Actually, I read every genre; from history, self-development, politics, biography, even teen lit or romance. But, one of top priorities must-buy-book for me is travelogue book since I like travelling. I think a good travelogue books tell us not only about the destinations but also the lesson learned from the journey. I prefer to read travelogue books with motive or why the writers doing his travel to that place not only describe the destinations itself. 

2017 almost over and I still here, Jogja, of course. Most of my friends finally getting out from Jogja because they got a job outside Jogja. Those who still in Jogja decided to gather and play futsal. As a freelancer (or jobless to make it clear), I agreed to this invitation because I miss them seldom doing sport since I graduated last August. The game was lit and I got sweat. After the game, we decided to hang out in "burjonan" around the field. We do some chit-chat about life after graduation. Yes, we, as a fresh graduate, mostly accept any job to broaden our experience (not thinking about money that we can earn, although we work overtime like a cow in the rice field, wkwk). For example, after graduate, I accept two jobs related to urban planning, become a liaison officer in 3 different summer schools, become a volunteer at info day the University of Sydney, and continue to do part-timer in OIA UGM. I do all of these because I just happy to do it, that's it.  Then, we start to make a list of our friend that had been working one by one, including their company and their position. It is good because we found that many of our friends finally got a job. But in the other hands, it makes us scared because we were still jobless until now.

Some friends asked me, "Are you still working in OIA? Why are you still working there? Have you applied to XYZ company?" and other related questions.

Hey bro, I told you, I did not sit back and wait for the job. I tried several times too. At the beginning, I apply many job vacation neatly. I used to thrust in a job fair with others job seekers. You know, I got a chance to be an oil-palm employee but in the interview session, I decided to step back. I got a chance to be a civil servant in national government, but in the last phase, I decided to draw back. 

"Hey, are you crazy? Why you reject it?"

Well, I just want to say that there is something that I can't explain to you. Jim Rohn called it "Personal Philosophy" or personal belief (way of thinking) that maybe everyone cannot accept it.

At this point, I used my feelings more than logic. I don't know is it right or not, but my heart keeps convinced me to do something that brought me closer to my dream, to see the world. My heart tells me that I should not stop now, and I would do. That's why I'm like this. I just follow my feelings and intuition. 

I know that it is not an easy way. There is plenty challenges and obstacle ahead. But, don't ever stop or let the world's negativity disenchant you or your spirit.  I'm sure if we consistent and start doing step by step, anything is possible! Hakuna Matata!

Yes, in this uncertainty era, we need secure some good job to make sure we gain plenty money to continue our life and being a PNS is a good choice. Back in the last August, the government of Indonesia open recruitment vacancy for a civil servant in various ministers and departments. Of course, as a fresh graduate, I don't want to lose this opportunity and try to apply. After long consideration, I applied in Minister of Marine and Fisheries as an analyst. There is 83 applicant across Indonesia that apply for this position. Lucky me, I pass the administration selection and also I pass the computer-based test (CAT), and after this, I just to pass one step more to become a civil servant.

I got the project from LINE group. My friend told me that his supervisor needs 4 surveyors and it is not unfulfilled yet. Then, I contact the supervisor and asking whether she needs more surveyor or not. She replied me that she needs one more and ask me back if I want to join or not. Luckily, I said yes. That is how I got this project! Hehe.

The project is about the existence of street hawker (PKL/Pedagang Kaki Lima) in Jogja. The aim of the project is to know the total street hawkers and review if they have met the regulations or not. My duty is to mapping the street hawker that take place in pedestrians and then analyze if they meet the requirements to sell there and also conduct an interview in each street where the street hawker be. We were given 7 days to finish this project but in the fact, we need 10 days to finish it due to heavy rain that occurs in entire Jogja. .

What can I say that this job was super fun yet challenging! At the beginning, you must take a photo of all street hawkers. After you finish it, you must analyze with the indicators that have been set before, one by one. And you know what? In my site, they are 300+ street hawkers! It means I must analyze all of them, of course, one by one. Haha, guess I'll die~ If you were done, export the data to ArcGIS and start to make a map. Then, for the most challenging part is to conduct an interview with them. You know, sometimes you got a rejection because of they afraid that you will evict them. So, I always say that I come from UGM and the interview is a part of a research. Yes, it almost works every time.

From this project, I got an opportunity to interview many street hawkers and it gives me lesson learned. Most of them tell me about their life. I meet dropout kid and also a husband that his wife makes affairs behind him. But, instead of being sad, they choose to struggle and continue their life though it seems hard. They want to do anything to make their family happy.

From their stories, i learn that

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

If you fail, get up stronger.  You only live once. So, let be grateful for our life.

Hello, world! It has been 6 months since I write something here. How lazy I am. But actually, it happened not because I'm lazy, but many things happened in the last 6 months and I don't have spare time (or maybe I don't "menyelokan" time) to write something here.

After struggling more than 4 years, I graduated the last August. I think life is more challenging after you graduated. You may find many options on what will you do after this and each option had their own responsibilities. Well, despite finding and securing a good job, I decided to continue and pursue my dream since I was in high school. What is it? Yes, to study abroad, to see the world.

Now, I am working in the office of international affairs UGM and I  have been working there since a year ago. Every day, I am reading scholarship offers an opportunity to going abroad by UGM partner universities around the world and summarized the information and then upload it to their website (You can find many opportunities here: oia.ugm.ac.id). Because of that, I used to read an article in English and its improve my skill in skimming and summarizing an article. Besides, here I must communicate with the foreigner, it helps me to boost my listening skill in English and also speaking with them. I'm happy because I don't need to go to the English course to learn more about English. I think my conversational English skill is good enough for daily life. But, for study abroad? It is absolutely not. Haha

If you want to study abroad, the biggest challenge you must conquer is to get enough IELTS score. Last month, I did an IELTS simulation and I got score 5,5. I think it is not a good score since the average score to apply a scholarship is 6,5. I had read an article that if you want to increase one score of IELTS, you need at least 220 hours study. Well, I think I must commit to study English harder than ever. 

So, this is the way I train my writing skill. I try to write anything on my blog daily (of course in English) at least 250 words because I find that I enjoy writing here rather than on a piece of paper because its get me easily bored. So, if you find my grammar is bad, please correct me and I would appreciate it. 

Wish me luck!