Serendipity

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Written by: Rahmad Saputra & Diah Agustina Ratu

Edited by: Salma Maulani

 

Chapter One: Eileen

 

“Thank you”

That was my first word when I met him. We met at the library while I was searching for some books. I still remember when he helped me to grab my book. Unfortunately, I did not have much time to get to know him further.

 

Suddenly, he left with a smile.

——

 

As he walked out, I followed him to the door, I could still see his smile when he walked into the elevator and wondered “why does he have a smile that comforts me so much?” I wish I knew the reason or at least knew his name but I stupidly waved at him.

 

“Stupid!” I said that to myself many times, then I stayed in the library to read the book that he grabbed for me until late noon. sadly I could not focus on anything.

On that day, when I returned home, I keep remembering the times when he helped me. The eyes, the look, the softness of his voice made my heart thumping like If I were hypnotized.

Really! This is the first time I met a person who can distract me from the world. I lost my mind at that time. It was like destiny made its way to ours. The way we met was just unpredictable. I fell in love instantly. The moment when he looked at me was… I don’t know how to put it into words.

 

Still imagining his smile, I was such an idiot hoping that the next day I can meet him again. I was desperate to know his name and I kept thinking about him and somehow his smile makes my heart pound so hard.

 

This might sound cheesy, but… hearts couldn’t lie and being honest wasn’t that bad.

——

 

Chapter Two: Anggasta

 

It was a rainy morning, the last thing I remembered was searching a book in the library for my essay and I saw this girl. She was having trouble grabbing a book. I tried to help her to reach the book with a sense of curiosity towards her, without saying anything I grabbed the book and gave it to her.

——

 

“Thank you” she said

I never heard someone say it so sincerely before, I smiled and walked away from her as I am not really good at interacting with people. I used being alone in this big universe. When I walked into the elevator, she waved at me as the door closed.

 

Funny, somehow I am wondering “what kind of person she is?”

 

In the afternoon, I had an archery practice near the library. When I pulled my arrow and aimed at the target, I saw her walking out from the library and I got distracted while I unconsciously  released my arrow and missed the target. “Damn!” I said it to myself.

 

After the practice was over, I went to my bag and checked my phone. There was a reminder that evening, I had an appointment with my doctor. Huuh, I wish I could skip that but unfortunately I had to go to the hospital that evening while my essay is waiting to be finished.

 

“Calm down! Everything is going to be fine” I said that to cheer myself up.

 

Chapter Three: Constellation

 

I felt so familiar with this voice when I heard it. Apparently, that was the voice of hers, the girl whom I helped in the library. It was very crowded in the cafeteria until there’s no empty seats except near her table, there were two empty seats beside her. She was eating and talking with her friends while me and my friend, Bayu, ordered some food.  We Waited for another empty seat but it seemed we ran out of options, without hesitation Bayu approached them because he knew one of the girls who sat with her.

 

Her name is Sasa, she is from grammar class. Well, I knew her but I have never spoken to her before. I was feeling a little bit nervous and she seemed so surprised when she saw me and Bayu.

——

 

“Ya Allah, why is he here?” I couldn’t believe that he is here.

 

Unexpectedly, I met him in this place, he sat down in front of me and said “Hi” and I said “Hi” back too. Bayu was surprised by showing a shocked face like if he were struck by lightning and then he said “Did you already know each other?” Then we both looked at Bayu with a smile and said “We just did”

——

 

It was a long afternoon, all I could do was remain silent until only the two of us left, because Bayu, Sasa and Fafa had a class at that time. Then she thanked me for helping her to grab the book and I said “Don’t mention it” and we did a proper introduction to each other this time.

 

We felt weird because we were silent before and for an instant, we talked a lot, we even exchanged instagram ID and line as well so we could keep in touch with each other. Funny! We were so far back then like two stars in a different sky but the constellation brought us together and connected to one another.

 

Chapter Four: Hello Noceur!

 

-Eileen POV-

My phone rang so much, he texted me while I was reading my book. I don’t know why but all of sudden he video-called me “What should I do?” I couldn’t pick up his call because I was nervous but eventually I picked it up.

 

He apologized for calling this late and I told him it was okay. It was a random talk with lots of laughs between us. I am so glad that we were getting closer and then the awkward moment happened.

 

He asked me to go out on Saturday night “what the…..” it felt like I was forgetting how to breathe, it was 1 AM and we have not hit the bed yet. I didn’t mean to reject but I told him “I couldn’t answer it now” then he replied “It’s okay, please let me know if you want to go out with me” .

 

Along with those conversations he said “good night and have a sweet dream” I could see my face become red like tomato soup that my mom made for breakfast this morning. All I could say was “Thank you” like I didn’t have any words to express what I wanted to say and he hung up the phone.

-Anggasta POV-

It was a long conversation but in the end I couldn’t help myself to ask her out, it came out of nowhere “Let’s go to someplace on Saturday night” that was the most stupid thing I have ever done in my entire life.

 

Chapter Five: Iridescent

 

As I wait for her answer, I am…

Nervous.

Those kinds of thoughts always mesmerized my mind. I have no idea what if she rejected me or ignored me.

 

00.30 p.m

I was in the cafeteria picking up my food, while I was searching for a seat, I looked at her with her peers. She also gave me a gaze before.

 

“Hi,”

“Oh Hi, Anggasta!”

 

Couldn’t breathe for a while, she’s a goddess. Besides that, I was thinking about dating. Why doesn’t she give me an answer.

 

Perhaps?

 

No. no.

I don’t want to hope like that.

 

8.00 p.m.

 

I checked my phone and there is no answer. So, I decided to play a mobile legend before. 30 minutes after,

‘Beep Beeeeeep Beep”

My phone has been ringing.

I look at my phone and the message above.

WHAATTTTTT, FROM EILEEN?

 

She answering

“Yes, why not”

I threw away my phone without realizing it, but nevermind. Finally, Yeay!! “Holy pudding” I text Bayu right away to go to my house.

 

All of a sudden, I get a text from my doctor that I need to go to hospital, I don’t know what happened but it sounds serious.

 

When I arrive at the hospital the doctor seems worried and I know what it means, it means I don’t have much time left. The doctor explains everything and all I can do is listen, I just hope that I will be able to hold on until the dating day. After that I went home and Bayu was already in my house, I told him about Eileen’s answer. Bayu said “Dude, you have to look good and well-dressed” don’t worry we still have 5 days to prepare it.

