My Granie's Advice

My Grandmother came from a wealthy family. She is a beloved daughter in patriarchal society and she was married off early to my Grandfather because her mother died when she's young.

However, the wealth of her family was inherited to the son bloodline and then she's sent off with spare money from her father. Despite the amount of wealth, my Grandmother's brother didn't flourish in a well-off and healthy family. Being a greedy individual with narrow mindset, all he thought was the dead of my Great Grandfather and the inheritance.

He said once "Here in our land, I provide your deathbed" to my Grandmother. But, God willing, He slept his deathbed first.
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Life was not very friendly to Grandma because my Grandpa was not articulate to financial stuff.
My Grandma was an illiterate woman of her era, she could count but not read nor write [she might also be Prophetess].

I remembered her greater advice to us. She understood that she lacks education and she's bad on providing in home education due to her none literacy skill, so she only had one advice that echoed through my life.

"You should socialize and listen to educated people. From them, we derive great information and knowledge."

Most poor people have poor mentality. It is a fact. I am familiar to them and I will explain why.

I am a driven ambitious woman because my vision is a restorationist one, like how Jews long to return to Israel, it is how I long to bring Gold, Glory, and Gospel in the name of my family. However, I Don't know how to do it.

It is a problem faced of every generation of humanity, we don't know what is our fate and what should we do. How many time have you bullshited through a job interview about your vision in 5 years?

During my schooldays, everything is easy because there's a path created in front of us. My anxiety began when I was seeking college. I don't have enough money to fund the private university but taking a big turn to public university is a gigantic decision.

I want to enter an elite university in my country with the lack of understanding of what I will face. It is my teacher, bu Ratna who's very eager to motivate Marsud's student to enter elite public university like UI, ITB, and UGM. In Indonesia, we can enter that university in a competitive entrance examination like SNMPTN and SMBPTN. Since, I didn't have anything in my CV except one national Bronze medal for Chemistry, I had to fight in SBMPTN.

Now, I am a student of that desired university, I asked myself: What made me different than other people?

I think it comes back to my Granie advice: This the place with most opportunity to learn, connect, and get the first seat!

 

Now hear from this answer of Quora:

What makes students from elite schools special?from Jessica Su

Every accomplished person I know had a mentor.  Usually their parents, sometimes teachers or friends.  Kids don't just start thinking "I want to go to MIT in 4 years, so I'd better start doing math contests, and getting research internships, and self-studying AP classes so I can take tests my school doesn't offer."  Someone had to tell them those things existed, and that they could actually do them.
Similarly, most kids don't think "I want to go work at a trading firm" or "I'm going to intern at Google my freshman year" until they go to a top school and see what their classmates are doing, and realize they can do the same things.  This alone gives kids from top schools a huge advantage in the job market.

hello sunrise! Yellow as we are

Elite schools don't only provide intellectual capacity but also access to greater opportunity, in which I never feel in any previous place of my life. People like to underestimate the power of information.

No, Not only connection or orang dalam which we like to joke in job market. It is a simple thing as : aware there is an opportunity out there.
In what I knew, is a freaking priviledge. 
Most poor people lacks of this. 

LIKE SERIOUSLY!

Mentally, poor people has poor self control. When you're battling to provide your lower Maslow Pyramid, you will be grateful to get the short term reward/distraction in any time. They lack of patient and most of them don't see the point of it. It is something so mindboggling for many educated people who came from educated and priviledge family. They don't understand why poor people are 'satisfied' and 'not working hard' from their miserable condition.

Being poor is also a strip of dignity. Rarely people think about dignity of other human being which is lacking of cash and lacking of attitude. Once, I was attending a routine mass in my school and a sister told a story about her charity work. She called that a man she wanted to help is such a proud man that didn't think he need any of their help. It was a sudden pierce to my heart even I didn't know that man.

My father is a type who will shy away from charity even I begged him to take the cutting from my school fee by talking to the head nun. It's something so mindboggling when the person who needs it refuse coming from it because they want 'merit based' prize rather than 'charity based'. And at the same time, the rich likes to exploit it shamelessly!

It's because people like this, you see poor people with mercy and undignified action. You wanna help but you help them by stripping their dignity. They have faced enough humiliation day by day and they don't believe in free stuffs.

They also lacks of information. That's why they think taking free stuffs without payback is a bogus. They don't understand strategy from company, CSR event and many opportunity which slipped through the wind because of their poor connection.

Now if you're one of that struggling poor that tried to go step by step from the spiral of poverty, I really recommend trying to find a good spot where you can learn, connect, and get the first seat. It may be by attending elite university, it maybe by finding good mentor, but my grannie's advice still stand: Find someone you can listen to and derive knowledge from them. 
Their mouth is spitting of opportunity of better life

It is a really July experience that convince me I had to say all of this.

As you see, I am like any other students, I don't know what to do with life and what I will do. In fact, I am tumbling here and there to find something that will suit me.
One day, an energy management company that I didn't even know come for a roadshow in my university. I was enticed because I got informed from BEM OA that they would provide free lunch!

So basically this company, Schneider Electric is having a roadshow about their competition called Go Green In The City. My senior and my ambitious fellowmate were the winner from Indonesia and even competed in USA. I was astounded because their idea sounds cool and they both have great public speaking. I was so interested and my friend recruited me to 'try' for the competition [moreover it was free competition, no entrance paycheck]. So simple thing like that, a campus roadshow, opened a new path.

All in all, we succeeded to top 5 finalist in Indonesia and we had opportunity to be mentored by Schneider employer. The mentoring is one of the most critical step and beneficial because you can meet and learn from new people. They gave many insights from different perspective about our idea. My friend was also very eager like sponge who tried to reach out and milk ideas from many people. They are so kind that I cannot believe it at first, why would they do this anyway? But that kind of thinking my poor mentality should leave.

Opportunity is real and people are willing to help. They have their own reason and agenda, but in such opportunity, don't hold back.

My 3 months holiday is surprisingly filled with many useful experience. From my internship at chemical company[in other story maybe] and my 'semi internship' in electrical company. It was so intense and really kicking me out from comfort zone.

I am also lucky that I can find like-minded people and people who are not holding back to give opinion about you and what to improve. My team mate here is an amazing girl who can make presentation and telling me 'to be cooperative'. Now you can spot your weakness! And learn to improve it as you have friends who is ready to embark suffering with insufferable guy!

In my previos posts, I have shared my FOMO in what's next?

I will say it is a side effect of many doors and seeing your friend doing so much thing you didn't do. The peer pressure and the opportunity can drag you to another adventure. However it is something crucial and I know it is what my Granie is telling.

I am maturing through trial error in this university.I don't know what will happen to me and what I will do. Other thing that I find from my journey here and there is I find a meaning in sharing and I find a meaning to provide what is essential for life. My idea was about providing water and energy. The interaction, the time I sacrifice to speak with many people, the mistake I made along the way, the people I pissed, it helps me to redirect my path again. It makes me have a vision and dream. I really want to provide both water and energy for myself and for other people. Today it is still an idea, but I am open to other opportunity in developing them.

My only wish through this writing is: many students who are lost in their way and many poor people who are risk averse to opportunity, I wish you all don't get afraid to look for opportunity. It is the only way we can know of what we will do next.