III
mind
reflect, adapt, and innovate to the
new normal:
Hakkinen Malik (BEM)
Text by Nathania Aviandra
Photo by Edward Tjahyadi
It has been nearly a year since the pandemic season started. Back in March, many sectors have been affected, schools and public places closed, restaurants shuttered, even working together with our peers was no longer possible. All systems and methods that are based on offline activities before, transferred to the online method. Any plans may seem blurry by now, but despite every limit, things have to re-adjust the ways to pursue the new normal. This also applied to BEM UNPAR. Luckily I had a chance to share a few words with the Chairman of BEM, Hakkinen on how BEM adapt and re-adjust their ways to make organizational mechanisms and management run despite pandemic conditions. After all, this is what we do as humans, to evolve, to find our way back, to discover our future, regardless of what the obstacles are. In terms of innovation, the offline-based BEM activities will immediately be eliminated and all of their activities are re-innovated, “PARLYMPICS”, which were originally physical-based competitions, now shifting to e-sports.
The effects for each person who were trapped in this situation may vary. Some might hardly try to keep their head above the water and some of us drown to the rock bottom. Leaving us with choices that have limited results, BEM tried to do something and reach the world by helping as much as they can to people. I acknowledge that to live in a home that is comfortable, supported, and adequate is a privilege. “We tried to find a solution for those students who still stay in Bandung to survive; there is the provision of masks, gloves, and hand sanitizers as well. Also, we facilitate the existence of portable sink installations at several points”. Almost all paid webinars from BEM and the registration e-sport matches’ fund is fully allocated for donations. It is beautiful how the human connection will never cease to exist, BEM with all community service divisions at UNPAR initiated a goodwill movement under the name ‘UNPARFIGHTSCOVID’. For UNPAR students itself, BEM also succeeds to provide additional scholarships for students who are specifically affected by the pandemic.
There are still a lot of things to be improved. The path may be a little bumpy for Hakkinen and his team, also for the next period of BEM. “There are many criteria and performance indicators that we have created, there is limited time for adjustment and adaptation with the online method. However, we tried to maintain the quality of BEM according to the performance indicators that we delivered at the beginning of the period”. He hopes that for the next period, BEM should maintain its role as an essential organization that fulfills the three essential needs of students; the fulfillment of basic needs, needs in self-development, and the need to devote oneself to the community, and also to maintain the quality of UNPAR and its students to the external realm so that they can compete in the global order.
As I spent one evening having a Zoom call with Hakkinen as Chairman of BEM, he stated one of the essences of the central organization is to also bring students from various departments to the same place, but in this situation, he finds it difficult with networking. Regarding coordination to all institutions in PM UNPAR, he discovered that online meetings turn out even more flexible and easier for them to communicate. But maybe the difficult part is to bond and build interpersonal relationships. As he had hoped that BEM’s staff could bond more with each other, but it couldn’t be done due to pandemic madness that forced us to stay home. These might look like small things, but these are crucial, especially in times like this where we are bound to feel disconnected. With fear and uncertainties looming over our heads, we still try to act and manage to put out our official form of work and thrive during the pandemic.
“how did quarantine change you?”
Aurelia Dorothy
Yunia Nurlia, Architecture
Since quarantine, I’ve started to cherish every time available, whether it’s time with family or time with friends, even though the communication is only by phone or video call. The advice is that even though we are in a less ideal situation, we still have to be productive, like doing new activities and things that you like to support your mood because you will always be bored at home, but don’t forget to take care of your health and cleanliness.
Joan Angela, Chemical Engineering
Because I stay at home a lot I’ve become more productive and creative by doing business, getting new hobbies & developing some skills. In addition, you can also spend more time with your family and friends through video call.
Clarisa Irene, Management
During these slow days, it gives me a chance to have a lot of time to think and speak to myself. Quarantine changes me to be more independent, to learn how to step out of my comfort zone, and to appreciate every little thing in life.
Erina Putri, Law
Quarantine has become a part of our life since the coronavirus outbreak. I feel that it has changed me into such a wonderful person by being able to control my emotions more, loving, and appreciate myself more, and to also treasure every moment with my family.
Stevanus James, Civil Engineering
Because this quarantine period was carried out while I’m in college, I spend a lot of time in front of my laptop and my phone. There are lots of interesting things that I just found out about when I live with my family and friends during this time. I also try to enjoy rare times like this, I am now more vigilant, I drink water more often, I do small exercises, schedule my meals, and try to get enough sleep to stay healthy during the quarantine.
Stella Sutana, Industrial Engineering
One thing I’ve learned during this quarantine is how to manage my time better, between staying connected with my family and friends, studying, and doing my hobby. So remember that there is always a positive to every negative, and our job is to look for those positive things!
