Tahun Kembar

    Okay.

    Kembali lagi kita ke dalam suatu masa, dimana orang-orang akan berselebrasi mengenai akhirnya masa revolusi bumi.

    It's gonna be a whole new day tomorrow. 

    And I think it would be wise to look back a little, revisit what I've experienced, and by that, what I've learned during this extremely special "Twin Year" of 2020.

    This year started when I was on the second semester of XII grade. I was busy preparing myself for the countless examinations that any XII graders would have to do, Pra UN I, Pra UN II, Pra UN III, Try Out I, Try Out II, and Ujian Sekolah. Aside from that, I also have to prepare myself for college, I got SNMPTN, with all its documents, requirements, etc, and since I didn't pass on that selection, it means I also got the SBMPTN test as well.

    It all went fun and games, life as usual, haha-hihi, hang out here and there, life was good. 

    Until,

    .. the third week of March.  

    Yep. We got home schooled due to the early outbreak of the pandemic in Indonesia. I was on the middle of Ujian Sekolah at that time, and since homeschooling is mandatory for all schools by the government, we had to do the rest of the exams at home. Online of course. And that was my first experience on doing online exams.

    At the beginning, to be honest, I felt happy since we weren't going to school. We got more time at home, relaxing, here and there, laying back on the bed, etc etc, bottom line it was a leisure time for me. But oh boy how wrong I was.

    It did felt fun on the first two weeks. But since the pandemic was getting worse and worse, and those two weeks were constantly increasing and increasing over and over again even until the SNMPTN announcement day, and then continued up until the SBMPTN test day, and hell I was bored. So much. Especially since we're XII graders got nothing to do after Ujian Sekolah, UN also got cancelled due to the pandemic, which left us with the preparations for SBMPTN only. And since it wasn't school-monitored activity, it was purely us, we're in control, for me, with my love on procrastination and all that unproductive things, I tend to be more relaxed. More santuy as the Indonesians call it.

    But, luckily, we got this lovely things called important dates which sometimes act as a deadline as well, and that thing is the one that keeps me a little bit sane. In this case, it was SBMPTN.

    Fyi, for those of you who don't originated from Indonesia, my beloved foreign readers (if any ; I suppose it's not harmful to dream), SBMPTN is basically a test held by the government for the highschool graduates of that year and two years prior, for getting into college. For example on my year, 2020, the eligible participants for the SBMPTN test are the graduates of 2020, 2019, and 2018. The materials that are tested basically consisted of two parts, first one is the Academic Test and the second one is the Scholastic Test. But, since Twin Year is THAT special, on 2020 the material that is gonna be tested is only the Scholastic Test. Lucky me, huh? One less thing to worry about.

    And back on the track again, yep, SBMPTN preparations kept me sane, because even though it was only the Scholastic Test that is going to be tested, for me, it was still quite a job to do. I needed to learn many things still, and yeah, preparations preparations preparations, and all of the sudden it was July 9, my exam day.

    As any post-exam student, of course I felt anxious about the result. I needed to wait until August 14 to see what was going to be my result, which major will I enter in university between the two choices that I've made. For me, I felt that it wasn't really a long wait, because, well, there's no significant activities that was happening between the test day and the announcement day. All I remembered is that afternoon, after Ashar. I opened my laptop, recorded myself (yep I did) as I opened the announcement page, enter my participant number, and boom. There it was. 

    The test resulted in :

    "Selamat! Anda dinyatakan lulus seleksi SBMPTN LTMPT 2020 di

    PTN : Universitas Gadjah Mada

    Program Studi : Fisika"

    Oh boy I was shocked.

     It wasn't Psychology - UGM as my first intended choice, but, yeah, I accepted it. For that time.

     After I saw that result, I immediately told my parents, and then the next day, I started to prepare myself for college.

    I was excited, because I was gonna be an official member of the big family of Universitas Gadjah Mada, I mean, who doesn't. But still, not getting accepted at my first choice, Psychology - UGM, is kind of a bummer.

    But yeah, reality is reality, and at that time, I thought, screw it and let's just face it.

    Long story short, I went for the first semester of college. As a member of the big family of Math and Science Faculty in Universitas Gadjah Mada, majoring in Physics. I underwent PPSMB, UGM's introduction and orientation program for new college students, I met my friends, virtually of course, and I joined one of the UKM that is provided, and that was AIESEC.

    Gosh, I was so proud when I heard about the announcement result of the selection that I passed and able to became a newie in AIESEC in UGM. I went to the onboarding stage, I met my mentor and my mentoring group friends, I met my friends from my department as well, and basically it widened my reach of friends in college.

    And as any newie in AIESEC, I have to pass the onboarding phase before I can officially become a member of AIESEC in UGM.

    Fyi, onboarding is an advanced selection stage on AIESEC that every will-be member will have to undergo. Here, we are given the materials regarding about AIESEC, we're given assignments as well, and our status is a 'newie', not yet a member, and basically we're like doing internship in our selected departments while also getting various materials and leadership training.

    But, 

    I didn't finish my onboarding.

    Why?

    Because I plan to 'take a break' during the second semester in order to prepare myself better for 2021's SBMPTN. Yep. And it's a green light from my parents as well.

    Of course I can continue my study on Physics for the second semester, but, I can't help but feel that it'll only going to be a waste of time and funds. We know college is busy as hell, the assignments, the responsibilities, the notorious laprak, and for me, it's just so much to do. I don't know whether or not I can balance between my study for the second semester and my study for preparing myself for SBMPTN 2021. And to play it safe, since there's a lot of money involved, I chose to prioritize my SBMPTN study.

    And another thing is college isn't cheap. Especially even though we're currently home schooled but we still have to pay full cost of the UKT (the educational fee) for that semester. I'm just gonna be a lot happier if my parents can use that money to fulfill our needs instead of using it on my college study, which in the end, if I pass the SBMPTN, I'll have to leave it for my new major. 

    Oh and, if you're reading this my fellow friend(s) from Physics 20, this will also act as an announcement for you. But don't get me wrong, you guys have been wonderful, you cared about each other, even remembering every single date of our friends' birthday. Gosh, you guys are amazing. I even feel honored that I can be one of the nomination reader and singer on our event a while back.

    But sadly this is the path that I have to take. I've spoken to my parents about this, and they approved. Thanks for the amazing experiences even though we haven't met face to face. And once again, I'm honored to get the chance of being one of you.

    Goodbye. I wish you all the best for the future.

    I know that this path is uncommon. But, this is my life. And I guess life really is variable and can't be generalized after the age of 17. And now, all there's left to do is for me to be responsible with my choice. I need to work my butt off competing with those who have prepared way earlier than me in order to achieve my dream which is being a member of the big family of Psychology in Universitas Gadjah Mada on 2021.     

    

    Goodbye Twin Year. Thanks for all the valuable lessons.