Fourth Semester: Will I Miss It?

It's been more than one year since I posted my last post. What's up, guys? 

You've already read the title of this post and I believe you know what I am going to tell. My fourth semester has come to the end and I am so happy I can pass through this semester. You know what, this semester has become the hardest semester for me. Yep! Quizzes, assignments, presentations, and exams made my head exploded. However, my 4th semester was not only full with that kind of stuff. Here are some moments I want to share with you and find out whether I'll miss this semester or not.

The 2016 AEO (Asian English Olympics)

This is one of the best moments in my life! I joined a Newscasting Competition that was held by one of the public university in Jakarta and it was really huge. 

All participants were really great and at the moment, I felt insecure (don't get me wrong, I always feel this anytime I join a competition or some kind of workshop/training). But when I think about it again, why should I feel insecure? I came to the competition not to win, but to get as many experiences as I can. This competition has taught a lot of things: conquering my nervousness and improving my public speaking. Not to mention, I get to know new people from different countries, which is really awesome! 

Gala Dinner

Planting Trees

On May 2016, I (and the others) had a chance to plant trees. I'd never planted a tree before, so I was really happy doing this activity. There was some miscommunication at that time. When we arrived at the district office, there was no committee. The security even asked us, "What are you doing here? You guys want to make ID?" and we were all like ...... So, after few minutes debating, finally we found the answer. The event started at 1pm and we came at 10 am. So, once again we were all like ...... We were starving and the weather were piercing our skin, so we decided to eat noodles.

While waiting

After waited for one to two hours, finally we did the activity. But again, there was miscommunication. They were not sure about the place. Thankfully, this problem could be solved quickly. It was so much fun doing this activity. I'm really grateful that I could contribute in this event.  All the sweat was paid off after we finished planting the tree.

The Team

Ave's in action

He who plants a tree plants a hope - Lucy Larcom

Visiting Lontar Foundation

My friends and I had a chance to visit Lontar Foundation. It was founded in 1987. The main purpose of this organisation is to introduce Indonesia through literary works. It has translated many literary works from Indonesia to English and other languages.

John McGlynn as the founder gave a small talk about the background of his life and also the history of Lontar Foundation. There is a small library located on the second floor that has many literary collections not only from Indonesia, but also from other countries, such as Malaysia and South Korea. Students used this opportunity to ask about anything related to translation. For those who were still confused choosing their concentration, visiting Lontar Foundation could be a way to solve their confusion. If you want to know more about this organisation, you can visit their website at lontar.org.

Social Experiment

This is one of the most embarrassed moment in my life! Yup! My friend and I had to do a social experiment as the final assessment in one of the courses. The experiment that we did was a high five experiment.

Recording the introduction at park near my boarding house

So, we did this in one of the malls in Jakarta and we chose the one that is far away from our campus (we don't want anybody to recognise us). Many targets rejected our high five, which we had already predicted. There was someone who surprisingly responded the action as if he knew me. When I did a high five to one of the targets, he gave a big smile and even asked 'how are you' like I was someone he knew, which was so hilarious.

We spent hours doing this experiment, but we had so much fun. Seriously, this was really fun to do. We laughed so hard when we combined the whole video. Every time I play the video, it makes my stomach hurt. Well, maybe, just maybe, we would like to make another video like this.

Interviewing Teacher

As one of the requirement to pass the subject of Second Language Learning and Teaching, we needed to make a critical essay based on our interview.

After we did an interview, we prepared the essay and later we needed to present it. My friends and I were really stressful. We were afraid that we couldn't pass the presentation well. Not to mention the question that would be given. However, it turned out really good! We did well in our presentation. I can conclude that we do not need to worry as long as we have prepared well. The key is keep believing in yourself.

Live In

Few days ago, 2014 batch went to Desa Kopeng, Salatiga to do live in for three days and two nights. We were divided into three villages: Selongisor, Tayeman, and Thekelan. I stayed in Dusun Selongisor. It was really cold, especially in the early morning. I and the other three from different faculty lived in one of the houses there. We lived together with our foster parents. We helped the parents to do their daily activity, such as cooking, feeding cows, harvesting, and many others. We also taught children there. 

English is Fun Project

The hardest part of this event is not about the weather or even about living in the house with completely new people. It is about saying goodbye to the foster parents. For three days, we lived with the foster parents and it is really hard to leave them and go back to our daily activity in Jakarta. 

This is really a memorable moment for me and I am going to miss it really really much.

That is pretty much sum up my whole moments in the fourth semester. I guess you know what my answer is. So, will I miss it? Definitely yes! This semester has been my greatest semester so far.  There are many memorable moments that happened and I am going to miss every single moment in this semester. Hopefully, next semester is going to be as great as this semester.

Thank you for spending your precious time reading my long writing. I really appreciate it. I'm planning to make a longer version of each moments (I still have something to say about each of them). Hopefully the internet connection is friendly and my laziness will not invade me.

Oh, by the way, happy holiday!