A Jobseeker Story

Whooohooo..., akhirnya berhasil juga finishing this story. Kali ini gw mau cerita ttg perjalanan gue finding "the one", but not as in "teman hidup" context loh ya..., ini konteksnya tentang mencari pekerjaan, hehe. Hmmm....mulai dari mana ya? gw tulis per chapter aja lah ya, soalnya panjang juga ceritanya. Yang mau baca cerpen non-fiksi (or cerpan kalo kepanjangan) ini...., hyuuuk dimari. Dicicil juga boleh koq bacanya. up to you lah.

Chapter 1: Fresh Graduate

Waktu itu Februari 2007. Akhirnya berhasil juga gw lulus dari kampus gajah duduk a.k.a ITB. Jurusan gw termasuk yang favorit lah waktu itu, Teknik Kimia. Masuknya susah (katanya). Buat gw keluarnya lebih susah lagi. Tapi kayaknya buat 50% temen seangkatan gw gak sesusah itu deh, buktinya IPK mereka tinggi-tinggi, dan yang cum laude cukup banyak. Gw waktu itu lulus dgn IPK selamat aja lah...., cukup buat cari nafkah, hehe. Jujur, gw dulu ngerasa salah jurusan, tapi mo gimana lagi, gw sendiri juga gak punya cita-cita yg jelas sih waktu lulus SMA. Alhasil, kakak gw lah yg milihin jurusan TeKim itu. 

Hehe, ini poto waktu wisudaan =). Kami adalah batch wisuda ke-3 di angkatan. Yang laen udah pada lulus duluan Juli and Oktober 2006. Tapi yang lulusnya setelah kami juga masih ada sih ;) --> menghibur diri.

Waktu baru lulus, yang kebayang ya langsung apply ke perusahaan-perusahaan ternama buat jadi Engineer, seperti kebanyakan alumni Tekim yang laen. Website career centre ITB gw pantengin terus. Trus gw masukin lamaran ke beberapa perusahaan. Dan puji Tuhan, gak ada satu pun yang jebol, hehe. Untungnya, habis lulus kompre Feb 2007 itu, gw langsung dapet proyek research di Dept. Matematika. Itu kerjasama ama Dept. Teknik Perminyakan gitu deh, masih soal oil and gas juga, jadi masih kepakai lah ilmu gw di Tekim. Gw mengira proyekan itu bakal untuk 2-4 bulan aja sblm akhirnya gw dpt kerjaan permanen di luar Bandung. But I was wrong. Tuhan masih ijinin gw untuk tinggal di Bandung sampai akhir thn 2008. Selama ngerjain proyek itu, gw sempet bbrp kali apply-apply ke perusahaan-perusahaan lagi buat posisi engineer. Tapi ya itu, gak ada yang lolos. Seingat gw, dari sejak gw lulus itu cuman 2 ato 3 perusahaan yg manggil tes, dan itu pun gw gk lolos. Perusahaan-perusahaan yg lainnya malah kagak manggil untuk tes sama sekali. I don't know why. Payah ya gw ;p.

When Silence is The Answer

I looked up to the sky searching for an answer

It might be hidden in the cloud, 

or hanging up high with the stars

but silence was all I could find

Then I went down to the deepest sea

to a place long forgotten and abandoned

It might be hidden in between treasures

but there was only silence

Then I flew to the horizon

thinking that the answer might be hidden 

in a place where heaven and earth collide

but there was only silence

Then I stopped, paused, selah...

When silence is the answer, will I still trust Him?

But silence........is not the end!

Ocha and The "Burning Bush"

Bulan lalu gue baca artikel yg bagus dari blognya Christine Caine. Ini tentang masa penantian yg panjang, tentang Musa yg ketemu 'burning bush'. So, buat kamu-kamu yang juga sedang dalam masa penantian, baca deh artikelnya HERE. Artikel-artikel lain di blognya Christine Caine yang lain jg bagus-bagus koq, singkat, padat, dan powerful. Gue suka ama bible teaching dia, and it was a privilege having heard her teaching LIVE =D. 