-Eileen POV-

I was being brave at that time to answer his request, I was just glad that I said “yes” 5 days left before the dating day and like usual I am feeling so nervous. I don’t know what to wear, then I call Sasa and Fafa to accompany me to shop.

 

Chapter Six: Serendipity

 

As the door opened, I could see him sitting at a very beautiful table with candles and white roses, what a romantic place.

 

I could see her from the door, she’s so beautiful in white. I feel enchanted when I look at her.

 

We talked a lot back then, talking about our past, family and future plans, but somehow, I feel he hid something really big, maybe it’s just the bad feeling in my stomach.

——

 

I could feel it and I am getting weak. I have nosebleed all of sudden but I try to hide it from her and wipe it with the napkin but sadly I could not hold it anymore. I fainted in front of her during our dating time.

——

 

I was so terrified when I saw him faint. All I could do was scream for help, when we arrived at the hospital the doctor told me to wait outside. I am waiting, waiting just waiting outside the line and the doctor came out of the room and he said “He is waiting for you”~~

 

What is this? Why couldn’t my heart be silent? I am so worried. I entered the room slowly and I could see him lying on bed, he looked at me deeply while I was curious about him. He said “I am sorry” and heard that I just wanted to be angry at him but I couldn’t “why are you apologizing? I am so worried” the doctor said “you have to do surgery right now” and he said “I know” then he opened his phone and did a snapgram video with me with the caption “See you in the next few hours” what is this? I don’t why but I have bad feelings about this.

——

 

I lied to her again, I wonder if she forgives me? Nevermind, at least I could see her for the last time, your smile makes me stronger Eileen, I am sorry I lied to you over and over again. I hope we could meet in another life and fall in love again, I said it inside of my heart.

——

 

Then the surgery began, I was waiting like an idiot walking around like I was jogging or something, one hour passed my breath starting to be heavy, two hours passed I could feel my tears falling down. I heard the door open and the doctor came out of the room confused, maybe he doesn’t know how to tell me properly about what is going on. “I am sorry, he is in a better place now” Huuuh….. What……. No…….. No, I was screaming as hard as I could and crying back then. Leukemia is a very bad one and he never told me about that.

 

This is my first time attending a funeral, there’s a lot of people here. Everyone said their prayers to Anggasta, he always said that he doesn’t have many friends. I guess he lied again. I brought the white roses like he gave me on our first date.

 

At night, I am thinking about him while crying like an idiot, then I fall asleep until morning. I could hear the sound of the alarm. It means I have to go to campus, but I feel like I don’t want to but Sasa, and Fafa came to pick me up. “Come on Eileen, let’s have fun today in campus” said Sasa, “I made you breakfast, let’s eat it together” said Fafa. With a smile I follow their instructions.

 

I felt everything when I arrived at campus, we used to meet in the cafeteria but now he isn’t here anymore, I used to laugh with him in there and there but I couldn’t even laugh anymore. I am about to cry but I try to not. Then Bayu approached me all of sudden and gave me a letter with a weird expression toward him and how silly I am, thinking it was a love letter.

At night I was working on my poetry assignment but I didn’t have any idea what to write. I went to the backyard in the middle of the night and lay down above the grass. There are a lot of stars and I start to open my note and a letter falls over, it was Bayu’s that he gave me this morning. Then I open the letter hoping that it isn’t a love letter.

 

Dear Eileen,

 

You are a good reader and I am a good listener, we would make a great team together. It was the happiest time of my life Eileen, but the universe doesn’t allow us to be together for now and that’s okay, I am sorry I lied to you for many times, I just want to enjoy our time with lots of laughs and happiness. I am glad that I met you. I hope we could meet in another life and tell stories again. Eileen, I love you, so much. I am sorry for being childish all this time and I am sorry for everything. Thank you, you changed my world.

 

Love,

Anggasta

 

“I Love you too, Anggasta”

 

~~End

Several Ways to Heal from Procrastination

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Written by Fatwa Hapsari Alwihani

Have you ever felt so tired in a day? After you checked you found yourself doing nothing but scrolling your smartphone or playing an online game on your personal computer. For me it was another level of pathetic ☹.

It is different when you are sad because of the technical failure, at least you have tried to accomplish it. When you do not finish your work because of laziness, it means that you have not tried to start it. You might think that there will always tomorrow. But what if tomorrow brings you another thing to do?

The act of postponing something is called Procrastination. Some of us probably have experienced it many times especially when there were a bunch of tasks in a week and we have to submit it in another week. We either disorganized where to start or waited the mood to do it. As the time passed by, we still do not find any motivation and the due date comes. All you have is a panic attack, being rushed on doing the task, getting nervous every second, and having less satisfying results. Of course, we do regret it yet repeat it again and again since we think “I am the last-minute kind of person who gets the idea in particular time”. At that moment we do not realize that actually when we start doing that task, we do not have a clear idea. It is because we are demanded by time and we do not want to miss the submission date. What I am trying to say is there is no mood or idea until you give a shot.

Since procrastination is one of our problems. Let me share some ways of healing from that habit based on my experience and articles that I have read.

1. Temptation bundling

Temptation bundling is the act of mixing between what we like and what we have to do. For example, you are about to take the TOEFL/IELTS test but you think that your listening skill is far from good. In addition, you are addicted to watching movies or series on Netflix. Thus, the thing you can do is watch the movie/series with English subtitles regularly.

2. Make the Consequences

Making consequences do not mean you are being so hard on yourself. It means that you are practicing self-discipline. Set your daily goals, put your priority on the first list, concentrate your mind, and do not forget to write possibilities that might happen if you skip it. When you find difficulties in being disciplined, you can involve somebody else who has the same goal. Ask them to do assignments together, make appointments with them.

3. Take a rest from your gadget

Nowadays gadgets are becoming our part of daily life. It seems more impossible to separate people from gadgets since we are now in a pandemic era. Every aspect of people’s lives depends on gadgets and internet existence. Gadgets can bring us both positive and negative impacts on our life. It makes everything easier; we can get in touch and we can also see more updates of others’ lives.  However, they pull us into an addiction. The more we follow their daily activity, the more curious we get. Curiosity brings us unproductivity. We are willing to spend hours in a day staring at gadgets to scroll some social media platforms such as Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and many more.

