Passing the Torch - A Meeting with Vice President of World Bank (Sri Mulyani)

Dear readers,

I was visiting Washington DC from April 13 to 16. During my visit, I had a great surprise by meeting Indonesia's ex-Minister of Finance, Ibu Sri Mulyani.

I have a dream to be Indonesia's Minister of Finance one day. And Ibu Sri Mulyani is the one who made me have the willingness to be like her. She is such an amazing lady - became the best South East Asian Minister of Finance a couple times. Due to her great job during her term, Indonesia could avoid huge financial crisis in 2008. Also her amazing work made her nominated as World Bank president. Right now she is the vice president of the world bank. She is such an exemplar for me and meeting her once made me more motivated to pursue my dream. Here are several conversation between me and her today (April 14, 2013).

 T = Timmy - SM = Ibu Sri Mulyani

T     : (I introduced myself and told her that I am from Kediri)
SM  : You know what, my father was also from Kediri. He was an orphan since he was 12 years old, and he is such a great father.

T      : (I told her that I am her huge fans and also I would like to be Indonesia's Minister of Finance one day)
SM   : Haha, I think that your dream is a little too small "only" to be Indonesia's Minister of Finance. I think you should made your dream bigger. Maybe become the president of the World Bank. Or at least you should say you will be better Minister of Finance than I was! (smiling)

T      : (I only could smile and praying in my heart that her wish will become true) Amen amen, Ibu. I actually was at science stream in my high school, but I wanted to affect more people by studying Finance for my undergraduate degree.
SM   : Wow, I guess you are on the right track right now. I was also a science major back then and then I continued my undergraduate majoring in Economics. That is why I said that you should be a better Minister of Finance than I was! I had my undergraduate "only" in University of Indonesia (p.s University of Indonesia is the best university in Indonesia) then continued my master and doctorate at University of Illinois. And you have already started your undergraduate in the U.S! Also you dare saying to me that you want to be Minister of Finance!

(the conversation finally ended)

SM    : Please do not waste your time when you are in the US. You have better opportunity than I did. I wanted to go overseas when I was senior high school, but I could not because my parents did not have the money. You have so much better opportunity than me. You should live up your dream! I put a lot of pressure to you, didn't I? (laughing)
T        : It was such an honor to meet you, Ibu. Please pray for me, I will surely keep doing my best. :)



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That was a summary of my conversation with her. I adore her a lot and she believe that I should do better than her. After going out of her house, I could only slap my own face to make sure it was not a dream. Here is my picture with her.

Indonesia's ex and future Minister of Finance - A moment of passing the torch for me

 
She also left me with some last message: "Never become full of yourself, because there are many people out there that way smarter than you! Keep your heads down and work really hard!"

This was such a moment for me. Also I hope reading this will be an inspiration for you all!

Please leave some comments below.

See you soon on the next post!

Turning Your Disadvantages into Advantages (WHILAL pt.2)

Dear readers,

I has been two weeks since my last post, I was little busy with school and anything else. In this post I came out with an idea that I believe that no such thing as disadvantage as long as you know how to make it pull out the best for you!

Many people thought that they are less than somebody else and blaming their disadvantage when something happen to them. I realize that everyone has their own weakness; however, everyone also unique with their own ability. I would like to share some of my and my friends' experience to make you believe that no such thing as disadvantages!

1. My high school experience facing National Examination

Because my high school is international yet state high school, we had to passed two kinds of curricula, International (IGCSE and A level) and National curriculum. We had to pass national examination at the end of three years education. Yet, we spent first two years studying international curriculum. We only had one year to learn all national curriculum that should be learned for three years!
Sounds crazy huh?
Short time to study national curriculum is such a big disadvantage for us. However, all of us believe that we will not only pass the national examination but also with a good score. We all work really hard, spending only four hours sleeping everyday, even in weekend. We also spend more time to pray. The result is just amazing. We did great on national examination. And even one of my friend achieved highest score in the town! Moreover, ALL of us go to best universities in Indonesia, U.S, and Japan!! If we can, anyone can!

 I am so blessed to be part of these amazing young men and young women. They are such an inspiration!

2. A non-native English speaker taking English class in American campus

I have to take two English classes while studying at Texas Tech University. I have to admit this course is tough and time-consuming. Moreover, as an International students, I have to work extra hard just to keep up with this class. I am at a disadvantage condition due to this condition. I realize that I cannot just work as hard as Americans. I have to work at least twice as much as they do. I started my English assignment (that due every Monday) from Wednesday. Then I take my essay to the University Writing Center on Thursday and Friday. During weekend, I revise my paper - read it again - then doing more revision. I do not submit my assignment on the weekend, on Monday I made an appointment with my instructor to make sure everything is good. I made my final revision on Monday. I did those rigorous work for every single English paper. And the hard work is always paid off. I got a 99 on my big paper. I could not even believe it, but it was true!

I did not let my disadvantage drag me down, but instead after understanding my disadvantage, I work harder and hard work always paid off.

I would love to encourage y'all to never give up under any circumstances. You might feel like you
have a disadvantage, but never let this disadvantage to let you down. Instead, you should know how to turn your disadvantage into an advantage.

I hope you found this is inspiring!

Don;t forget to leave your thoughts below!

See y'all on the next post!