Jefferson Gunawan, International Relations
During this pandemic season, I feel blessed to be able to learn how to slow down and put less pressure on myself. Being back home, I’ve come to appreciate my family more and realize who’s been there since day one. Although I was overwhelmed with all the changes that were happening, I’m so excited for all of the good things to come. This pandemic has changed my perspective and teaches me how to always look on the bright side of life. Cheers up.
Aubrey Dimitri, Industrial Engineering
Quarantine gave me some breathing space from all of the things that are happening now, to stop, reflect on the past, and plan for the future. quarantine also helped me to see the world from a whole new perspective.
Michelle Tan, Law
Since I have so much time during this pandemic, I feel like quarantine changed me in a better way where I can use my time wisely to explore new things and do a lot of activities that I can’t do before.
blurred // the battle of my mind
Athaya Hanin
sleepwalking
the curated persona
Text by Junetta Adzra
Photo By Dany Amelia
The digital world has merged so much with our lives that there is no longer a clear definition between it and the physical world. Social media has become a part of us and there’s no denying that it has become so important for our everyday lives. It adds another dimension to who we are and what we will become. The rise of social media and the times we spent in quarantine has made social media namely Instagram and other platforms into something crucial and the virtual persona we created in those social media platforms has become more significant.
When speaking of identity or persona, we often think about who we are or how we look from other people’s perspective. Be it physical, or just how others see us as a whole, we always – in every kind of way – carefully and thoughtfully organized our identity as an individual. With all this time in our hands during quarantine, lots of people end up building their “virtual persona” in many platforms of social media. These carefully curated persona might raise some sort of questions about whether it is a way to represent ourselves, or a way to reinvent ourselves?
Although some might say that posting on social media about certain topics that you suddenly got interested in is an act of virtue signaling, some might say that social media has helped us create any personas we want and a platform to express ourselves online. Rebranding yourself is not an act of dishonesty, instead, it could be a way to open new windows of opportunity and no one has the right to judge as long as you feel comfortable with the persona you created.
it will always
spark joy
Text by Tsabita Sekarlintang
Photo by Dany Amelia
We have lived long enough to keep mementos for ourselves. But do we ever realize that these mementos have built us for who we are today?
Marie Kondo tells us to be kind and grateful to our belongings. Especially to those sentimental things that live not only inside your shelf but also inside your soul. These things could be your favorite doll as a child, concert tickets, diaries, old pictures of your family, or anything that truly touches your heart. For some people, they do not mean anything. But to you, it means everything.
Sometimes, you forget about them. They will only be covered with clouds of dust by the end of the day, being found at the most random places you would think of. These mementos are forgotten; meanwhile, they will never forget anything. By the time you have found them, you would think that you have found a long-lost treasure. Even better than the one with golds and jewels.
The memories inside our mementos remain forever. They are the witnesses of our lives. Nostalgia will washes over every single time, no matter how many years we have kept it. Something that Marie Kondo would ask, “Does it spark joy?” and you would reply undoubtedly, “Yes, very much.”
I believe these mementos are our kind-of time machine. To reminisce the good times, the bad times, the smell, the people, the situation, and the memory itself; here is to preserving mementos.
healing: finding your true self
Kendra Rossa
the body
knows fear
Text by Ayesha Mitza S.
Photo by Farhan Rasyidi
Todd Hido, an American artist one wrote, “When you’ve had a bad experience, you sometimes feel compelled to recreate it in a way that allows you to control it. It’s like you’re attracted to the very thing that bothered you because you’re not done with it – you need to fix that moment so you can move forward…”
When someone I know was a child, he watched the (literal) heart ripping scene in Temple of Doom and reacted very little. He just stared and left the room. Little did we all know that he was traumatized, and couldn’t really watch the other Indiana Jones movies like the other boys as he grew up. In his teens years, he became more careful in a way – like always avoiding falling when he plays sports because he hates the sight of blood. Even now as an adult he still hasn’t watched that movie. But he has always known about that particular scene, from which title movie of the franchise, and has always known what it looks like visually after one time seeing it.
The thing about trauma is that it always makes us cautious about the wound it has given; like when your tooth hurts, your tongue keeps going there. It creates a sense of uneasiness inside the body and it almost becomes a reflex on how you perceive things, and this reflex can be so strong it literally changes your whole mindset. Dealing with trauma is hard, but just know that it takes time to recover, and from what I’ve heard, time plays a significant role in the process.
the beauty of not knowing
In this world full of uncertainty, the only certain thing lies in the not-knowing
Text By Junetta Adzra
Photo By Dany Amelia
In this world full of uncertainty, the only certain thing lies in the not-knowing. “Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security,” some might say. Not knowing what tomorrow will serve, not knowing if tomorrow’s going to be a good or bad day and other not-knowing in one’s life is part of uncertainty itself. Quarantine is a strange period of time where productive culture is increasing, and resulting to most people being pressured by their unproductiveness, especially the people in their 20s. In this uncertain period of time, it may feel like society pressures us into having to know what we’re going to do with life and having to figure ourselves out at the early age of 20. The endless social media updates from other people – be it close friends or even family, about their life may somehow become a burden for us. It may feel like we are running slow compared to others.