In my case, sometimes I ignored my task to do on that day and I assumed that I still had enough time to finish it. In fact, I postponed all assignments until the due date. Turns out I realize that I cannot let that habit stay longer in my life. I try to cut them one by one through deactivating some social media accounts; I decided to choose Instagram first since it was the most addictive account that I have. I can be impulsively open Instagram while I am doing something important. It helps me. I can be more focused on what I do. It might be different in others’ case; they could be addicted to online games, video bloggers, dancing video challenges, and so on. Hence, escaping or resting from gadgets is something we need to consider when we are stuck in a procrastination habit.

4. Make a task more achievable

As I mentioned before, we need to set our daily goals. It means we should have at least a goal each day. The goal does not have a complex goal. We can start it by making a simple goal that possibly could be accomplished on that day. The keys are consistency and commitment to do it sustain.

Last year, when I was doing my thesis, I found myself being demotivated and delayed to start every chapter on it. Until my friend came to me and told me that I do not have to write all chapters at once; she said at least one day I write one or two paragraphs. I followed her advice and unpredictably I started to write and revised my thesis with wholeheartedly lighter than before. Since then, I believe that we should make daily goals more achievable.

Those tips above worked on me. We know procrastination leads us into nothing but regret. Nevertheless, leaving procrastination is not such an easy thing to do. Before we choose which one of those tips is suitable for us, we should have strong determination to get rid of the habit from our life. Thus, whenever we start being unguarded, we will remember that determination. Good luck buddies! Never quit! All of us are healing.

Fostering Learning Autonomy: Why Does It Matter?

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Written by Chintya Arlita

Edited by Willy Prasetya

Photo by Onyengradar via Shutterstock

 

“This is what Indonesia needs in the future. I am sorry, but the world doesn’t need children who are good at memorizing.” ─ Nadiem Makarim.

With the new education policy introduced by Nadiem Makarim, Merdeka Belajar, Indonesian learners are given more freedom to take charge of their learning. They no longer learn by only remembering information; rather, they are taught how to critically select relevant information and understand it.

Why is autonomy in learning essential? learners are more engaged in the classroom when they have the control of their own learning. This is caused by at least two reasons: self-efficacy and intrinsic value.

When given learning autonomy, learners are empowered to learn according to their abilities and interests. Individual growth can be achieved when learners are autonomous because they make their own decisions based on their interests and take control of their own choices. As a result, they become more confident and responsible with themselves in achieving their goals.

In addition, by learning autonomously, learners can discover values from what they have studied, which may lead to a more meaningful learning experience. When they have reached this point, they will be able to feel more satisfied in whatever they do. Even if they make mistakes in learning, the satisfaction is certain because they have the freedom to become reflective and evaluate themselves for improving themselves.

One simple yet excellent idea of giving learners a chance to be autonomous is a special day in which teachers let their learners decide what they want to learn without grading their learning. With such opportunity, learners have the full authority to optimize their potentials without any fear of judgment. Another way of instilling autonomy in learners is conducting a project-based learning. With such an approach, learners have more time to plan, explore, and experiment with whatever they need to do to complete the project. Learners who have worked autonomously tend to enjoy their learning process. There are at least two reasons for this: alignment with their passions and a sense of achievement.

Education should guide all individuals in the journey of searching for meanings to understand what they need in life. Although there is no accurate definition of a meaningful life since everyone has different backgrounds, the journey of finding a meaning is certain. To make the process meaningful, everyone should be given the freedom to take control of their learning and along the way, it can lead them to find their life purpose, which is vital for their self-worth.

Detachment

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Written by Salma Maulani

Yesterday, I met my best friend and we had a fun conversation while having dinner together. It was an all-you-can-eat restaurant which felt like fancy dinner for us who used to eat fast food or street food which usually cost below 30 thousand rupiahs.  When I arrived, The first thing that she said to me was  “you are such a fashion terrorist, how can you wear that red bag with blue clothes and only a pair of slippers”. Yes, she is the type of girl who always tries to match the color of her shoes and bag, she used to be fine with my fashion. However, this time she criticized me. 

“Why? I love this bag, I have been wearing this bag since last year, and it is rainy outside, I don’t want to wet my shoes” I replied without any second thought.

“Okay, it’s understandable for the slipper, but the bag? I know you have a black bag as a gift from your friend, why don’t you wear it Geez!” she expressed her annoyance.

I just laughed, and she muttered “as always, another thing that you’re getting attached to”. 

Then it hit me as I took my seat. It seems like she knows me better than myself. I realized the reason why I prefer this bag more than others. I used to think that I am just being lazy or always in a hurry and have no time to move all of the things inside. But even if I have extra time, I don’t think I will choose another bag. Finally, I admit that I am very easily attached and I do have a hard time letting things go. It also explains why I still often wear the same sweatshirt since middle school, the worn-out shirt, it has a little torn on the side and ripped sleeves. I’ve had some arguments with my mom because she tried to throw it several times and I begged her with all I had. Fortunately, I managed to keep it.

I snapped my wandering mind to back and focus on the present, I finished the dinner with my best friend, talked about our day and what kind of obstacles that we need to get through, not to mention the cute pictures that we took and uploaded it on Instagram, and we hate to admit it but we spilled some teas to each other as well. Overall, we enjoyed our time.

I arrived at home happily, I took a warm bath and prepared to sleep. Suddenly, those wandering minds that I had before came back to me. Actually, it has been my night-routines to organize my mind, forgive the mistake that I made that day, and make a plan for tomorrow before I go to sleep. Inside my head, I tried to make a list of things that I got attached besides that red bag and worn-out sweatshirt. Another realization came to me, turned out I get very easily attached not only to things, but movies, stories, places, memories and people as well.

This also explains all the hurt and pain that I experienced in relationship and friendship. Those times all hurt and most of them still do until now. I have been single for more than 6 years and it took me about 2-3 years to let my high-school ex go, which was ridiculous because I went to school where more than 70% of the students were males. Most of my friend said that I am stupid because I couldn’t catch any fish when there is plenty in my ocean.

I hate a change, and I hate the fact that change is inevitable. Especially when people that I get attached to do it. Everytime it happened, I did not give up on them, I am really bad at giving up and letting them go. I tried to hold them real tight. However, I always failed to realize the mistake that I made. I hold them very tight to the point that I started to hurt them. I failed to understand the famous quote that said “Maintaining a relationship/friendship is like holding sand in your hand. If you hold it too tight, it will run amongst your fingers, just hold them normally, and you’ll have them forever.”

