Getting graduation from IGCSE program with satisfying scores, I entered the IB diploma program. It is my second year as a scholar and I am glad that I am getting another chance to be a scholar; it is really helpful as it eases my parent’s economical burden. The first year of my IB diploma program is so tough. It is very different from the IGCSE program I took previously. I’m taking triple science subjects (physics, chemistry, and biology) as I will take medicine as my major in the future. Taking triple science subjects in IB is surely a hard brave decision. The lesson covers more things comparing to the coordinated science in IGCSE. In the bright side, it is motivating me to study harder to keep up with the lesson. Moreover, this year, I’m also joining some competitions and student council.
STUDENT COUNCIL 2012-2013
It is my fourth year as a member of the student council and I am still the secretary. By joining the student council, I’ve got new experiences and skills. By joining the student council, I’ve received a lot new experiences and skills. I feel like my leadership skills have improved a lot since I’ve joined this organization. In the end, it’s all something worth that I will not do if I’m not being the member of the student council.
For this academic year, the student council has planned some activities. At the beginning of the year, we held a student orientation program and I was in charge in the grade 10 SOP. There are lots of familiar faces as they are our grade 9 students before. The planning started during our holiday from June to July. Before the SOP day, we have tried all the games to make sure that they are reasonable and fun. There were some changes we made because of the limited space and some other reasons. The SOP for grade 10 was held on the afternoon and finished at night. There were some new games such as jumping rope (where 10 people need to jump at once), stickies (the students need to dance and shake their bodies so the stickies can fall down), solving riddles, and many more. After the exhausting day, our hard work was paid off because the students had fun and the activity ran smoothly.
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| The final trial before the SOP started |
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| A short briefing and reflection after the SOP finished |
After that we have our leadership camp for 2 days and 1 night. It was my first time sleeping in a sleeping bag because of the camp; it’s quite comfortable indeed. In this 2 days and 1 night camp, we have learned a lot. First, we learned to appreciate foods as we had to buy the ingredient ourselves at a traditional market with a limited amount of money and we cooked it ourselves. Second, we also learned to overcome our fear and have the courage as a leader during the outdoor activity where we had to go down a hill using a single rope. Third, we learned to be responsible with our job when we had a night watch. Here each sub-group had different time so we had to force ourselves to be awake during dawn even though we were so tired. Last one, we learned to support and appreciate each other therefore we also strengthen our bond as the student council member.
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| A tough road we need to get through before arriving at the leadership camp place |
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| A group photo early in the morning |
In November 2012, the gold coast basketball team visited Cita Hati. We, as student council members, were given the chance to meet and accompany them during their visit in our school. I was given the job to arrange the pairs and assign people to accompany them. It was fun to meet and greet them personally. During their break, we also served them some food and had a chat with the players. We got to know their culture and habits. Even though the time was very limited, it was really fun.
Before the Christmas holiday, the student council made a Christmas party for the ground staffs. It was really fun to share the spirit of Christmas and share our happiness with them. The event was neither too big nor too small. We made the run down, calculated the duration for each program, shopped the groceries and souvenirs, selected the MCs and foods, wrapped the door prizes, and many more. It was stressful yet fun to do. Honestly it was my first time to shop electronics and staple foods without my parents/adults accompanion. My friends and I compared prices from one shop to another and made sure to get the cheapest yet good quality things. We also needed to arrange the tables and the decoration. It was a whole new experience for us. We also experienced some difficulties where we bought some things in the last minute. In the end, the event was successful. The event started and ended as it was scheduled. Our hard work was paid off by the smiles and laughs from the ground staffs.
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| The Christmas for Ground Staff Comittee |
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| Some staple foods we bought |
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| Putting the door prizes after they were wrapped nicely |
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| Our ground staffs' happy faces paid off our hard work |
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| A group photo with Merry Riana, we are honored to meet her personally |
2 months later, we got student council members recruitment and the student council president and vice president election. It was quite a big event for student council because it will be a new beginning for the organization. During the recruitment, we were busy arranging the schedule for the applicants, interviewing them. We even had a debate on who should be accepted and not. After some arguments, we chose some of the applicants to be the members and we hope that they can handle the responsibility as a student council. After that, some of senior members are nominated as the future president and the future vice president of the student council. The rest of the members that were not the candidates become the campaign manager for the candidate. We arranged the schedule for them to have their campaign; we helped them to post posters and supported them as hard as we can. One day before the election, we were busy on reviewing the run down; arranging lines for the student, fixing the box that will be filled with the votes, buying confetti, and many more. We worked hard together and our task became easier as we shared the responsibility. It was fun and we are glad that the event runs successfully.
THE COMPETITION AND FAIR
In the beginning of this academic year, I went to Beijing to attend HSABHU Science Fair 2012 with Natasha 11IB2, Winson 11IB1, and Ms. Monica from Surya Institute. There are 8 countries participating in this science fair such as UK, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. We are the only representatives from Indonesia. In this science fair, Natasha and I presented our project about Tobacco as a bio insecticide in the category of life science. We have been searching and preparing the project for about a month before our departure. There was a lot of presentation technique we learnt during the tutorial session with Surya Institute’s representative, Mr. Syailendra and Mr. Yanto, before our departure to Beijing.
