, I have to admit that it will be easier for me if I moved to other country. I have never thought about not living here, in my home country, Indonesia. I love this country as much as I love Biology, and I always think that there is no country as convenient as Indonesia no matter how its condition is. I also would like to make Indonesia better in the future, so leaving it is perhaps my last choice.

I don't give up that easy, though. What I'm choosing as my job in the future is perhaps the win-win solution; I'd like to be a scientist doctor. Being a specialist in internal medicine seems quite interesting for me, but at the moment I'm interested in being a neurologist and to learn about Brain and Cognitive Science. People say that I'm wasting my time studying in medical school if I choose the path, but at least I will be able to do two things I really would like to do: to do what I love, and at the same time, do what my home country needs.

Bismillaahirrahmaanirrahiim. I hope I will be able to feel sure about my choice as soon as possible. What's more important, I also hope it is really the right path for my future. Aamiin.

Peace, Is It the Answer?

Source: www.cfri.org

What is peace? Maybe people are questioning about this now, as the current worldwide-booming issues are about war, terrorism or stuffs like that. Peace, in my opinion, is when people are supporting each other with no hatred and suspicion between them. Peace is the thing that will bring us happiness and joy. Peace is the answer, the solution of all the issues I mentioned before.

But the question is, perhaps, how to make peace? Sceptical people would probably deny the probability of this world being peaceful enough, so that there would not be any problem anymore. The reason could be because of the war and problems has been occurring for a really long time; so long until to stop them feels impossible.

Me? I can state for sure that I’m not one of those people. I believe that there’s a way to start peace; the first step is by opening our mind to understand each other. I like this quote from Albert Einstein, “Peace cannot be kept by force – it can only be achieved by understanding.” It’s true, isn’t it? But the first step in everything is always the trickiest part. I don’t say hard, it’s not easy to change our way of thinking but I believe it is not hard too; it’s tricky. In doing this step, we need to know when to change our mind, but we also can’t forget when not to. To keep these things in balance is perhaps the key; not only the key to peace, but also the key to a better condition that can support peace in the future. By holding our principle tight, I believe there will be a diversity of thought that could always maintain our head to be open-minded.

The next step is a lot easier. With our mind being more open to what others think, it will be easy for us to solve our problems. Like I’ve pointed before, peace is the answer for all of them. Last but not least, we need to maintain peace we have after we solve all the things. This, in my opinion, is the hardest part. To achieve something is hard, but to keep what we achieve is harder. Right?

Even so, what we need to focus right now is to start peace. There is a really nice quote from Mother Theresa that could perhaps sum up all my writing:

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”

And I believe now is the right time to realize our bond with each other; now is the right time for peace.

A Good Leader

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. - John Maxwell

In order to have an organisation works, there must be a person who leads it. The right person, of course. In high school, the organisation that gain much attention from the students is the Organisasi Siswa Intra Sekolah (OSIS) or if translated, the student council. It supervises the extracurricular held in school and holds events for the whole school. To do the tasks, I believe it needs to have the right person to have the leader position. He/she needs to be good at communication skill, charismatic, wise and creative, while of course goal-minded.

Firstly, communication is important as it is what the leader has to do every day. He/she needs to communicate with his/her team, the teachers, etc. In order to do this nicely, the leader has to have the charisma. He/she needs to be able to persuade people that his/her way of thinking is right, but at the same time, also be open-minded enough to what people thinks. This is what I mean by wise, beside deciding not for one's benefit.

Secondly, creativity. The main task of the council is to hold events, as I have written here before. To make an event succeed, of course it has to have a good theme and concept. Beside, the leader will also need creativity when he/she deals with people, as each people has different characters and thought.

Lastly, the goals are important to make the works of the council purposeful. Without goals, there won't be any parameter of success, which I believe is determined with the goals made before. In order to work, we need to know what we are going to do, right?

As for many criteria listed, being a leader seems to be hard. It is, but once someone is able to fulfill all the criteria, he/she will be remembered forever as a leader with great communication skill and charisma, wise in choosing, creative and succeed at fulfilling his/her goals (vision) he/she made before. In other words, a good leader.

City Tour: Don Woori, Be Happy

The place I last visited in Bandung was Don Woori, a Korean restaurant which is located in Jln. Lombok no. 53, behind KFC Riau. Bellin held her 15th birthday party there, with our class and her junior high friends as the guests.

The interior's really good; I instantly fell in love with the combination of pastel colours, with blue as the dominant colour. With "Don Woori, Be Happy" as its slogan, it is a shabu and suki restaurant. To eat, we can order or easily take some food from the food rack and boil it in the pan put on each table. There are two types of soup in the pan; miso and tom yam.