I realized it very late, I already hurt many people that I used to get attached to. I also hurt myself. I would like to deeply apologize to them and to myself as well. I am really sorry for holding you so tight and interfering with your change. Now, I sincerely wish that your change brings a positive result to you. I am rooting the best for all of you, for my ex and all my friendship that has ended with or without closure.

Entering this year, I am going to try not to get too attached and learn to let go. Begin with wearing another bag, throwing away the worn-out sweatshirt, being careless about matters that do not care about me, and being worry-less about anything that is out of my control such as the inevitable change.

The Origin of Sawo: A Side Story of Sapodilla Fruit

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Original story by Zaimatul Muktarifah and Sri Astuti

Edited by Fatwa Hapsari Alwihani

photo via jovee.id 


A long time ago, there lived a poor family consisting of two people. The older sister was Salsa and the younger brother was Woshi. They lived in the wood that was part of a big kingdom. They lived with everything that could be used and be eaten in the jungle. Salsa liked milk and Woshi liked honey. However, they could not drink what they liked most often because only the nobles could afford these things.

Someday, Salsa and Woshi went to a village near King’s castle to sell firewood. In the village, they saw an announcement from the king in a gold-coated paper.

“Competition! The Princess gets a dangerous disease. Who can heal The Princess will get a big prize from our majesty, The  King.” 

Salsa and Woshi looked at each other.

“I want to milk honey everyday.” Said Woshi with a cute voice.

“Yeah, my lil honey. I want it too. I also want to be a nobleman.” Replayed Salsa.

“Can we?” Said Woshi with doubt tones.

“Of course!”

Woshi’s eyes sparkled. “Then, Lets go to find a medicine to cure The Princess!”

Salsa and Woshi did not know where to find the medicine. So, they went to the edge of the wood. Suddenly, their steps were stopped by an Owl.

“Hey Hey Hola! Where will you go?” asked the Owl.

“We wanna go to find a medicine to cure The Princess.” Woshi answered.

“Please help me!” said the Owl.

Before answering, Woshi looked at his sister. Salsa nodded. The sign was enough for Woshi to answer.

“What can we do for you, Mr. Owl?” Woshi asked.

“I will go for some hours. Please take care of my food. This is for my kids.” said the Owl while pointed at a roll of green leaves.

“It is a caterpillar. You cannot make it die. A fresh caterpillar is my kids’ favorite food. If this caterpillar is still alive until I come back, I will give you some gold bars that I found in the forest a few years ago.”

Woshi’s eyes widened but Salsa’s eyebrow was frowning.

“Can we trust you?” asked Salsa.

“Of course. Then, I go now, bye!” The Owl left the caterpillar in Woshi’s hand. Woshi seemed happy.

After a few hours, Salsa and Woshi felt bored. They just sat under a tree. Woshi’s hand still held the caterpillar.

“I think the caterpillar needs some food.” Said Woshi broke their long silence.

“No, honey. He is already on the roll of a leave. It is the food of the caterpillar.”

“Then, why does the caterpillar not move even a little? Isn’t he hungry?”

“Really? Try to make him move!”

Woshi nodded. Woshi shook his hand slowly, but the caterpillar did not move at all. Whosi shook harder, but the caterpillar still kept quiet.

“We will not get the gold bar.” Woshi was frustrated.

“Is he dead?” asked Salsa. Woshi just nodded.

“We should find a new caterpillar. We must get the gold bar, so that we can drink milk and honey everyday.”

“No, honey. We should apologize to Mr. Owl first.”

“But, we won’t get …”

“No! Remember! What is our goal?”

“Get a medicine that can cure the Princess.”

“Good. It’s okay if we won’t get the gold bar. We will apologize to Mr. Owl because we could not take care of the caterpillar. Okay?”

Whosi nodded. Suddenly the Owl flew to Salsa’s hand.

“You two pass the exam!” Said the Owl.

“Huh?” Salsa and Woshi were confused.

“I am the guardian of the gate of the edge of the wood.”

“Too much of-“

“Shut up!” The Owl cut Woshi’s comment. The Owl looked angry for a while, but the Owl changed his character directly. “I have a right to make sure that only chosen people can enter the gate. The caterpillar is already dead. If you change him with a new caterpillar, it means that you are not an honest person. So, where will you go? I will guard you to the gate of the edge of the wood.” said the Owl calmly.

“The Princess gets a dangerous disease. We want to find a medicine that can cure her disease.” said Salsa.

“So, you can go to the top of the hill on the edge of the wood. There is holy water in a holy small jar. The holy water can heal every type of disease.”

“Really?! We must go there!” said Woshi excitedly.

“But … there is a guardian of the holy water. He is a giant. He will not let whoever get the holy water.”

“So, how can we fight the giant?” asked Salsa.

“It is easy. Just make him mention his name without mentioning it.”

“What is his name?”

“No, I can’t mention it. The name contains a curse. But, I will give you the hint. Leve, Twe, The Werld, get the hint without mention the answer.”

Salsa and Woshi thought hard while mumbling the words.

“Those trees are the gate.” said the Owl while pointing to two big trees. “Just enter and follow the path. You will find the holy water in a holy small jar on the edge of the wood. Good luck!” The Owl flew high leaving Salsa and Woshi who were still confused with the hint. 

“I have an idea of the hint. Wish us luck for this.” said Salsa and followed by Woshi’s nod. 

Salsa and Woshi entered the gate. They walked on a very long path. They were tired. However, the holy water was waiting for them at the end of the path. They kept walking until they found the biggest tree they had ever seen. Under the tree, there was a small sparkling silver jar that was sparkling because of the sunshine. Salsa and Woshi took the small jar. Salsa held the small jar tightly. They almost ran. Their steps stopped after hearing a big voice behind them. They were shocked when they turned around. They saw a giant with a grumpy face.

“Give back the holy water!” said the giant.

“What should we do?” Woshi panicked.

“Keep calm. We can pass it.” said Salsa, even though her body trembled. “Hey, ugly giant!” Salsa dared herself. “Let’s play a game! If you win, I will give back the holy water. I also will be willing to be your slave forever.”

“WHAT?” Woshi was more shocked than before.

“Keep calm. It is just me. You hold the holy water and I will play the game alone.” said Salsa.

“But…”

“No buts!” Salsa gave the holy water to Woshi. She walked slowly to the giant.

“It is interesting. It has been so long since the last time people asked me to play a game.” said the giant.

Salsa smirked.”And this will be your last.” she mumbled.

“What’s a game?” asked the giant.

“Guessing words. I will ask you five words, you should guess the similar word. You have only one chance to answer. If you can answer correctly at least two of five, you win.”