Day 1
We departed from Surabaya on the 25th of July and arrived on 26th of July. We experienced some delays and we were stuck on Shanghai due to the bad weather on Beijing that time. We arrived safely at 6 o’clock Beijing time and were picked up by the representative from HSABHU.
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| We were welcomed by the students from HSABHU and their teachers |
Unfortunately, some of the participants also experienced some delays therefore; on the 26th we visited the Olympic Park with our beautiful guides Zhao Miao Yan and Wang Yu Tong. They were so kind and patient towards us.
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| Beijing Olympic Park |
Day 2
The next day, we had the opening ceremony, here we met with the other participants and started to interact with them. They were so friendly and fun even though we still experience some awkwardness first.
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| Waiting for the opening ceremony to be started |
After the opening ceremony, we were taught to play the traditional Chinese Badminton. Unlike the usual badminton game we played, where we hit the shuttlecock with a racquet, here we kicked the shuttlecock with out legs. The other participants and I were experiencing difficulties in kicking the shuttlecock. However, we had a really good time playing it with the other students also.
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| We had so much fun playing this game with the other students |
Then we went to the hall and had poster exhibition. Here, we presented out posters to the participants and some HSABHU students who also attended the exhibition. We got to know other participant’s project and we also get some feedbacks from the other participants who visited our place. First there were lots of teachers and students who visited our booth, we tried our best to explain to them. As some of them did not understand English very well, we even tried to explain our project in mandarin. After some time, some participants started to visit our booth. They asked some tough questions even some are tougher that the questions that the teachers asked to us. After some long explanation, we agreed on each other. From this poster exhibition, we got closer to the other participants like Singapore team and Malaysia team, as we started to interact with them even more. After the poster exhibition finished, we watched a Chinese tea performance and make a traditional Beijing mask. I got to present my own creation of traditional Beijing mask which is quite embarrassing but I got to share more about Indonesian culture through the mask.
Day 3
We were divided into some classes and I’m taking the Chemistry class. In the Chemistry class, we performed an experiment about fruit battery. I was glad that I’m taking IGCSE program because I was taught about electrolysis so I basically knew what is electrodes, conductivity, etc. I was partnered with a grade 7 student and it is sad to know during junior high school they don’t have Chemistry class. He was really excited about the experiment and he really wanted to learn about Chemistry. So, my group was the first one who could lighten up a decoration lamp. My partner was very excited once he knew that our fruit cell was successful. Here we used lemons and tomatoes. After that we were brought to the Summer Palace and a shopping mall. We really had a good time.
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| A picture of my partner and I doing the first trial using a lemon as our fruit battery |
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| We used a boat to travel from one side to the other side of the palace |
Day 4
This was a big day as we had our presentation today. We were divided to some classes like math, life science, applied science, etc. Natasha and I were in the same room with other participants while Winson was separated from us because we entered on different category. I was captivated with how the other participants present their presentation because they were like professionals already. I also got many new information for example about Parkinson’s disease and my friend, Nicky, from Singapore, he found a theory to help the scientists cure this disease. There were still more brilliant projects presented by the other participants. Then, our turn to present came, we were nervous but thank God we did the presentation really well. We also got some questions that were asked by the other participants in the poster exhibition and some questions that we had prepared. So everything ran smoothly.
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| A picture when we were answering one of the questions |
After the presentation, we had a lab tour in Beihang University. We were divided into 2 groups, we took the group that did the physics experiment about solar cell. It was like the usual experiment we did in the school where we had to compute the data, calculating, etc. The advanced technology they had like digital voltmeter and some machines amused me. After the experiment, we went to some labs. We saw robots that their students had made then we also got to see their aerospace major. It was really cool; they are currently studying about silk worms that will be our astronauts’ meals during their time in outer space. They said that silk worms contain lots of nutrition. They also wanted to start exploring about growing plants for the astronauts.
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| During the physics experiment |
After the lab visit, we were brought to a Chinese restaurant to have our dinner. We sure love the dinner cause it was a pecking duck! It was really delicious. We shared our laughs and stories during the dinner. After the dinner, we made a aircraft from Styrofoam and cartons. It was really fun making it and we also got to fly it. We played it until a late night and then go back to the training center.
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| Our aircrafts, a picture with our friends from Malaysia |
Day 5
This was our hectic last day. We first gathered at HSABHU’s auditorium for a cultural performance. We got to see some traditional dances; some magic tricks and we also got to hear some traditional songs from other countries. Our team performed Poco-Poco dance and we ask the other participants to dance it with us. We taught them for only few minutes and they already can dance it. It was memorable. Our Singaporean friend also asked for the Poco-Poco song we used because it was attractive he said. After the performance, we took photos and exchange souvenirs. Even though we only interact for 5 days, we are quite closed to each other already.
