And it begins…
(or what August 17 means to me)
…. It was August 17, 2006, and I was in my final year of high school, a year during which I was mostly confused. I didn’t know what university I wanted to go to, let alone what subject I was to major in. Yet, it wasn’t merely because I had no idea what I wanted for I had always known I would like to get a scholarship to study abroad. And, I had also wished to be rich and have a comfortable, happy life with my family.
No, the main reason for this confusion was I hated living in my country. I hated the education system and the corruption in the government. I even hated the traffic.
I didn’t feel connected with the culture, and I also felt bored. I thought there wasn’t any hope for my nation to become any better. At that time, my teenage self told me there were much better societies and cultures outside of my own. My major disconnection from my roots, and my despair over my surroundings, were the main triggers that prompted me to start creating an ‘escape plan’.
My escape plan was pretty simple: I just needed to figure out what major to take that would lead to a high-paying career abroad. That was my state of mind during my final year of high school. It was all about what I wanted my future to look like. But, on August 17, 2006, my life changed forever.
That morning I came to school early for our annual flag-raising ceremony in celebration of Indonesia’s 61st Independence Day. I thought it would be just another ceremony, one I had always attended since primary school. I would be bored to death and was ready to incessantly complain about the intolerable heat. But, what eventually happened was something I had never expected in all my years of attending it.
During one section, a student representative had to give a speech, and the honor went to a friend of mine. Her name was Debby. She began her speech with a story and an invitation.
Debby invited us all to take some time to look back into the past. She took us on a journey, telling us about the heroes who had fought and sacrificed their lives for Indonesia’s independence. These brave heroes who were as young as we were, had given their lives, their blood, their sweat and their tears for our country, and for the generations that came after them.
Then, Debby paused for a few moments, and asked us to imagine something: What if these heroes were alive in our times? What would they feel and what would they think, seeing the young people of our generation, people who were deeply skeptical about the state of the nation? Imagine how hurt they would feel to learn that the generation they gave their lives for would rather move abroad in search of comfort and luxury. If all the great talents of Indonesia preferred to leave their homeland, who would be left to make Indonesia better?
It was a slap in my face. It felt like my friend had taken the stage in order to speak to me directly. It was a wake-up call from my seventeen-year long slumber. I hadn’t expected it. I had always thought I wanted a comfortable life without any concern for money. I was always complaining about everything bad that was happening to me and around me.
Before that fateful day, it had never crossed my mind I was actually part of the problem plaguing my nation. All I did was rant, adding hatred and negativity to my surroundings, subconsciously engaging others to think badly about their country as well. I kept complaining without thinking of any particular solution to make my country better.
From that day forward, I made up my mind to take a fixed, sharp turn. No matter how the journey might turn out, I decided I wanted to be part of the solution. I wanted to be part of a group of people who would contribute and strive for the improvement of the nation, and even the world.
I knew there wouldn’t be a finishing line, a peak achievement where I could say “Finished” before taking a bow to a round of applause. It would be a long, endless, difficult journey; but, it would be fulfilling.
So, this became my new definition of success: to contribute to, and become part of, the solution for Indonesia.
This is an excerpt from “Turn Right: A Journey to Purposeful Careers” . “Turn Right” is dedicated to all heroes of Indonesia— in the past, the present, and the future. Never stop fighting for a true freedom.
We’re not done yet.