“Deal!” said the giant.

“I’m gonna be crazy of her. But I trust you, my sister.” Woshi mumbled.

“The first word, go down.”

“Fall?”

“False!” 

The giant was shocked. “Hey, it-“

“Second, inside.” Salsa tried to ignore the giant’s complaint.

The giant thought hard. “In?” he was not sure.

“False! Third, for.”

“To?”

“False! Fourth, the world.”

“The earth?” 

“True!”

The giant smirked. “One word left and you will be my slave forever.” said the giant.

“Then, I will make the last question easier for you. You should answer it fast. You should prove that you are good enough to be my master.”

“Okay, what is the question? Say it quickly!”

“What are your four answers before? Say it with changing all the vocal letters in ‘E’! I’ll count to five. One…”

The giant thought hard to gather his own answers.

“Two…” Salsa counted while the giant started to remember his answers.”Three…”

“I know! Fell En Te The Eerth.”

The sky rumbled. The earth trembled. The ground where the giant’s footing began to suck his feet. The giant realized. He saw Salsa was wearing a smirk face. The giant was furious. 

“So, what is your name my majesty?” Salsa sneered.

“Fellente De Erth.” The giant stressed. “Argh! I am Fellente De Erth. My name contains a curse. Whoever says it will fall into the earth. Even if I say it myself.” The giant blurted in frustration. “You! I will curse you! If you give that holy water to someone else, you will turn into a cockroach.” Said the giant shortly before his body vanished into the earth.

Salsa turned back his body. She looked at his little brother. Woshi ran and hugged Salsa tightly. Woshi almost cried, but after seeing his sister’s smile, Woshi smiled too.

“How do you know his name?” asked Woshi.

“Ouh, it is easy. Remember the hint?”

“Leve, Twe, The Werld.”

“It is other words of love, two, and the world. Love is often followed by words ‘fall in’. Two has similar sound as to. The world is our world we live in now, The Earth. His name has a curse. So, I think, the name should be something that can be real and it is proved. Fall into the earth. The hint uses E vocal. It should have a sense. So I think the name is also in E vocal.”

“Okay, I see.” Woshi nodded even though he was confused. “What will we do? We can’t give the holy water to the Princess.”

“No. We will give the holy water to the princess. If we will be cockroaches, so will be. As long as we are still alive. Saving other’s lives is important. Trust me! If we help others, someday, someone will help us as we did. Are you okay with this?”

“As long as I am with you, I will always be fine.”

They smiled. They had decided their decision. Then, they went to the King’s castle.

After a long journey, in some days, Salsa and Woshi finally reached the King’s castle. With the holy water in their hands, they were warm. They were welcomed by the King himself. They were proudly guarded by the warriors to the Princess room. They fed the holy water to the sleeping princess’ mouth. After a few seconds, the princess opened her eyes. In the same time, Salsa and Woshi’s body was shining before finally they turned into cockroaches. The King, who had been told by them, felt guilty. They were willing to take the risk. The King helped the princess to sit in her bed. Then, the King helped her to drink all the holy water in the silver small jar. Finally, the Princess fully woke up. But, the Princess yelled loudly in one second after fully woke up. She saw two cockroaches in front of her. She panicked. She threw the silver small jar to the cockroaches. The King tried to stop the Princess, unfortunately it was late. The small jar had hit cockroaches’ bodies. They were dead.

The King cried in frustration. He sobbed. He told the story of Salsa and Woshi to the Princess while his tears never stopped falling even a second. The Princess cried louder than the King. She would bring this guilty feeling for the rest of her life. To lighten the burden of her feelings, the Princess buried the body of two cockroaches that had been lifeless politely. The Princess treated their funeral like the funeral of a nobleman. The Princess also poured milk and honey in their graves.

The day after, a tree grew from their graves. The tree bore many fruits. The color of the fruit reminded the King of the skin color of Salsa and Woshi. The fruit had sweet taste, like a mixture of milk and honey. The wood was resilient, difficult to cut, like the character of Salsa and Woshi who never gave up. Moreover, the fruit seeds looked like cockroaches. While in tears, the King and the Princess ate the fruit. They also spread the seeds throughout the kingdom. To commemorate the services of their two heroes, the King and the Princess named the fruit Sawo, an abbreviation of their name. (Note: Sawo is the Indonesian name of sapodilla).

THE END

Alone

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Written by Safira Ardya

 

“Well I was thinking you’d come here with someone. I wanted you to have, maybe, a

dance with me and Daniel..”

“You are not alone, right? Tell me you’re not.” Jane gave me a hug and said so.

I personally do not get it why people keep asking me as if it is a very big sin for being alone. Being alone, however, does not seem as terrifying as its image in everyone’s perception. Besides, when I am alone, I do not feel lonely. For me, what is more terrifying is making friends. Yes, I do enjoy me-time so much that I don’t even feel the joy of being surrounded by people. I did have lot of friends, once. When my life was still about partying all night long and sleeping all day long. I can exactly remember the time when all I did was making friends instead of being comfortable with myself. I still remember that moment when I hated to be alone and wanted to be with people. But that was approximately eight years ago, when I haven’t understood what kind of life I am really in. 

I was so unsure of life. Since my parents had ‘divorced’, I never knew what I had to do in this world, or why I was born in this family. Well it wasn’t actually called divorce. They both just left each other and started a new life. I was 17 when they both admitted that they never really loved one another. My mom had a strong belief that everyone deserves happiness. Based on her belief, she left me in order to find ‘her happiness’. Was that really happiness? The same story went to my father. He dated a woman younger than my mom. I asked him about that young lady he took to the house. He told me that she was his true love, while my mother was just his ex. I could not understand anything at that time. Thus, partying was the best decision after all. 

My relative in work, Jane, was so nice to me. She always greeted me every morning. But still, I was on my stance; people would not be nice to you unless they wanted something from you. So far, I successfully proved that my principle was definitely right. A thousand friends when I was in high school have gone. A hundred friends when I went to college, gone. A dozen friends where I work, I preferred to call them relatives. Then my theory was right. Right after Jane asked me that question, she began to ask another one. 

“Well I was thinking you’d come here with someone. I wanted you to have, maybe, a dance with Daniel and me. It would be a pleasure for us for having you and your partner,” she still said that kind of phrase despite the fact she knew for sure that I came to this place by only me, myself, and I. “Thank you Jane, that’s very kind of you. I feel truly honored if I could dance with you and Dan, but I’m enough. Anyway, congratulations, dear.” I gave her a little hug and a not-so-sincere smile, so I could go home earlier. That day was a very historical day for Jane. Dan proposed her and that day was her wedding day. I couldn’t even imagine how it feels to be married to someone. 