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| The Poco-Poco dance we did with the other participants |
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| The guides, the teachers, and the participants |
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| We exchanged gifts and this are our friends from Singapore |
After the cultural performance, we visited the Tian An Men. Here we saw the history of Beijing, we also can hear the story translated in English. We saw the palace, the king’s bedroom, the queen’s bedroom, etc. We learned how was life in the palace; we also got to step on the road the king’s usually step on. It was really fun even though it was quite tiring, as we had to walk in such a big place. We also saw some trees like the love tree and also plants with different shape.
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| With the guides |
After visiting the Tian An Men, we were brought to a traditional Chinese noodle restaurant. We were served a huge bowl full of noodle. The bowl was huge and we were surprised that one of our guides could eat one and a half bowl of the noodle. We then rushed to go back to the training center to change our clothes and catch our flight. After packing and changing clothes, we went down to the lobby and said goodbye to our friends before departing to the airport. It was a memorable journey, we are not just getting some new lessons and experience but we also got new friends from different countries.
INAYS
This competition sounds familiar for us because Cita Hati School has joined this competition for about 3 years consecutively. Our Biology class participated in this competition. We were divided into 4 groups and each group consisted of 2 students. At the first time Mr. Marisi gave us an idea about what to explore and search for the experiment. My group got a topic about fungicide. After getting the topic, the first thing that we have to do is doing the first 3 chapters before the experiment. Unfortunately, one week before the experiment, I was informed that the fungi we were going to use weren’t available. In a short period of time, my group was asked to deliver a new topic. Honestly I was very panic at that time. I had to stay up late just to find a topic, it was really pressuring. After about 2 days staying until dawn, at 2 a.m I found a topic. After the topic was confirmed by Mr. Marisi, we made sure whether the bacteria that would be used were available or not. After everything was confirmed, we began the experiment. It was my first time dealing with bacteria. As we have to work near the spirit burner to keep everything sterilize, I even slightly burned my own finger. After more than 6 hours in the lab, the experiment was completed. The next day, I went to the lab again to check on the result. I was really pressured and worried if the experiment was successful or not. Then I saw the inhibition zone my PutriMalu extract has created, I was really glad that it works. Thank God.
After a few weeks waiting, we were confirmed to go to Bandung for the poster exhibition. During the exhibition, we have some visitors and we need to explain our project. We also met some of the Surya Institute representative like Mr. Yanto and Ms. Monika, they asked us some of the tough questions. After passing the semi-final, we have our presentation the next day. After waiting for some time, me and Natasha got the bronze medal in the category of Ecology. I, personally, was so surprised and I thanked God for this achievement. After getting the bronze medal, we need to prepare more things for a national selection. As the result of the national selection, our project was chosen to participate in APCYS.
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| Cita Hati team, we were participating in different categories (Ecology, Math, Physics) |
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| Praise the Lord! |
Ciputra Business Rally
When my school asked me to take part in this competition, I was not sure if I could make it. All of my IB subjects are about science. I didn’t take Business management. Each group in this competition consisted of 3 students. Unfortunately, none of us took Business. Class. The rally games began in the morning and ended late at night. It was really tiring but fun. During the rally, we did some games, we ran around the Ciputra area. I thank God because we took IGCSE Economy, so we know a bit about business. We were asked about private corporation, partnership, etc. Thankfully we can answer it all. We also played some games about common knowledge and Math. It was tiring for both brain and physical. My group and I felt very happy to be a semifinalist. The next day we lost during the trading simulation because we under estimated the power of inflation that can cause a pen cost 2000 can rise up to 20,000 rupiah. It was a memorable competition in the end.
Petra University Bridge Competition
During our physics lesson, we have an experiment about creating an efficient bridge from balsa wood. A few months after the experiment, Mr. Dedy told us that Petra University held a bridge competition for high school students and universities student. Me, Jevon, and Shintya decided to be in a group and joined the competition. We did the bridge for 2 times before actually making the final bridge. There are some requirements such as the thickness of the bridge, the minimum length, and the hardest part is we need to adjust the design of the bridge so it can hold 3 loading points. We also received a specified balsa wood from the university and we must use that wood and nothing else.
The day before the competition, we continue to make our final bridge. We have been staying at school until night for a few days. During the competition day, we need to pass some checking station before entering the hall. Thankfully, our bridge passed the checking. After waiting for several hours our bridge was being tested. It was loaded with small stones and we tried our best to load as many stones as we can. Unfortunately, our bridge was broke at the sides. It was really sad to know that we can’t pass the next stage and our efficiency was really close. Anyways, we still thank God as He has given us this precious opportunity and memorable experience.
There are other competitions that I have not mention yet such as Medspin held by Airlangga university, Business Plan Competition held by Gadjah Mada University, and Science for Our Future Festival held by University of New South Wales. During the Festival, we got the change to talk personally with some famous scientist such as Barry Marshall, Carmen Laurence, and many more. We are captivated with their explanation and their passion for Science. They motivated me to learn Science even more.
It was a memorable experience and I have got lots of new knowledge from the competitions. By receiving this scholarship, I become more motivated to work extra mile. That is all about my activities this academic year.I will be really honored to receive the scholarship again next year. ^^
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| Science for Our Future Festival |
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| Science for Our Future Festival |