Gue cuma mau modify artikel di atas dan gue sesuaikan ama kondisi gue skrg. And let the curhat begin..., hihihi. Tp lbh seru kalo baca artikel aslinya dulu di link di atas. Ternyata ya nasib gue gak jauh-jauh lah sama nasibnya Musa, hehe. Bedanya kalo dia menggembalakan Shaun the sheep, eh domba-domba father-in-law-nya, gue 'menggembalakan' ayam dan anjing gue :p.

Ocha was in her father’s house in a small town for more than 9 months, taking care of the backyard, chickens, and  Mopi & Tesi, the dogs of her father.

It was in this rainy, green, humid, back of nowhere, and quiet place that God turned up to launch Ocha as the leader of one greatest emancipation programs ever. (Amen)

The BURNING BUSH was right there in the green and humid place

Catatan Akhir Tahun 2011

Hufffttt....., tau-tau dah akhir tahun lagi neh. Apa aja ya yg udah terjadi taun ini?
First, gue sebut tahun ini adalah 'the unexpected year'. Bukan diartikan sebagai 'tahun yg tdk diharapkan' loh ya..., tapi lebih ke 'tak terduga' ato 'di luar dugaan', ato 'meleset dari perkiraan', 'di luar rencana', dan sejenisnya.....
Dulu, di awal taun ini gue dah pe-de dengan segudang rencana. Lulus kuliah, balik ke indo, daftar ke UNV (United Nation Volunteer), trus dapet assignment, ato ngelamar kerja di tempat2 yg menawarkan petualangan (harusnya gue ikut Jejak Petualang aja kali ya), dapet kerja di tempat yg seruuu, trus kerja 2 thn, loving my job, trus mau lanjut kuliah lagi 2013. 
Gue dulu bayanginnya taun ini gue bakal kerja di NGO yg ngurusin anak-anak gak mampu, yang di tempat-tempat terpencil gitu, ngajar anak-anak itu, sambil menggunakan ilmu engineering gue utk membangun daerah itu, misalnya pengolahan sampah, ato pemurnian air.
Ato kalo gak bisa kerja kayak yg gue sebut tadi ya, at least gue dapet kerja di perusahaan bagus supaya gaji gue bisa gue gunakan juga buat berpartner sama pelayanan/organisasi yang fokusnya children well-being ato anti human trafficking, dan juga ladang misi *cieeehhhh, teuteup hatinya misi booo....

One Little Step at A Time

Sabtu lalu gue ketemuan sama salah seorang adik di youth ministry dulu, si Echa, dan dia nulis jg blog ttg pertemuan ini, tapi beda topik, haha. Lalu kami makan2, ngobrol2, saling menanyakan kabar kami masing2, dan kabar temen2 kami yg laen. At some point I was overwhelmed by the fact that some of our friends (who used to serve The Lord together with us) have chosen the path that we don't understand as a follower of Christ. Some chose to yoke with unbelievers, and some have been compromising with the world in some areas of life. Tapi dapat disimpulkan bahwa dua hal yang menjadi major issue nya adalah "pekerjaan" dan "teman hidup". Dua hal ini yang membuat banyak orang stumble and drifted from their tracks. Dua hal ini emang sensitif, bisa membuat orang semakin jauh, ato semakin dekat dgn Tuhan. Dan puji Tuhan, ini dua hal yang gue gak punya saat ini, hahaha :D. Perfect! But I will have them someday though.

But eniwei, sepanjang hari itu aku terus bertanya-tanya sama Tuhan. "koq bisa ya Tuhan, koq bisa", "padahal kan dulu mereka bla bla bla", "padahal kan dulu sama-sama pernah mengalami perjumpaan dgn Engkau", "padahal kan...dst..dst..dst.", "aku gak habis pikir Tuhan, kalo mereka bisa kayak gtu, gue yang tdk lbh kuat dari mereka ini pun tidak fail-proof donk", " koq bisa ya mereka mengingkari sendiri apa yang dulu mereka percayai?",  "trus gimana Tuhan biar gak menyimpang dari track Mu?"

But God...I don't have to do this.....

