Deadly Rebellion

Nobody's said being a teenager is easy. Being an adult isn't going to get easier, though, I'm certain, but all the melodramatic fun is always found in the so-called adolescence phase.

"It's tough being in a situation when people treat you like a child and expect you to act like an adult."

I'm clearly not an expert at this topic, and it's true that this is an uncommon ground to cover since I am....well...a teenager myself. And please don't assume that I have adopted a"holier-than-thou" attitude for even attempting to comment on such a sensitive issue. This is only my two-cent! :)

I turned on my TV yesterday and I was flashed with a very astonishing news: a famous boy involved in a car accident. Now, what's so surprising about that? What surprising is that the young man has yet to reach his fifteenth birthday and he was reported to be traveling inter-city in a great speed. You can see the full story here: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/09/09/ahmad-dhani-s-son-pile-killing-six.html

I don't really know about you, since cultures are so radically different in each country. However, I can testify that what he'd done is a very bad thing. Firstly, he was not supposed to drive even in the tamest streets, less likely in a high-way zone like the toll roads. Secondly, it just struck me speechless that he was able to drive between big cities like Jakarta and Bogor undetected. There is an unspoken implication that he has done it numerous times, especially if he dared to bring his girlfriend and friend abroad.

As a teenager myself, I can't blame him. He's just experiencing a moment of "Bad Luck Brian" (ref: 9gag) and fits exactly into the proverbial Indonesian phrase of "falling down and the ladder falls on you". Right now, the police are in turmoil on who to blame. Is it the father? Or the son?

I tried to put myself in his shoes. Let's see. According to reports, he was defying his father's wishes to attend a famous singer's wedding. Instead, he chose to be AWOL. So, if I were famous and had a lot of money, would I be tempted to submit to the desire to be "a little wild"? From what I have seen so far, the answer would be yes.

Rebellion seems to be an unavoidable phase. It is a perquisite in the manual book for teenagers all over the world. What about me? Well, I'd like to think myself as a neat stay-at-home kinda gal who sometimes doesn't even have the nerve to stare down from the second floor of the building (Hehe, an acrophobia here). According to the people I've met, it would be shocking to defy a word from my parents. But I did. I have.

I'm soooo not getting into the details of my "rebellion" since it is off-topic, but what I'm trying to say (or write) here is that no one blames the kid more than himself. Of course, after hearing the news I was a bit miffed with the father who had provided all the facilities to make the rebellion much grander than it should be. However, I think that there is no 13-year-old who would like to live the reminder of their lives with dead victims on their shoulders, unless, of course, for the cases of mental illness.

I really sympathized with what he's going through, and especially for all the victims concerned. Rather than throwing the blame around it is better to take a moment of reflection for the mistakes which were unfortunately impossible to be undone. In my opinion, rebellion is okay, as long as it doesn't cross the line. Sometimes teenagers do have to experience making mistakes to grow up becoming responsible adults.

Nevertheless, lives are lost and no amount of money could bring them back. It is indeed tragic, and the only good thing that could be learned from all of this is that teenagers and parents can see the consequences of a rebellion, so that nobody else will have to go through what they are going through.

Journalism - How do I love thee

Finally, a blog post!

Sometimes it's really hard to be an idealist in a reality-driven world. As much as I would've liked to live my fantasy of managing to post at least one entry per day, I cannot abandon school, family and other responsibilities that I harbor. Therefore, I apologize for being so late and having a potentially irregular schedule of blog update. Now, on to the post.

I've been really interested in the world of journalism, even to the point of considering it as a future career. I reckon it started when I was browsing through universities sites when I was about 15. At that time, I was in an international-program school and as a result I was deeply interested in trying out abroad universities. The country of my fixation at that time was the UK.

Have I mentioned to you before that I was an idealist? Well, I once had the nerve to check out a university that holds one of the best reputations in the world: Oxford University. You're welcome to laugh by the way :) Yet, I still haven't put aside that dream to this day. Hahaha.

Going back to the topic. I was kind of upset hearing the university's reputation of having a really tight entrance procedure. I didn't think I had enough drive to try that path. Therefore, I tried to aim a little bit lower, such as the University of Glasgow in Scotland, UK. One university called the Imperial College University also came to mind. For that one, I even talked to an education counselor.

So, there I was, trying to convince myself that it was my "destiny" (such an overused word if you ask me) while ignoring what my parents' wish for me not choosing an out-of-the-country college. I was so driven to get into those UK universities that it didn't matter to me what course I would be taking. That's the allure of foreign universities that many of Indonesian daughters and sons are caught by nowadays. I should write an opinion essay about that someday.

I was thinking of taking a biotechnology major because I felt that I had a mediocre of interest in science. I've always been an attentive student at school. Anyway, to make the long story short, I started to have more doubts when I read through the course structure. I just doubted its ability to hold my interest for long, and potentially become my life career. Boy, weren't they kidding when they said that choosing universities would be one of the hardest choices in your life!

I was browsing, browsing and browsing, when I saw one tiny ad at the bottom right corner of page, which is about BBC College of Journalism. You can click on the link to find out yourself. :) It made me feel a strange pull and I ended up opening it. Granted, it actually is not a concrete college (I mean, with building), but a sort of online guide. Nevertheless, that is the beginning of my journalism-linked interest that I can surprisingly remember with a clear clarity.

Fast forward to today, I'm now feeling elated over something that I've come to consider as "the first milestone in journalism". Insert dramatic music here. Hahaha. Here's the reason:

Yep. That's me. It's not necessarily a big deal I suppose, and may come across as significant for some people. But this means enough for my a-bit-insecure side to the point of being happy in two consecutive days :) And no, I don't get paid.....yet :)

So, my dear readers, you're just witnessing my first venture! Sorry for the overly-excitement-thing, but I can't help it!