I was eating a cupcake when somebody appeared and said, “hello, Evelyn?” I was shocked as I turned my head to the right, and found out she was my long-lost best friend. I knew her since I was around twelve years old. The first day on my junior high school. She was Caroline. “Is that you, Carl?” I asked her, ensuring myself. “You remember me?” she laughed. I remembered this voice. We both hugged each other tightly. How I missed this person. She was the only one whom I trusted for years but we were set apart by the end of high school which I didn’t know why. We talked a lot about each other’s lives and how we could meet in that circumstance. She was the only one whom I told about everything that happened in my family. She was a trust-worthy person. She was also the reason why I hated everybody and didn’t want to make friends with anybody. 

– – –

“Now? Well I don’t have a boyfriend. I don’t have and don’t want to have anyway. How about you, Eve? It’s been a while since the last time I heard about your condition. Are you okay?” We both knew that we had some kind like inner-connection. We always noticed each other when one of us was not ‘okay’. She noticed me, that time. I told her that my life was okay, I kept contacting my parents some times, I lived in a small apartment – not far from my office, I was single and I had no friend. She gave me some advices about life; she told me that I couldn’t live alone. I didn’t care. Regardless the things she said, I was still alive even until the second I wrote this. 

“You cannot be like this. Come on, Eve. You really need someone to take care of you.” “Carl, I’m 25 and I have heavy work and responsibility. So tell me in which part do I need someone? Is there someone helping me when I’m on my lowest point? It was not even you, Carl.” I tried to explain her. But, I failed. She just didn’t get it. “You know what Eve? You’ll never be happy if you’re always alone like this. Life doesn’t go this way, Eve. Believe me,” she lowered her tone. I told her, “Happiness comes out from ourselves, darling. Who told you that happiness comes from another human being – outside yourself?” It was no use arguing with this lady. We had completely different perspectives.

When we were younger, we had the same perspective about life. We went to a city nightclub every Saturday to drink one shot or two and get drunk before the sunrise. At that very moment, my friends were uncountable. There were so many that I could not remember their names one by one. They liked to join Carl and me, since we literally had unlimited money that we could pay all the drinks for a dozen friends of us. It all changed when I entered college life, even worse when I entered work life. They were just suddenly gone with a blink of an eye. 

Carl was a nice girl with hazel brown eyes, pink cheeks even without her blush on, long blonde hair, and very pointed nose. She was amazingly beautiful. She was a daughter of a successful businessman. She lived in a very big house, with 10 housemaids and a personal driver. She didn’t have any friend; at least she didn’t have the real one. This was the similarity between us. We perceived the world as it was. No matter how nice a person could be, or how perfect a person might treat us, we didn’t want to make friends, or have a boyfriend. The night before prom night, a boy showed up at her door and asked if she wanted to go to prom with him. Carl – which always felt lonely – said yes. From that night on, until Jane’s wedding day, I had never heard anything about Carl. 

She changed her perception about life. She had many friends after prom night. I thought it was because she and his partner were crowned as Prom Queen and Prom King. She trusted people much that she began to leave me after that. 

– – – 

“Good Morning Eve!” Jane greeted me as I walked out the elevator and held two cups of coffee. I gave her one. This was what I believed; be nice with people and they would be nice to you in return. “Thanks Eve! How’s life?” she asked enthusiastically. “Jane, is there any letter for me?” I didn’t like having small talk. “You’ve always been like this! Yup, there are some letters Eve. I put it on your desk. Read it carefully.” She told me as she walked away from my room to get back to her room. One letter stole my attention for a while. On the envelope was written ‘from: C, to: Evelyn Sapphire’. 

She apologized for leaving me alone when I needed her the most. She admitted she was enjoying her time with her boyfriend and all her new friends so she forgot me. She regretted her mistake for making me upset. She said she missed me and wanted us to be like how we used to be. She left me dumbstruck. I wrote a letter back to her, saying thank you for her very kind intention and saying her no, for what she had asked me earlier. It was enough for me to trust somebody who was not trust-worthy at all. It was enough for me to make friends only to end up being disappointed because people always broke promises they made.

I told her to leave me alone again, I did not want to be disappointed because of other people and I did not want other people to be disheartened because of me. Let us just live our lives and never mind each other’s business anymore. By the end of the letter, I told her to watch over herself, no need to worry about me, and just be professional with our lives. I did not need friends who could only bring me down. Let us just be nice to each other without disturbing personal matters, or trust issue, because friendship was just nonsense after all.

Should English Be Taught in Early Age?

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By. Mehrunnisa Ani Mufti
Edited by Salma Maulani

 

Wherever we travel in the world, we can see advertisements and signs using English. Whenever we enter a restaurant or hotel in foreign country, they will use English to communicate with us. Indeed, English is an international language that has already spread around the world. People from various countries learn English. However, when is the right time to learn English? Is it from an early age or when we have already grown up? There are two sides in our society about whether English should be taught at an early age. Indonesian government believes that if English is taught in childhood it will burdens students in learning other subjects. While some parents are convinced that English should be taught at childhood because it will make their children easier to understand the international language. Although there are challenges in learning English in early age, such as students’ lack motivation, decreased sense of nationalism, and the large number of students in a classroom, there is some evidence that those problems can be overcome by using various games, setting a particular goal in teaching to grow students’ nationalism, and using group work in the classroom.

Garton (2013) believes that students in early age have a lack of motivation in learning English. However, motivation can be increased from learning activity and teachers who understand the context.  Listia (2008) states that to increase students’ motivation, teachers should make learning activity more fun by using the right method and various games based on the children’s cognitive, physical, and emotional level. Also, by providing colored textbooks. The research conducted by her, where the increasing of students’ motivation in learning English is in line with the use of interesting learning methods such as using games, puzzles, interesting pictures and songs in the teaching and learning process. In addition, teachers should know the context of teaching English. McMillan (2017) states that a good context explains function and meaning, and gives students a reason to use what is being taught and communicated. From that, it can engage students to learn English because they know how the language is meaningful to them and how they have the connection with the language. It is in line with Rhalmi (2013) that states learners will have motivation to learn English if they acquire the language meaningfully. 