I came back to my sister’s house for an 'emergency' call after spending 3 weeks at my parents’ house. She has to go out of town for 9 days for her career-related program. She asked me to look after his 4 years old son, cook for her family,  and take care of her household.  Her husband is actually still in town, and they have a part-time nanny, but my sister insisted that  I have to come to her house. After all, I haven’t had any job yet. Yes, I’m still unemployed, and that is another story. Anyway, so, I took a long journey back here, 11 hours by bus, plus trapped in the seasonal Indonesian Idul Fitri traffic, when in fact I should've just continued my long holiday with my parents instead. 

I know it won’t be easy here. My nephew is an attention-seeker, violent-screamer, and rebellious kind of kid at this stage. Not all the time, but most of the time. Sometimes he is cute and nice. Well, I know it wasn’t 100% his fault. I don’t know how his parents had raised him.

His dad, my brother in law,  is a workaholic kind of dad. As long as I’m in his house, he will just leave his son with me whenever possible, so he is free to work at home. He is a lecturer. He likes to bring his works home. So, in other words, I'm a substitute player for a mum/nanny/housekeeper.

Lesson from babysitting my nephew - Obedience-

I spent my past 2 months babysitting my 4 and a half yrs old nephew. He is a smart, sweet, funny, and cute kid. But sometimes we (his parents and I) were made upset because of his rebellious attitude. Well, you know...he's just a kid. Whenever we told him not to, he always does the opposite. When he wants something, he just couldn't understand the meaning of "wait!". He wouldn't take "no" for an answer, and everything has to be fulfilled "now!" as he wishes. And of course, if we don't fulfill what he asks, he will cry, whine, scream, and probably throw his toys on us. When we explain the reason why we forbid him to do this and that, why we can't give him what he wants at the moment, and that it's all for his own sake, etc...., he just don't want to know.Well...., he's just a kid. However, we still love him no matter how he is. But of course it saddened us when he become a disobedient kid.

Chapters of my life

Iseng-iseng mengenang masa-masa and chapters of my life...
today is 10-10-10. banyak orang punya angan2 mau nikah di tanggal cantik ini. ada yg kesampaian, ada yg kagak. kalo gw jelas gk berharap nikah tgl 10-10-10, karena gw tau...kuliah gw pasti blm kelar tgl segini, hehehe.
But nevertheless, gw pengen mencoba mengenang tiap chapter of  my life. sampe di chapter brp sih book of my life di tgl ini. *kalo thesis siy sampe saat ini chapter 1 aja blm kelar @_@ ;p*.

1. Childhood
early stage of my life.., kenal yg namanya keluarga, temen2, tetangga, dll. pokoknya memulai interaksi sama manusia yg laen. my senses started to recognize their functions.
waktu kecil gw sering di-dzolimi ama kakak2 gw (resiko anak paling kecil). trus gw suka melukis di seluruh tembok rumah, dengan lukisan standar anak TK...dan gak mo ngaku kalo itu gw yg gambar2 di tembok. gw bilang itu kakak gw yg gambar2..., tp ttp aja papa mama tau kalo gw oknumnya, hihihi.

Gw rajin bgt sekolah minggu, sampe selalu jadi anak kesayangan suster-suster di sekolah minggu. Trus pernah pas natalan sekolah minggu kan ada drama kelahiran Yesus. tadinya gw kebagian peran jd pemilik rumah penginapan yg gk mau ngasih tempat berteduh buat Yusuf n Maria..., hehehe...gw nangis dunk..., ngambek, gk mau dpt peran jahat. Alhasil..., akhirnya gw jadi malaikan Gabriel, hahahaha ^_^.
Gw juga rajin Pramuka dan Dokter kecil. Foto diatas itu foto pas outbound Pramuka. hayoo....gw yg mana?hehehehe.
Banyak sbnernya poto2 masa kecil gw, tp gk dibawa, hiks2.
Gw mulai pelihara anjing dan kucing waktu TK/SD kayaknya. Biarpun seluruh rumah gak ada yg suka kucing gw (karena dia bandel)..., gw selalu belain dia, hehe. Yah, masa kecil...masa yg menyenangkan, masa yg konyol, yaah...namanya jg anak2....


