the journey to kota pendidikan

part 1:
Hari ini sangat kami nanti-nantikan, tiket sudah kami print jauh-jauh hari untuk di pakai naik pesawat di Bandara Internasional Minangkabau siang ini. Di tiket disebutkan kami harus datang sebelum jam 2 namun kami tenang karena kami sudah check in online sebelumnya. Saat selesai sholat zuhur di rumah Awlia yang bertempat di lubuk buaya kami rehat sejenak sebelum berangkat dan mengambil beberapa foto. tidak terasa waktu semakin mendesak dan kami baru di jalan ke Bandara. Tanpa pikir panjang lagi kami lantas memasuki Bandara setelah berpamitan kepada orang tua Awlia yang berbaik hati mengantarkan kami. Dengan kecepatan penuh kami melewati pemeriksaan dengan tergesa-gesa karena takut terlambat dan benar saja pihak pesawat meminta kami bersegera karena pesawat akan berangkat. akhirnya dengan napas terengah-engah kami sampai dan duduk di bangku pesawat Lion Air tujuan Jakarta.
Aku duduk bertiga dengan Awlia dan Habib sedangkan Aan duduk terpisah dari kami. Tidak terasa satu stengah jam kami berada di pesawat dengan segala kehebohan kami dan sampailah kami di Bandara Soekarno Hatta Jakarta. Bisa dibilang ini perjalanan pertama ku ke Jakarta tanpa orang tua dan dengan teman-teman yang juga sama ini menjadi pengalaman luar biasa untuk kami. Habib sudah di jemput oleh Om nya di Bandara sedangkan kami bertiga harus naik damri dulu ke daerah pasar minggu tempat kakak ku bekerja dimana kami bisa numpang menginap.
hari sudah malam dan waktu isya hampir datang namun kami masih terlunta-lunta di terminal akhir dimana Damri menurunkan kami. sudah beberapa kali aku menelpon kakak ku namun dia masih dalam perjalanan jadi dia menyuruh sepupu ku untuk menjemput kami. selang beberapa saat datanglah sepupuku dan dia mengajak kami naik angkot ke daerah kantor nya karena kebetulan ia sekantor dengan kakak ku.
Letih serta perut yang mulai keroncongan membuat kami bertiga ingin segera sampai kantor agar kami dapat rebahan dan mengisi perut yang lapar ini. Sampai lah kami di kantor tersebut dan setelah berkenalan dengan teman-teman kantor kakak ku kami pun beristirahat sambil menunggu kakak ku datang dan dengan bekal yang dibawa Awlia kami pun bisa mengisi kekosongan dalam perut ini.
hari itu berakhir dengan kakak datang dan kami pun bersiap-siap merencanakan perjalanan esok harinya di kota Jakarta.

check my work in http://literatureunp.wordpress.com/

The elephant rope

As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.
Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?
Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.
http://academictips.org/blogs/category/education/

The Lazy Song

Song Title: The Lazy Song
Artist: Bruno Mars
Today I don’t feel like doing anything
I just wana lay in my bed
Don’t feel like picking up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
Cus today I swear im not doing anything
Im gona kick my feet up and stare at the fan
Turn the Tvee on
Throw my hand in my pants
Nobodys gon’ tell me I cant
Ill be lying on the couch just chillin in my snuggie
Click to MTV so they can teach me how to dougie
Cus in my castle im the freakin man
Oh Oh
Yes I said it
I said it
I said it cus I can
Today I don’t feel like doing anything
I just wana lay in my bed
Don’t feel like picking up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
Cus today I swear im not doing anything
Nothing at all
Ooh hoo ooh hoo
Hoo ooh ooh
Nothing at all
Ooh hoo ooh hoo
Hoo ooh ooh
Nothing at all
http://liriklagu.net/english/artist/bruno-mars/

learn from mistakes

Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, “All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing.”
Edison replied very confidently, “Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb.”
http://academictips.org/blogs/learn-from-mistakes/

how the poor life

One day, a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”
“It was great, Dad.”
“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.
“Oh yeah,” said the son.
“So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.
The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden, and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden, and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard, and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on, and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them.”
The boy’s father was speechless.
Then his son added, “Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are.”
http://academictips.org/blogs/category/touching-stories/

keep your dream

I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro. He has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money for youth at risk programs.
The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, “I want to tell you why I let Jack use my horse. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.
“That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.
“He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after class.’
“The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, `Why did I receive an F?’
“The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. There’s no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher added, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.’
“The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.’ “Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all.
He stated, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.”
Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, “I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace.” He added, “The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.” When the teacher was leaving, he said, “Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours.”
“Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.”

- Author Unknown

http://academictips.org/blogs/keep-your-dream/