Opponents also maintain along with the pressure of widespread globalization, learning English can affect a sense of nationalism (Kawai, 2007). However, it depends on how the teachers teach English to the students. Fanani (2008) believes that if teachers set a particular goal in order to improve students’ sense of nationalism, it can increase the sense of it to the students. In order to objectify it, Fanani (2008) has already mentioned two ways to improve students’ nationalism through learning English activities; inserting nationalism value and using Indonesian songs in learning English. In particular, he argues that while teaching English teachers can internalize the value of nationalism which the students can get the beneficial things from internalization because of the unity combination of manner and value. To internalize the values of the English teaching materials, Fanani states that teachers can identify the values of nationalism that can be merged into teaching materials, for example comprehending and obeying the values carried in the 1945 Constitution and Pancasila. Then, finding the sources (written in English) adjusted with students’ grades about teaching materials related to Indonesian nationalism. The second way mentioned by Fanani (2008) is using Indonesian songs. He believes that all children love to sing, play, and repeat short songs.  He observed that using nationalism songs with English lyrics can be very useful to raise students’ sense of Indonesian nationalism. One example of the song is “Hari Merdeka” which has been translated into English. 

The final argument stated by opponent, Listia (2008) is that learning English at an early age in school is less effective because of the large number of students in the class. However, there are a lot of ways to overcome that. Listia (2008) observed that it can be overcome by dividing students into groups or pairs. By applying this method, it can increase interaction between students and make the learning atmosphere more varied. Therefore, students can show their abilities maximally without being shy because they work together. In addition, teachers can manage them easily because they shouldn’t check one by one. On the other hand, the arrangement of the classroom can overcome ineffective teaching and learning activity in a big member of class. This is consistent with research conducted by Hayes (1997) which states that learning English by rearranging the classroom tools (tables and chairs) into several groups. With this, teachers can recognize and see the students’ work clearly rather than in the classroom arrangement in rows. Hayes (1997) also states that if the class becomes noisy because of a large member of class, teachers can use signals (example: a clap of the hands) and give the instruction in a loud voice.

It should be evident that the arguments against learning English in early age are not acceptable. Many challenges mentioned by opponents can be solved in many ways. First, students who are not motivated in learning English can be prevented by fun learning activities and the understanding of context that belongs to the teacher. Second, the process of learning English which makes sense of nationalism faded can be overcome by implementing nationalism values and using Indonesian songs while learning English. Third, over-participants in class can be dealt with classroom management. To overcome those challenges, training should be given to the teachers who teach English to childhood, and parents should control them at home. 

 

 

References

Hayes, D. (1997). Helping Teachers to Cope with Large Classes. ELT journal, 51(2), 106-116.

Garton, S. (2014). Unresolved Issues and New Challenges in Teaching English to Young Learners:

                  The Case of South Korea. Current issues in language planning, 15(2), 201-219.

Fanani, A. (2015). Using English to Enhance the Elementary School Students’sense of Nationalism.

                 Educate, 4(2).

Kawai, Y. (2007). Japanese nationalism and the global spread of English: An analysis of 

                Japanese governmental and public discourses on English. Language and Intercultural
Communication, 7(1), 37-55.

Listia, R., & Kamal, S. (2008). Kendala Pengajaran Bahasa Inggris di Sekolah Dasar. 

                 Retrieved on February, 11, 2011. 

Rhalmi, M. (2013, July 18). Meaning and Context in Language Teaching. Retrieved from

https://www.myenglishpages.com/blog/meaning-and-context-in-language-teaching/.

Mcmillan, S. (2017, September 19). Setting Context. Retrieved from

http://eslarticle.com/pub/teaching-english-to-speakers-of-other-languages-t/139590-Setting-Context.html

Against All Odds: Inspiration from Andi Putrado

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Written by Afni Febriani Muzdalifah & Willy Prasetya

Andi Putrado [personal documentation]

 

Being seemingly quiet, most people can easily mistake Andi Putrado as an average student. However, what he has been through has made him an extraordinary example of perseverance.

Andi is the first child of three siblings from a modest family. His father works as a private driver and a trader, while his mother runs a small shop. He passed his first year at the English Language Education Program of Universitas Islam Indonesia without much trouble. He also joined the university debate club and Taekwondo club in his spare time.

Unfortunately, as he stepped into the second year of college, her mother fell ill. His family had to give everything they had to nurse her back to health at the cost of financial support for Andi. Despite this challenge, Andi was determined to stay in college, so he decided to find a job to earn some money for living.

Andi worked as a waiter in a restaurant near the campus. Having a full-time job and attending classes at the same time turned out to be difficult for Andi. He had to skip some classes due to his work schedule. Oftentimes, when he was in class, he could not focus on the lessons since he already got tired after working. Also, dealing with annoying customers or being scolded by his supervisor often left him emotionally drained. However, he could eventually overcome the challenge despite earning a lower GPA.

That was not the only time life bashed him around. Besides working as a waiter, once Andi got the opportunity to be a private tutor. Since he did not have a motorcycle, he had to use his friend’s motorcycle or went to his student’s house by bicycle. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried to do his best, he often came late and thus could not keep the job after a few meetings.

 After all, when life closes a door, someone can always breach the wall instead of waiting for another door to open. He kept going through despite all the limitations and challenges, and his persistence paid off. He participated in various academic events, and even he got the 2nd runner-up position in two debate competitions. He also earned the opportunity to have his student teaching in Philippines, something that not all students could get. Despite all his outstanding achievements, Andi always tries to be humble. He acknowledged that he would have not made it this far without the relentless support from his parents, lecturers, and friends.

His story of perseverance shows us that we can achieve our dreams as long as we are willing to keep going against all odds. Besides, as Andi remarked, it is also important to know how to achieve what we want, to be open to various possibilities, and to keep praying.

A Journey Cross the Clouds

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Fatchan Faturrahman
Edited by Salma Maulani

 

Arrived safely in the country located on top of Sulawesi Island, Philippines was a blessing. I would be here for a month to follow one of the projects under Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization called SEA (Southeast Asia) Teacher Project. On the morning of September with hot weather, I went to the school, DC National High School (henceforth DCNHS) with my friends and also our students’ buddy who was assigned to accompany us during the project. Our buddy was also a students’ teacher who was taking a field study program as well. When I took a look at the school from outside, it seemed small. However, after entering the school, it was bigger than my first expectation. That school was a secondary school, which consisted of 4 years for Junior High School and 2 years for Senior High School. What a surprise! While observing the school by moving around every corner of the place, I initiated to ask “How many students in this school?” My buddy informed me that there were around 18.000 students. Consequently, each class consisted of 60-70 students. Suddenly, I took a deep breath and paused for a second. I talked a lot with my buddy about all the things related to the school habit and culture.  

