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Thursday, February 11, 2016

Saya (Insya Allah) Bukan Sarjana Abal-Abal

This particular post is made as a response to this article 

The article has some really good points, which I agree with. Some of which are :

a. TVOne should not frame the news in the demeaning way, making fun of the lady who was interviewed after the commencement ceremony. There are some components that the writer has pointed out, such as the clown-esque music as background, the reporter's tone while talking to the lady, and so on. It sure is not focusing on the real problem here : a shady foundation held a commencement ceremony with no proof that such learning activity actually happened. Bias in classes? Uhm, I'm not sure. I don't think the reporter was thinking about her being in lower SES class, I think the reporter just thought the confused lady's interview would be a hilarious highlight news and could possibly gone viral, which it did. 

b. Indonesia's higher education system is not fair, it sure is. I believe that the government should put all their best effort to make education affordable and accessible to everyone. Everyone should have equal opportunity to get the best education (whoa, socialist me, calm down) possible. But I realize making it happened is not as easy as turning the palm of your hand. Even the mighty United States of America struggles with this issue for ages.

So, for some points, I agree with the writer. What I don't agree to, and I actually feel offended with (yeah call me baper, I am baper like that) the title " Sarjana Abal-Abal? Memangnya Anda Bukan?"

I am not graduated (yet), but hopefully soon to be. And I will say out loud, HELL NO I'M NOT SARJANA ABAL-ABAL. And I know many people who certainly are not sarjana abal-abal. Truth be told? The so called sarjana abal-abal, which he inferred as those who doesn't really learn anything in college, those who ask their friends to tick their attendance in class, those who goes to college only to satisfy the parents and the family, and those who's after the degree rather than the knowledge in their respective field. Let me break this up for you.

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God, I remember writing this but I could not, for the life of me, remember the rest of the argument! I really need to finish what I write like, asap, before it's gone~ or I need to actually plan an outline to write so it doesn't end up like this. Garing abis, lagi hot-hotnya mau berargumen trus ga selesai postingnya :D

Anyway, it's February 11th meaning that it has been 5 days since my graduation ceremony. It also means that I have been a frictional unemployed (geez not sure about the words of choice). It has been dull and boring, but hey, I'll try to fill up these days with writing more here on my blog.

Back to topic. Sarjana Abal-Abal. I still reject that term and I will gladly say that I am not a sarjana abal-abal. (Note : the writer may define me as the proud member of "kelas menengah ngehe dengan mentalitas holier than thou" , well I'm fine with that). The reason?

Because I earn my Bachelor's degree. And I love every second of my struggle to get it.

(Well, I lie. There are some yucky moment of college too, but that only makes the fun part even more fun!).

I will start by saying that I am extremely blessed and super grateful that I got to learn the subjects of my choice, which is something that I love. I have been fascinated with media for as long as I can remember so communication studies was exactly what I wanted to learn in college in the first place. Alhamdulillah I got accepted to really great university with lots of amazing and super cool lecturers *drools* whom I can have interesting conversation with.

Never in my life I imagine that I would be able to analyze my favorite Netflix series for final assignment ( and my lecturer happens to like the series as well!). I wrote paper on Indonesia Lawak Club and D'Academy (yes that one in Indosiar). I even analyze the social media Path using Jacques Lacan's concept :'D. I learn so frickin much! My friends from Media Studies concentration are also really cool like we could talk about everything and discuss it from many different perspectives. We played dress-up (or dress down? not sure) for a class, we held a movie screening and discussion for final project, and many more memories from my college days. Sure, other parts of college are also fun. Joining various organization and events, but I actually really really like my learning process in Departemen Ilmu Komunikasi, FISIP UI.

I was not, in any way, a perfect student. I had my ups and downs. There were days when I started writing term paper two weeks early and spent time perfecting the whole assignment, but also there were days when I started writing 6 hours before deadline. I had my days when I came too early to class, but I also had been in a situation when I was almost one hour late to a class. There are lecturers I absolutely love and look up to, there are some that I really dislike and avoid *guess we all do that*

If a reporter asked me what's my favorite course, I really can't answer. Because I think every course is so different and so special *insert Barney's song* that I can't just pick a favorite. I think that's what happens when you really like the course you're studying.

My writing process for undergrad thesis was also a mess. I've spent days when I avoided the laptop so much I won't even turn it on, and there were times when I was up for more than 24 hours because my mind was on fire *also, dikejar deadline*  All those sleep-deprived moments, whining and curling into fetal position staring into blank space thinking about thesis, the thesis defense, the documents yang seabrek-abrek ribet benar, menatap nanar pada layar hp menunggu respon dosen-dosen...those were priceless. The day I finally got to wear my graduation gown and marched clumsily (because I was in kebaya and heels) to Balairung with my parents were worth all that.

All those struggles and then someone *kinda* accused you as a sarjana abal-abal? Hell no I'm not! I can very well see that some people who read this might think "yaelah kalo bukan ya ngapain sewot, kesindir yak?" Nggak, gue gak kesindir. I'm writing this to channel my inner baper self aja kok :)

Regards,
Nadia Shifa, S.Sos.

I *might* write again regarding to the "kerja nggak sesuai sama jurusan" comments. I might, I might. We'll see.

bonus pap wisuda



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