In my opinion, the restaurant's food is really delicious. I ate some sushis which I took from the rack I mentioned before. I didn't ask for their names, I just took it directly as they looked really delicious hehe :)

I ordered white grape juice as drink, but what I suggest you to try is kiwi juice. It was my friend's drink, and really, it tasted great. It was somehow sweet, but not really sweet... just right.

Don't forget to also try the sauce given in a small, round plate. I'm really sorry for not knowing many details, but it was dark red in colour. The taste is undescribable... it's not only me who think like this, but also my friends. Even they were the ones who offered me.

Okay, readers, are you interested enough? Remember, to be satisfied you need this thing; the last but the most important thing, you've got to enjoy your time there. Because don woori, be happy!

Prepare you stomach for delicious food and drinks!

What OSN Medalists Said about Dreams and Competitions: Interview

Recently, I and chosen students from all over Indonesia joined Olimpiade Sains Nasional (OSN, or if translated National Science Olympiad) SMA 2015 in Yogyakarta. There are nine subjects competed every year; Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Computer/Information Technology, Biology, Astronomy, Economy, Earth Science and Geography. The participants of each subject range from 72 to 80 students, which is the number of Biology branch participants, the subject I competed in.

The students must do some tests; in Biology, there are two types, practical and theory tests. The practical test is divided into four sub-subjects, this year they were Plant Anatomy and Physiology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Animal Anatomy and Physiology and Microbiology and Molecular Biology. Each practical test took 90-100 minutes, in which the participants had to complete worksheets about the practice and solve some analytical problems. The theory test has two sessions every year, Theory A and Theory B, with the time given to finish each is 3 hours.

There are 30 medals given to the participants with highest points; 5 golds, 10 silvers and 15 bronzes. The medalists will then be called to join a selection for representing Indonesia in International Science Olympiad in the following year.

The OSN bronze medalists of some subjects; one of them is Biology.

I can say, winning the OSN is what many people dream of. For that, people do a lot of things; like study harder, pray more often, etc. They -we- also sacrifice things like their time in school, which in my opinion is a big sacrifice as in Olympiad we only learn one subject but in school, we need to be good at many. The time used to prepare and compete in the OSN may lead to inability in doing school tasks and tests, which may result to lower grades and ranks. Many Olympiad participants still tops their class, though, as they work hard just as soon as they got back from the competition. To me, OSN is the place to work hard, to be mature despite the consequences and the chance of losing, to be brave enough to dream, and the most important thing: to know Allah more. Because of that, I choose this topic for my English interview task.

In this post, I am going to write about my interview with two of the Biology participants. They are Kak Muhammad Iqbal Pratama, an SMAN 5 Surabaya 11-grader and Salsabiilaa Roihanah, a student of SMP Semesta Bilingual Boarding School Semarang. Yes, she's still a junior high school student. The rule of OSN SMA allows 9th grade students to join to competition, beside of course, 10th and 11th grader. I know them from trainings I joined. They both, alhamdulillaah, won bronze medals.

I interviewed them in different occasion, and here's what I asked them along with their answers.

How did you know about your passing to the OSN for the first time? How was your feeling?

Kak Iqbal:  I know my passing to the OSN from one of my senior, and then I checked it on the Internet. I felt surprised and thankful to Allah.

Salsa:  I was so thankful and grateful. It was rather unexpected. The announcement was on the same week with my school examination (I WAS a ninth grader, which had been facing various examination to graduate). But I was a little bit sad, knowing some of my seniors couldn't make it to the nationals.

What did you do to prepare for the Olympiad? For how long did you do that?

Kak Iqbal: I studied theories, practiced the questions of previous OSN with my seniors and Biology lecturers, and joined TOBI's pre-OSN training, which included theory and practice. I do the preparations for around 1 month.

Salsa:  I was surrounded by senior who had been an Olympiad student just like me. She helped me a lot. Well, she was Kak Hana (Fauzyyah Hanifin), last year IBO participant who is struggling to be part of Indonesian Team again this year. My province, Middle Java, also held a training center for a month. We were trained by some alumni and lecturer. I read books, I tried to solve problems, but the hardest part was the experiment section. Because I didn't really have much time to practice it.

What was your motivation of joining the competition?

Kak Iqbal: My motivation to join OSN is to get a medal to ease my way in SNMPTN (a way to apply to universities), and also to give something to my school. Joining OSN is also my dream since childhood.

Salsa:  I wrote about my experience on my blog. Surprisingly, I've got some positive feedbacks from people. They say my writings have inspired them. I wanted to inspire more and more. And getting achievement was a way to do that. Besides, I wanted to make my parents and my school proud. After all, I enjoyed biology, with or without OSN ;)

What did you want to achieve in the competition?

