Tidak menarik.

Halo! Akhir-akhir ini nggak nulis karena bingung mau tulis apa. Kayaknya belum ada yang menarik. Ngomong-ngomong nulis pake kata ganti orang ketiga nggak bisa lagi deh kayaknya semenjak sekarang, soalnya nama panggilan saya berubah karena tuntutan karir. Jadi saya nggak bisa lagi menyebut nama yang saya sukai sering-sering (kasihan). Kali ini juga menulis dengan bahasa Indonesia karena orang malas baca tulisan saya yang berbahasa Inggris. Tapi nggak penting juga dibaca karena saya cuma mau curhat kayak post-post sebelumnya. Hitung-hitung kalo aja ada yang penasaran sama hidup saya sekarang kayak apa ya mereka bisa liat post ini lah walaupun pendapat saya pribadi sih baca ini juga nggak akan membantu. (mungkin sedikit)

Akhir-akhir ini saya jadi aktif menggunakan email sebagai sarana komunikasi lho. Tumben soalnya dari zaman dulu email biasanya cuma saya gunakan untuk kirim-kiriman tugas, atau... yah. Cuma kirim-kiriman tugas. Sisanya antara lain email aktivasi dari web2 lain baru deh email orang. Tapi kali ini benar-benar ber-email2an lho. Agak hardcore juga deh sekali bales saya bisa tulis sampai 3 halaman word, padahal buat esai ospek aja mau satu halaman dengan tulisan besar-besar dan spasi super jauh juga masih menghabiskan setengah kehidupan.

Akhir-akhir ini juga saya kebanyakan asumsi-asumsi padahal saya paling pantang asumsi-asumsi sebelum ngerti masalah/orang/hal atau apapun lah yang saya asumsikan, tapi namanya manusia kali ya emang hidupnya penuh asumsi jadi yaudah deh. Saya paling suka kalo asumsi biasanya asumsi saya salah, jadi setiap kali asumsi saya selalu berusaha asumsi sehancur-hancurnya realita biar yang sesungguhnya terjadi nanti tidak sehancur-hancurnya realita. Sedihnya asumsi-asumsi saya suka bikin galau, walaupun konsentrasi galaunya kecil. Ngomong-ngomong saya jadi pangling deh nulis begini, emang selama ini kalo nulis begini ya bahasanya? Kok aneh. (takdir)

Oh ya, asal tau akhirnya saya menemukan darimana suara saya bisa begini. Setelah bertahun-tahun saya kenal sama tante saya, saya baru sadar pas liburan kemarin kalo suara saya dan suaranya setipe, jadi sebagai pembelaan saya bisa bilang kalo suara saya ini memang keturunan.

Saya juga masih dalam masa adaptasi, adaptasinya macam-macam, saya belum pernah sekalipun makan di kampus saya (namanya bulan puasa) kemudian saya juga masih tidak tahu banyak tempat walaupun sudah lumayan mendengar banyak cerita hantu. Saya juga datang ke kampus pada hari minggu untuk mengerjakan tugas. Singkatnya, saya pun rasanya kembali menjadi anak kelas sepuluh yang baru di kader. Tapi tidak seperti saat kelas sepuluh dulu yang bikin buku wawancara bentuk ipod kali ini bikin nametag bentuk ipad. (no pun intended) oh ya, untuk progres monbu, saya belum berangkat kesana kok, pengumumannya Januari kalo saya tidak salah informasi.

Dan sebentar lagi akan libur. Saya bahagia. InsyaAllah saya akan mudik. Saya suka mudik. Mudik itu seru sekali lho. Karena disana asyik. Biasanya sih.

Yasudah. Mungkin akan update lagi. Tataw. Siapa tau selanjutnya ceritanya akan lebih menarik.

