There once was a little boy named Niko who lived in the city. He was born and raised in Jakarta, and so were his parents! Like other boys his age, Niko liked to play soccer, draw, and play on his bike. Also like other boys his age, every day Niko went to school to learn and play with his classmates.

           One day at school, Ms. Teacher had a very important announcement.

           “Children, today we have a new friend joining our class!” she announced cheerfully at the beginning of their lesson. Standing beside Ms. Teacher was a boy Niko had never seen before. The boy had dark skin, curly hair worn into braids, full lips, and dark eyes.

           “This is your new friend, Putra! He has come all the way from Flores to learn and play with you all. Everybody greet him!” The whole class, including Niko, said hello to Putra together. Then, Putra went to take his seat in the empty chair besides Niko. As Putra made his way to the chair, Niko and his friends couldn’t take their eyes off of him. They had never before seen someone who looked like him, very different indeed!

           After what felt like a very long Math lesson, finally break time rolled around. As usual, Niko and the other boys in his class rushed to the school field to play their favorite game, soccer. Niko’s favorite position to play was goalie, and he would stubbornly refuse to play other positions besides that! In the middle of their game, Niko heard a voice calling out to them.

           “Hey, guys!” the voiced called. “Can I play with you?”

           The boys turned their heads and saw Putra standing there with a huge, excited grin on his face.

           “Do you even know how to play?” asked Jodi, one of the boys in Niko’s class.

           “Of course! I’m a great goalie, you know,” Putra replied.

           “Hmm sorry, we already have our goalies. Besides, I don’t think you could play with us. Is soccer even a thing where you’re from?” another boy, Ikhsan, laughed.

           The other boys laughed along at Ikhsan’s joke and continued their game. Watching this happening before him, Niko saw Putra’s face slowly sink. His wide smile slowly disappeared as he turned to head back inside the class. Niko knew that he had to do something!

           “Hey wait, Putra!” he called over. Putra looked over his shoulder at the boy who had called his name.

“I’m suddenly really hungry and I want to buy some snacks at the canteen,” Niko lied. “Do you mind taking over my position as goalie while I’m gone?”

           Putra’s face lit up hearing Niko’s offer.

           “I would love to!” He gladly accepted.

           The other boys listened in on Niko and Putra’s conversation with scowls on their faces. However, there was nothing they could do because then they would be one goalie short! And that meant they couldn’t play at all. So, the game went on as Putra guarded one of the goals.

           As break time came to an end, Niko was already in class, sitting in his chair munching on the snacks he bought. After a while, the rest of the boys returned to their class, laughing and crowding around a dark-skinned boy… Putra!

           “The way you jumped in the air back then to catch the ball, I thought you were a bird!” Ikhsan laughed, clapping Putra on his back.

           “Yeah, Putra! You were great out there,” Jodi added in, laughing along. “By the way, we’re playing another game after school ends. You’re joining us, right?”

           Putra looked at the smiling faces of the boys around him and grinned.

           “You can count me in!” He said.

           Niko smiled as he watched his classmates celebrating the arrival of their new friend, Putra, the dark-skinned goalie.

- is the title of a popular speech given by the Queen Bee herself, Miss Beyoncé Knowles. In her speech, Beyoncé went on about how gender equality is not yet a reality. She stated many examples of inequality among men and women in the work field, in their roles according to society, and in many other circumstances. The fact of the matter is that gender equality is something we, as a society, understand in theory but still struggle with in practice. Which is expected, of course, seeing how entire civilizations were built upon this misconceived perception and boundaries between genders. 

Gender equality, which is often times associated with female empowerment, is no longer something that can be debated upon. It isn’t merely about females, but also affect males as well. It’s about giving women the same opportunities men have been given in order to reach their own self fulfillment, all the while acknowledging the biological differences the genders may have. It’s about teaching mutual respect and understanding that everyone has the right to pursue whatever they desire.

The importance of gender equality isn’t something I’ll elaborate here because I feel like there are already many other writings and speeches that deliver the idea and give it the proper justice it deserves. The platforms we have today allowed this motion to snowball and turn into something huge. 

In spite of the inequality we’re still facing today, we have made so much progress! From huge social movements such as the #MeToo movement, to the drastic increase in female literacy and number of women who pursue education, to the 10 year anniversary of UN Women (this year!) we have achieved much. It’s not easy to unlearn the things we were taught to believe, but it’s not impossible either. Although we still have a long way to go, I am beyond proud of how far we have come.

To put it simply, I believe that if everybody listened to Beyoncé, the world would be a much better place.

It’s 9 in the morning and I’m sitting here, in an oddly motivated mood to write. There are many topics I could easily choose off the top of my head and there are also many posts piled up in my drafts that I could post. But those posts are for another time, and because in 4 days I’ll begin my second semester as a college student, I guess I feel like now would be the perfect time to write about the past semester. 

It’s no secret that I didn’t get into my first choice, which was a major that I really wanted back then. Like, really, really, really, wanted. Because I really wanted that major, I feel like I wasn’t interested in any other options. Or maybe I just didn’t let myself open up to other alternatives. The bottom line is, my second and third choices were just a formality. 

So obviously when I opened up the results that I had been accepted to my second choice instead of my first, I wasn’t very happy. Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful beyond measure, but I was disappointed that I didn’t get there. From the very beginning, I had a very negative mindset on college because I felt as though I was doing something that I wasn’t passionate in.

Me, wearing my university’s signature jacket, trying to look calm and composed.

5 months have since passed and I’m glad to say that my mindset has been switched a full 180 degrees. The college life isn’t perfect, but I didn’t expect it to be. Most of my days were filled with stress as a result of studying all the damn time, something attending a prestigious school demands of me. But it’s not something I haven’t done before. It turns out that I somewhat enjoy studying here because the material is very concept-based. It’s refreshing compared to previous experiences in education that were very focused on memorization and formulas. 

My overall GPA at the end of the first semester could have been better, I’ll admit. However I did my best and I’m not at all disappointed with my results, even though I know many of my peers did better. 

Another huge part of the college experience is, of course, student organizations and extracurricular activities. Because I was an active partaker in speech competitions in high school, I wanted to continue that and pursue something of the like. So, I joined the competitive English club. To my dismay, it turned out that they only actively do debate rather than speech, storytelling, battle of brains, etc. I was a bit disappointed at first because I really felt that speech was what I was meant to do. However, after giving it a go, I became interested in debate. I was excited to learn about the world of debating, something that seemed so frightening to me in high school. Of course, I still have a long way to go and much to learn but I’m loving it so far!

120 future biologists and microbiologists. The people I look forward to spending the next 4 years of my life with.

Speaking beyond academics and clubs, which only take up a small portion of the college experience, I also enjoy the environment that I am in. I feel that the people I am surrounded with mainly have the same intentions as me- because of that, it’s easy for us to motivate and push each other to be more productive. I’ve never before been in an environment so mentally energizing. I can confidently say that during my first semester, I’ve met friends that I will hold dear to me for the rest of my life.

Major-wise, I can’t deny that fact that I am still a bit confused. I’m not one hundred percent sure that this is the major I want to pursue my education in, but at least I’m more open to it. I learned things in my major that were surprisingly really interesting, and I can definitely see myself developing that here. 

Usually whenever it was time for me to go back to school, I’d always be full of dread. But now, for the first time in my life, I’m excited. For once in my life, I look forward to waking up at 5 in the morning and driving to Jalan Ganesha in the cold morning of Bandung to attend my 7 AM class. I’m grateful to be content with where I am now, and I know I have much coming my way. Alhamdulillah.   

January 11th, 2018.
9:36 A.M.