2. Junior High.., SMP, teenager...
Hmmm...., masa-masa SMP ini mulai muncul bibit2 kebandelan. Beberapa kali bolos dr kelas, cuman buat nongkrong di kantin, makan..., karena males dengerin pelajaran (duuh...maap ya pak guru..bu guru). Tp untungnya prestasi gw di SMP lumayan membanggakan lah. Dsini gw mulai tau yg namanya kompetisi di bidang akademik. mungkin karena lingkungan di-set begitu kali yah.

Hahahaha, poto di atas itu pas di Kuta, Bali. culun-culun bgt yak. itu pertama kalinya gw piknik ke Bali, sama temen2 SMP. Berkesan bgt, krn sebelum berangkat piknik, gw maju final lomba cerdas cermat SMP tingkat propinsi Jateng dulu bareng temen gw Estie n Ahmad (Alm.). Kami Juara I, yaaayy...dan pulang bawa Piala. trus pas nyampe di sekolah, naro piala, langsung cabut ke Bali deh..., senangnyaaa...
yang gw inget dr SMP yaa...namanya jg teenager yah, pasti ada pubertas, trus ada bandel2nya dikit lah....

Live a Purposeful Life

OK, so a month ago I wrote about disorientation, where I found myself going nowhere and don't know where I was heading. I called that moment 'a valley' moment. But the good news is I have Jesus. He is God of the hills and valleys. He is a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys (Songs 2:1). In every season, He is still God.

He helped me to conquer every season. Even when I'm in the valley, I do not fear, for His rod and His staff, the comfort me (Psalm 23:4). Now I'm back on my feet, I hold my ground, for He has set my feet upon a rock. I fix my eyes upon Him, the perfecter of my faith, and I hold onto His promise. " For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

So, it's the way I see my life that determine where I'm heading. Now I found my purpose in Him. Step by step He shows me the way. My thesis is progressing, plan after I graduate is slowly but surely come into clarity, and I know where my passion is. I'm excited about my life. I'm excited about what the Lord is doing and will still do in my life. I'm just so excited!!! And it pretty much change the way I live my life. What about you? Wherever you are, I hope you live your live purposefully, with a divine purpose, and be excited of becoming who you are, be excited of living your life as you are. Be blessed!

In Every Season

can't believe it's autumn again here
and now it's my 2nd autumn
time flew so fast, pheeewwww..........
and i should finish my study soon, arrrggghhh.....(wish i was not reminded 'bout this :p)

i love to see autumn leaves
i love how they change their colour from green, yellow, red, brown
then fall to the ground
 















sometimes, it gives a melancholic touch. gloomy sky, cold wind, and falling leaves are just a perfect combination. it will even get worst in winter. fyi, there's no snow during the winter here. it's just a set of rainy days, with cold wind, and sometimes storm. but, the good news is...this season won't last forever. there's a hope for another season to come. falling leaves will be replaced with new buds. flowers will bloom in spring and unleash its beauty. trees will bear fruits, and the sun will shine.
but that's another season to come. what i'm facing now is autumn. how will i survive, and not only survive, but enjoy this season..., that's what matters. uhmmmm...at least i know how to enjoy this season now. probably just take a walk in the park and enjoy watching the autumn leaves while having a cup of hot chocolate will be a good idea, hehe :p.

Well, each one of us must be in a particular season of life now
sometimes...we wish to skip a certain season; season of hardships, boredom, misery, and all that sounds hard to tackle. i'm no different..................................

Everything's Gonna Be Alright

Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn't find any way out, everything seems to be out of control, your life is in chaos, more than two problems come before you at the same time???...........

It could be any situation regarding your job, study, relationship, family, finance, and so on. May be you've been waiting for a response from a job that you've applied for ages, while your family keep asking you why are you still jobless til now, and then they don't supply you with any living cost anymore? Or may be you've been betrayed my your most trusted friend when you desperately need him/her beside you? May be you have a problem in your job, while your boss seems to be ignorant, and none of your colleagues show any sympathy?