Kak Iqbal: I just wanted to achieve the best, and get a medal, any medal will do :)

Salsa:  I didn't push myself to get medal. I wanted to get experience as much as possible. But the atmosphere of competition finally reached me, affected me, and at the end, I dreamed to get a medal.

You won the bronze medal. When the event's MC called your name, what did you feel? Was bronze your target?

Kak Iqbal: I felt very surprised, since I screwed up in the Plants (Anatomy and Physiology) practical test :) My target is to get any medal, so it is a fulfillment to my target.

Salsa:  It was amazing. After all those tests, I was very very hopeless. I did many stupid mistakes during the experiment. I was on my lowest point. And hearing my name felt so great, I am so thankful to Allah.

What things did you get in the competition, beside medal?

Kak Iqbal: First, I get so many precious experience, such as to read instructions carefully. Secondly, I met many wonderful friends from all over Indonesia.

Salsa:  I knew where were my mistakes, and I promised to myself to fix them in the future. I met new friends, I reunited with old friends, those experiences are more important than medal.

What do you think about the OSN before and after joining the competition itself?

Kak Iqbal: Before, I thought the OSN is wonderful. After I joined OSN, it's more than that.

Salsa:  I think OSN nowadays is getting more and more popular. It has become a business field for some people, for example making a paid olympiad training. But I think the real purpose of OSN has been accomplished A HALF. Indonesian students become more aware about science. The other half, we must wait until we are all grown up. Can we make a difference in this country we live in? That one is our challenge.

What is you dream now that you've won the OSN? Is it joining the International Biology Olympiad (IBO)?

Kak Iqbal: Well, I dreamed to use the medal for SNMPTN, I'm aiming for FK UI (Medical Faculty of Universitas Indonesia). And yes, I also dreamed to join IBO.

Salsa: My next target? Well, I'd like to keep my dreams to myself and people that are close to me only. But after all, I will do my best in every chance I get ;)

Could you please give an advice to people who would like to join the competition you've just joined and also for all people who are having dreams they would like to achieve?

Kak Iqbal: My advice, focus on your dream, and pursue it. While in the pursuit for that dream, put other matters second in the priority list. Never be afraid to make sacrifices, you have to make that sacrifice, and believe that in the end that it will worth it. Never forget to pray to Allah all the time.

Salsa: Competition isn't just about winning a medal or trophy. The real winner, is one who has courage to dream high, and really put an effort to make it come true. One who can bring goodness to his surroundings, one who can inspire and bring smiles to people, one who can make this world a better place; that's the true winner. Just remember, when you lose all your hope, when you think you are failing and never gonna reach the top, go back to the Owner of all Power; Allah. Because everything can come true in His blessing. Just remember, when you lose all your hope, when you think you are failing and never gonna reach the top, the Owner of all Power; Allah, will never leave you alone. So be close to Him, in your ups and downs :)

I asked an additional question to Salsa, as the fact that she's still an SMP student interests me. The question was, "You are still a junior high school student, but the competition you joined was for SMA, How was your feeling?". She answered, "It was a lot depressing. We had to face national examination in the middle of training center! The lesson in high school olympiad was a lot harder compared to middle school. But I was also proud of myself, because I could compete with my seniors equally."

As the closing, I would like to quote Eleanor Roosevelt, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." Kak Iqbal and Salsa had a dream to win the OSN, and after working hard, they were able to achieve it. I believe that what we dream, what I and you, fellow readers, dream, is not meant just to live inside our thought. When we believe our dream would come true, that's the time when it really is going to be. Because, by believing, we will do and sacrifice things to achieve that. We won't give up even though we fail and fail again, instead, we will see the failure as another step forward. Positive thinking is the key of success, isn't it?

SMAN 3 Bandung's Event: Paman Gober

Paman Gober is an annual event held by SMAN 3 Bandung as the closing of its Sports Olympic event, Dewa Athena. The name itself stands for Penanaman dan dan Gowes Bersama, if translated, Planting and Cycling Together, quite much explaining the event's spirit and what people do on the events. What's great is, it is not only the students of SMAN 3 who join Paman Gober, but also the teachers and school's staffs.

This year, the event was held on Saturday morning, 9 May 2015. I was really excited with the event, as I'd just finished my olympiad preparation... which means not going to school for some time so that I missed my friends a lot. By joining the event, I was able to meet my friends, making me happy just before another preparation made me away from school again :)

The unfortunate thing is, just as the cycling event started, I got problem with my bicycle so that I got separated with my class-__- that was okay, though, as there were some of my friends from another class who got separated too that we cycled way back to school together. Yeap, the cycling route was from our school's sports field, Lapangan Bali, to Tegalega, to then go back to our start point after going to the planting site. We didn't go to Tegalega though, as the road was closed.

