2017 in Review

2017 ended in a blink of an eye. At least for me. Oh well, I was sleeping during the new year's eve and when I woke up, all the fireworks and new year's hype has been long gone 😂 2017 was ordinary, I wasn't sure what to feel about it. The thing that I realized is I'm getting bored with my life and I don't feel excited about anything anymore, which really is sad because I felt empty. When you felt this much emptiness, you began to lose yourself. Even so, there were quite big moments that made my long boring life became a little less boring too and I'd like to write about them here.

Maximphonia and National Folklore Festival 2017

Some of PSM UIN Jakarta Alumni decided to form an independent choir and we named it Maximphonia. We formed Maximphonia for those who are no longer able to join PSM UIN rehearsal due to their busy schedules at work and only have free time during weekends. So, the members who joined are those who have been absent from choir for a long time, which means we have to start from scratch and learn how to sing choir from the beginning again. We also decided to join the National Folklore Festival 2017 at the Faculty of Economy at the University of Indonesia in March and I was assigned as treasurer. We ranked 6th out of 18 choirs which are great since we actually prepared this competition by ourselves without a professional coach or professional arranger. We truly joined the competition to bring back all the good feelings about singing in the choir and I dare to say we accomplished our goals. We truly had fun throughout the process and we never felt that relaxed during the competition before ❤

I Passed My Undergraduate Thesis Defense

Well, after 7 years (yes, you read it correctly, 7 YEARS!) of college, I finally did my Undergraduate Thesis Defense in July. It was quite a hectic day, my lecturer gave me the wrong schedule so I ended up late and we had to rush preparing the foods and everything. Luckily, my examiners were willing to wait and didn't show any sign of annoyance (special treatment for final year students I guess 😂). The thesis defense went for only 45 minutes on my part and I was able to give them satisfying answers and results despite the fact that I was super nervous. Well, how can't I? After such miscommunication with the schedule, I thought they would have canceled my thesis defense and change it to another day 😅 Thanks to such kind examiners, I was able to enjoy it and get a good grade for it. Some of my friends also came to support me although I only informed them about the defense that very morning to ask for prayers. Julian, Putri (who brought me a really huge flowers bouquet ❤), Wicak (who brought me flowers and support from Bayu who couldn't come), Aulia (who brought me my favorite Good Day coffee with Iqbal's support as well), and Mella (who also brought me Good Day coffee 😃). And of course Diah, Amel, Wardah, who helped me a lot during the process. They are the biggest part of this process and without them, I might have given up college a long time ago. Thank you!

Additional Singer for Bianglala Voices

It was not the first time for me to be an additional singer for Bianglala Voices, a vocal group of adult singers whose members are also my seniors in PSM UIN Jakarta and my choir coach, Bu Tanti, and Om Freddy. Bu Tanti always gives me chances to experience new things in musical fields and most of the jobs I got were all from her. I can never thank her enough for always believe in me and entrust me with such responsibility. That kind of support made me truly grateful and gave me courage because I often don't feel good about myself. 

What made this event special was because I was assigned to sing a solo part during Endah 'n Rhesa's song, When You Love Someone, during Bianglala Voices' performance at Earhouse Cafe. Earhouse is Endah and Rhesa's cafe and we got to sing in front of them. For someone like me, it was truly an amazing experience and an honor to sing that song in front of the artists themselves. Om Bintang, the one who leads the performance was a strict person but he entrusted me with this solo part to surprise Endah and Rhesa, and it was successful 😂 They really didn't expect us to perform that song for them because Om Bintang introduced it as a K-Pop song. My parents were also present at that moment and Om Bintang introduced me to the audience with such kind words and even thanked my parents for letting me join them even if it means I had to stay until midnight for rehearsal. I swear I love the look in my mother's eyes that night. I haven't seen those many stars in her since I won Writing Competition at National Championship in 2010. I can never thank Bianglala Voices enough for this experience ❤

Bandung and Padang Trip

I was able to visit many places in Indonesia this year (thanks to mudik as always) but two places that left a really special impression in me were Bandung and Padang. I visited Padang for the first time for my cousin's wedding and we had a chance to sightseeing although for only one day. The best thing about Padang is food. I swear they taste much much tastier than in Jakarta 😂 And even now as I'm writing this, I can't help but craving for more of Padang cuisines. I got to see Jam Gadang Tower and got permission to climb to the rooftop with my cousins too. My cousin's father has quite huge influence and role in Padang and I'm grateful to get that special privilege because.... well, it's not every day you get the chance to get to the rooftop of Jam Gadang Tower, right?! 😂

Bandung Trip was special because for the first time in forever, I was able to go on a vacation with my friends, Iqbal and Erna, without my parents or seniors or any study/organisation event. It was purely for vacation. It was only a 2 days trip but it was still memorable to me. We didn't go to any expensive places because we didn't have time (or money lol), but thankfully, Mr. Ridwan Kamil has designed every spot in Bandung into a beautiful place for Instagram. So, we were able to enjoy every place we visited and went home satisfied and re-charged (and craved for more Bandung 😁)

Hmm... Now that I think back to the past, this year wasn't so bad. My two best friends also got married and I took a big part in their wedding, we also had some nice little celebrations and were able to meet up way more often than before. Those were such good memories, so why do I still feel empty? Why do I feel like it was a boring year? When did it go down? Is it the fact that our family had troubles with building our new house? Is it the fact that I was unable to help much that I felt worthless? Is it a part of becoming an adult? I miss being a part of something. Maybe the reason I felt this much emptiness is because I stopped singing choir. I didn't fall in love with anybody either. And I've kinda lost connection with some of my precious people. So, to find my happiness, I need to find or create a place where I belong. But what is it? I don't even know what I'm looking for but I truly wish I would find that thing that I lost. 

2018.... Please treat me kindly ❤