On Monday, there would be a flag ceremony, all teachers and the students must gather in the field and stand there without making a row. The agenda was also simple, they were just raising the flag while the national anthem filled the air, and then continued by short speech from the headmaster. There was a shorter ceremony than Indonesia’ protocol. However, it does not matter since every country has its own belief and value behind it all. On the other days, at 7 o’clock in the morning the national anthem will be aired as well. All civitas academica had to stop their activity while standing looking forward to the flag as a form of respect.

Me as a student teacher met with my supervisor at the school, Ma’am Kin. She was an English teacher who was assigned to guide and assessed me during the project. She was very energetic and looked spooky outside but sweet hearted. I needed to consult with my supervisor about my lesson plan that I would use as guidance for my teaching demonstration. My supervisor was very helpful during this project. I learned a lot from her. The Philippines’ lesson plan was shorter and simpler than the common lesson plan in Indonesia used. 

The teaching demonstration day was coming and I had to prepare all the things. My buddy and I went to the nearest convenience store to buy lots of equipment such as color papers, markers, double tape and so forth as a teaching media due to the lackness of facilities provided by school. There were no LCD projector and speaker in the class. Thus, to make it more effective, the teacher needed to write down the learning material on a paper or visual aids in creative ways, since the time allocation was only 60 minutes for every meeting. Then, it could help the teacher to move and stick the visual aids easily from one class to another.

Picture 1.Visual Aids that I used in the Philippines Secondary School

 

The students’ character was very talkative and noisy for a reason that in one class there were a lot of students, the number of students is almost twice the common Indonesian classroom. “Could you imagine the atmosphere?” It was very crowded and I thought it would not be effective for learning activity. I had to speak louder and sometimes I screamed to make my voice heard. I felt very exhausted and thirsty after doing the teaching demonstration. However, they were very adorable and it made me want to be more enthusiastic to teach them. Sometimes, they teased me with the cutest things. They had a good willingness to learn. In addition, the Philippines weather was very hot at the time, drenched in sweat was a common condition. Hence, the students sometimes took off their uniform and only wore a T-shirt in the class. Probably it was acceptable due to the situation. By the way, they only wore one kind of uniform in a week. In Indonesia especially, one could wear three kinds of uniforms in a week.

Picture 2.Taking picture with these amazing students

 

 Entering the class, I tried to introduce myself and explained to them what I would be going to do there. “I am from Indonesia and I will be here for a month to have teaching experience here, nice to meet you” I said to the students. They called me Sir and for women they would call Ma’am. Before the class begins, they will pray together by standing and saying it in a loud voice. Uniquely, every class has its own name as their class identity. It can be flowers or fruit names. After observing the class the day before, I initiated a classroom agreement with the students. I hoped that it could help the learning activity more properly. They agreed with my rules in the class and it worked, they were more cooperative following my class. I gave rewards to the students who were being active positively during the lesson. I had brought traditional Indonesia keychains special for them as a souvenir. Furthermore, most students can speak English, since the Philippines adopted English as a second language (ESL country). Therefore, language has not become main barriers for the interaction between my students and me.

Becoming an international pre-service teacher needs to be ready for facing the unpredictable situation and condition. Adaptability is extremely important as a modal to survive. “Who can survive, they will be safe wherever they are”. The different cultures in the education system also need to be adjusted, such as curriculum, school facilities, students’ characteristics and so on. It is a place for us to learn the new version and various education views in other countries. Teachers need to explore their creativity in order to overcome the problem by giving solutions and making the class atmosphere become pleasurable. A teacher or educator should work and should have super energy on preparing all the things to educate the students. Teaching is the calling of the heart.

Things in college life that online learning can never replace

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Written by Willy Prasetya

Photo by the Author

 

When COVID-19 struck, all classes were shifted online. Teachers were working hard to find the best way to deliver lessons online, while students were struggling to deal with challenges in online learning. Despite the great effort to make online learning as meaningful as face-to-face classes, there are things in college life that will never be replaced.

 

Missing the taste of independence

As universities were closed due to COVID-19, most of us went back to our parents’ houses. Since then, we have been living under our parents’ authority once more. The responsibility to do household chores or to help our parents at work becomes inevitable. While some of us can balance our time for coursework and home duties, some others are having difficulties in dealing with multiple responsibilities.

In addition, while living with our parents, it is likely that we are missing the opportunities to practice independent decision-making that we did when living far from home. We stopped having our own routines, cooking our own meals, managing money for ourselves, choosing what non-academic activities to follow, or making other decisions related to our personal lives without much intervention from our parents.

 

Missing the social dynamics

I personally believe that what makes college more memorable is not the coursework but the social dynamics. Hanging out with friends, having an argument with a professor, doing something silly that makes everyone laughs during a class, and falling in love with a classmate will always be relevant topics to discuss even long after we graduate from college. While coursework in college makes us more knowledgeable, it is the social dynamics that makes us mature.

Conflicts, such as a quarrel with a roommate over the responsibility to clean the house, a disagreement in a student organization meeting, or a tension between two friends due to miscommunication, are important parts of social and emotional development for young adults . Due to campus lockdown, there are fewer interactions among us, resulting in fewer social dynamics.

It is true that online communication still enables us to stay in touch with friends and teachers. However, online communication also makes it easier to avoid conflicts or problems by simply turning off notifications or being irresponsive. In face-to-face college interactions, that is less likely to happen since we still need to attend classes in person and see our classmates or friends, including the ones we are having a problem with.

With the prolonged campus lockdown, a few of us may experience reverse culture shock when we have to go back to the complex social dynamics in college after the pandemic, particularly if staying at home has become the new comfort zone for us.

 

Every cloud has a silver lining

Despite what is missing from college life during the pandemic, we have the chance to learn new things. Online learning enables us to use various virtual tools and navigate the Internet more efficiently. In addition, by staying at home almost all the time, we can learn new skills, such as cooking, making arts and craft, or decorating rooms.

More importantly, this pandemic has taught all of us to appreciate things that we used to take for granted: greetings in the hall, small talks while waiting for classes, food sharing with friends during lunch, and many more. When the pandemic is over, hopefully we will rebound to a life full of appreciation and gratitude.