Monbukagakusho Interview

Hi guys! My thoughts are in a jumble these days, but life's good as ever. Ospek aside, I want to share my story of how the interview for Monbukagakuso goes for undergraduate program in Indonesia. I kinda have sworn this in my mind for a past few days because of lack of it in this so-called internet. So yeah.

Here goes.

It was today at 8.30 am (or so it says) and you got to be there by 8.00 am because at 8 the security guard will start calling the interviewee's names. And then at 8.30 am, we (interviewee) were gathered at a place where some people wil start explaining that it would be the last time you compete with your friends from the same country and such. Kinda important but you'll get notes of it so I'll skip it.

Those who applied for social studies goes first because those who applied for science gotta do the Japanese test that they had skipped on the written test before. So, I and a few friends (all girls btw) went to waiting room where we wait (obviously) for our turn. It was in alphabetical order and I was the fourth out of five people. The woman that announce things when we gathered said that the interview was in Bahasa Indonesia, but it turned out that they interviewed us in English.

From what I've heard from my friend, it was in Bahasa Indonesia before (or usually, I don't know) so maybe they just changed it this year. Or maybe they want to see how it'll go if they use English for future reference or something. Anyway, most of us was shocked. I'm not really surprised, because, well, I have no preparation at all, in both languages, so I have nothing to lose. Unlike those who thought about what kind of things they should say if interviewers asked this or that and make notes about it (which one of my friends did, fyi)

So when it was my turn, I made sure to knock and greet them first and sit when they let me sit. And then they asked usual things like: Introduce yourself. | Why Japan? | What do you think about the big difference between our culture? | Did I apply for any scholarship beside this? | What would you do if you got this recommendation? | What would you do if you're done with you're studies? (Work in Japan? Indonesia, something like that) | and personal things like: | describe yourself | what do your parents think about this? | and so on.

Nothing weird.

I don't talk very much at that time, maybe because of the language barrier or maybe I'm just nervous, but in one note, my turn was fast. My friends before me took like, 15 minutes or something and I'm done by 10 minutes or so. I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

Well, the interviewers aren't intimidating or scary, they're pretty nice so no need to be nervous I guess. Well, they know you're still a kid. They know you're nervous. So don't worry to much, they don't expect things that high from you (I think) so I maybe, if you answered it confidently and calmly it's pretty much okay. I mean, I don't think they want to find out whether your English's good or not, or whether you're smart or not, they just want to know what kind of person they will recommend to go as Indonesia's representative for this scholarship. Even if you answer it with words that will make Grammar Nazis cry a river. I think.

And the result? Who knows. If I don't get through then it's simply because they don't think I'm the right one, not because I'm not worth it. I think. And in a way, that's a good thing because people don't have too miss me too much (/puke) ahahaha just kidding.

There. That's pretty much it. If you're one of those people who are shock of how'd you get through and have no preparation at all for any interview that is due in a week from now and start searching it in the internet, at least you have some sort of reference. Kinda.

Things are pretty hectic these days (it seemed that way since I spend the last few months being lazy), but things that seem like tragedies are always funny to tell after given sometime. Fact.

I actually hate essays, but I think they'll be hilarious when I found out how wrong it is a few years later. Here I am, writing in this blog, when I got 2 more essays to be done. Yay me.

Oh, and Happy Ramadhan!

Holidays just a few blocks away!

So relax when you prepare to meet us, and when you fill out your essays. Preparing is not for now, you have been preparing for seventeen years. Suggesting that you "be yourself" is not a trick just to lower your guard, uncover your flaws, and deny you admission. But lowering your guard might be a good idea. I've talked to lots of candidates - and the ones who are just themselves, who can laugh at their mistakes and struggles, who seem comfortable in their own skin - inevitably show a bit more maturity, and inevitably make the best impression. Just my two cents.

- John DeTore, an EC. He does the interviews for MIT admissions.

p.s. Thank Romy, I'd be lost without his advices.

p.s.s. I got a call just now, turns out I made it. Somehow. And. Uh. I dunno. I'll end this post now.