I didn't join the planting part of the event as my cycling group was faar from the first groups; which represented the others. Instead, my group directly cycled back to Lapangan Bali. After that, I went to school to meet my olympiad teacher; we spent like one hour chatting, so I didn't know what happened after the cycling event. I went back to the field at noon to watch my class' finals of tarik tambang and dodgeball. We won both of them!

Some days after that, we knew that our class is the second champion of Dewa Athena, by winning three branches; beside tarik tambang and dodgeball, we also won table tennis, represented by Riansyah Widisaputra. Our class, Akselerasi 1 and Akselerasi 2, also won the best supporters title. The commitee wrote that we were the class which often went to the event to give our class' team support. So proud of you, guys!

Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth's Song: See You Again

Okay, guys, so today I'd like to write about one of my favourite songs, it's titled as See You Again. Being sung by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth, the song is a soundtrack of a 2015 action movie, Furious 7. The song, like the movie, is said to be a tribute for Paul Walker. He played the Furious series' main role, Brian O'Connor, until a car accident which caused his death in late 2013. Here I cite from Wikipedia about the song's writing background.

"Charlie Puth was approached by his publishing company, Artist Publishing Group, to come up with a melody that could pay tribute to the late Paul Walker in Furious 7 during his short stay in Los Angeles. Walking into the studio to see DJ Frank E for the first time—a session the president of Artist Publishing Group, Ben Maddahi, set up—Puth didn’t know what to expect."It just seemed to occur from out of nowhere. And basically 10 minutes later Justin and I wrote it, we sent it off, and I thought we'd never hear about it again." After receiving overwhelming positive reception from the filmmakers, Universal Pictures and the soundtrack label Atlantic Records, the unfinished song which was titled "See You Again" was further commissioned by Puth and Wiz Khalifa to include verses about family around Puth's vocals and piano. The song then went through an extensive note-giving and production process.

In writing the song, Puth said he was thinking of a friend who also died abruptly. Although reluctant to reveal too many details, he said that the tragedy also involved a car accident and that he felt his late friend's presence in the studio that day as he held the belief they could one day communicate again. Puth, who was skeptical about whether Atlantic Records would ask him to sing on the track, thought that they chose his voice because he wrote the song for a friend of his, so he brings a more genuine feel to its words. In the film, the song is played at the end of the film, during which Furious 7 characters, Brian O'Conner and Dominic Toretto drive their cars on a mountain road and eventually part ways when they reach a fork, giving Brian a poignant retirement send-off in which he'd be living with his wife and raising a family."

The song directly becomes a trend after its release. It tops many charts all over the world, including Billboard Hot 100 and iTunes all-genre single sales chart, with 168,000 digital copies sold the issue dated April 18, 2015 claiming the "Digital Gainer" award.

The reason of why I love this song is perhaps the theme, other than the fact that it has a really catchy melody. It describes friendship in such a lovely way. Quoting a rap part of the lyrics:

"First you both go out your way

And the vibe is feeling strong and what's

Small turn to a friendship a friendship

Turn into a bond and that bond will never

Be broke and the love will never get lost

And when brotherhood come first then the line 

Will never be crossed established it on our own

When that line had to be drawn and that line is what

We reach so remember me when I'm gone"

I include the song's music video here. The video contains some clips from the movies, making it be like a series of flashback of the friendship between Paul Walker as Brian O'Connor and his team, especially Dominic Toretto (portrayed by Vin Diesel).

Natural Phenomenon: The Beautiful Aurora

source: icestories.exploratorium.edu

According to Wikipedia, an aurora is a natural light display in the sky, predominantly seen in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions. The name Aurora derives from the Latin word aurora, meaning "sunrise". It is also Roman goddess of dawn.

Auroras are caused by charged particles, mainly electrons and protons, entering the atmosphere from above causing ionisation and excitation of atmospheric constituents, and consequent optical emissions. Incident protons can also produce emissions as hydrogen atoms after gaining an electron from the atmosphere.

source: apod.nasa.gov

Most auroras occur in a band known as the auroral zone, which is typically 3° to 6° wide in latitude and between 10° and 20° from the geomagnetic poles at all local times (or longitudes), most clearly seen at night against a dark sky. There are two types of auroras: aurora borealis and aurora australis. The division is based on their existance place. Aurora borealis can be seen at northern latitudes, so it is also called as the Northern Lights. The opposite, the Southern Lights, is the other name for aurora australis.

I always love seeing the aurora. No, I don't see it by myself as I don't live near the poles, but what I can see from the photos is enough to introduce me its beauty. I hope someday I'll be able to see it by my own eyes, though, aamiin.

source: id.wikipedia.org

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