Education is important.

At least, that’s what Internet tells me.

Vany Vanessa
Aug 9, 2017 · 3 min read

My favorite book “Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon told me how to look up to someone. I needed to choose 3 people in my industry that I look up to the most, and find out what about them that I can learn about.

I chose Andra Matin. He showed me that architecture is not about “less is more” or “form follows function”. He showed me that architecture is about having “just enough” to fulfill the function and the needs of a space. He was humble, and what opened my eyes was that he was an educator. He chose educating his firms about architecture rather than spending money on his personal / physical buildings. He knew that education lasts longer than physical items.

I chose Imelda Akmal. She is a very talented writer and creative director that has established a publishing company about Indonesian architecture, long before people eventually care about architecture. She struggled from rock bottom under a big magazine, until she finally shines through what she does. Educating people about architecture, through books & magazines.

I chose Avianti Armand. She is an artist, architect, and poets. If architect interprets concept design through building, she interprets building into poems and poetry. She is very sensitive in what she feels about something, have an interesting way of telling stories, and had worked at Andra Matin before.

Life has a purpose. It lies on whispers, small whispers we couldn’t even hear. It lies in ourselves, but it need ourselves to find it out. We need to really listen, so we can find out what is our purpose. Once you found out, you will realize that we only have a very small role in this big wild world. And, we function to help this world better.

For me, what came in my mind is education. It was there long before I realized. But, as soon as I read that book, and tried to find out what or whom I was looking up to, I knew that those people that I claimed as my hero, were all after education.

There were lots of actors and actresses that show many interests in the world, let’s say Ellen Degeneres cares about animals, Leonardo DiCaprio cares about global warming, Barrack Obama cares about the LGBTQ community.

And then, there’s Angelina Jolie, who I adore so much after a speech that she delivered in an award show, thanking everybody that had given her a chance to be herself. And she invested on building many schools in the poor and rural area across nation. All in a purpose of giving education to the next and next generation.

I feel so much pity for my country, Indonesia, especially after the hot event that happened several months ago. There is a wide gap between the poor and the rich, and that’s not determined by the amount of money they have, but because of the amount of education they have, which was why I finally realized, education is very important.

Even if someone is poor, but if he/she gets good education, she can be a greater person for herself, her family, her neighborhood, and even her country. Gather a thousand people of her kind, she can change the world. The future of the world.

To be honest, there are a lot of ways to improve the quality of education in Indonesia. But, it requires more than myself. It also has to be included in the government regulations about education. After three years of Jokowi reign, we can see an improvement in the facilities and the infrastructure. But now, I’m kinda hoping that he can start to focus on the educational program. There are a lot we need to catch up, and we should keep going forward, and not behind.

If you agree with me, do spread the world by liking our sharing this thought. If you want to make a change in Indonesia education, let’s start something together!

Vany Vanessa

Written by

The creative mind behind Studio Tropis.

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