Being lost and often not knowing who you are is a normal thing bound to happen in anyone’s life. There are going to be times when everything seems to be going well. Those times will feel like you finally have a sense of purpose in this world and you are clear about where you’re going in life. But in the same life, there are also bound to be times when it’s not clear, times when you do not know. For some people these might be brief interludes. For others they might last longer, until certain things change. But the truth is, everyone has their own pace and time. Don’t let anyone or anything rush you with their timelines, because yours and theirs will never be the same. Constantly putting time constraint on certain things in your life will also make life harder to live. Realizing that things will eventually happen when they are supposed to happen and that the best things will come at the right time is some piece of mind we all need to work on, instead of rushing ourselves into the standard of success that is socially constructed by society. Just because you haven’t accomplished something by a certain age doesn’t make you a failure. An accomplishment is still an accomplishment regardless at what age it comes.
It was a revelation that we could let ourselves not be okay just to find out that we eventually would be okay. We’re not messed up by doing that, nor that it is a wrong thing to do. To accept that the not knowing is normal. At the end this is about the journey of life, and it may vary from individual to other individuals. We don’t have any instructions on life and we have to enjoy the ride with all of its ups and downs. And after all, this period of time isn’t supposed to magically get you to figure yourself out just because the situation and condition pressure you to do so.
…………
vrouw
Nadiva Manopo
very tired, very often
Text by Aurelia Dorothy
Illustration by Daniella Shannon
Since we started staying at home a little too much than what was anticipated, it is not big news when everyone feels a little too overwhelmed. Being in a constant state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress will lead us to burnout. We begin to lose interest in the things that used to bring us so much joy, doing it less and less as the motivation dissipates with our world shrinking to the confines of one’s dwelling.
While it is perfectly acceptable to occasionally fall into unproductive habits, taking a break from our responsibilities for too long would sap our energy, alas leaving ourselves feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, or even resentful. Even though it might feel like a chore when we force ourselves to constantly produce something, we need to get back on our feet for the negative effects of burnout spills into every area of our lives. It affects our lives at home, work, social environments, and it could also cause long-term changes to our body that make us more vulnerable to illnesses.
In an era where the pressure to stay productive is prevalent, we should not feel guilty for taking a break when we reach our limit. Finding and learning new hobbies could be an alternative when old ones don’t give the same satisfaction. Nevertheless, we need to reassess ourselves once in a while to get us out when we’re in a rut.
i live for the winter sun
Text by Sebastian Duto
Illustration by Magira
Beyond four walls, three people, and a door was once a world free for all. In a year when we have grown older faster than no other year, humanity has brutally shown us face to face with the fragility of our routines.
No one knew right away we were shifting, in every sense of the way. The routines we shared, the normalcy of our lives we had taken for granted, lost comfort. The same, boring structures of our lives were taken away, then made harder to even have comfort and the little sweetness around it. When everything is turned upside down, it might be hard to follow the new rules. It seemed like there was no right way to do anything anymore, and every decision you made was a calculated risk.
But right now I’m having a ball. The commute every morning that I hated was no more. I’m sure some people can relate that quarantine has allowed us to slow down. The only things I’m juggling are between college and how many books I can read in a month now. Sure, I’m lacking physical interaction with another person outside my family, but I’ll always have my dog with me every minute
This is the stage of acceptance. Where I have seen this as the new sets of rules, and the way of living.
There were also times where guilt ate me up. Seeing pictures of underprivileged kids and stories of people struggling to put roofs over their heads right now is the easy way to trigger that emotion. This guilt only makes me a human, a sign of empathy. But I regress from turning that guilt into shame. This guilt I have does not come from the mistakes I have made. This guilt I have is rooted from my desire to mirror how others feel, that sense of kinship towards others. By respecting others’ safety is already a good enough way to help the world into easing these apocalyptic-like circumstances.
I have cleaned out old expectations and written a new one.
I guess I’ll let the time slide, staying in place, where I can dream of the day when the barrier is broken. And when the time comes, I’ll be happily conforming to a whole new set of rules. Because right now, we got nothing but time.
so,
what’s next?
Text by Ayesha Mitza S.
Photo by Fersylia Oktafianny
No one really knows when we can live like before again, and it’s quite obvious that we are living in a very confusing time at the moment. Uncertainty can be worrying; it makes us expect the worst to come, and that often leads ourselves to a devastating place. As much as we would like to, we can’t see what’ll happen in our lives after this. Life does not have a map to see where to go, nor a warning sign to tell us whether things will be okay or not. Like what others would like to say, in a try-to-be-comforting way, these are trying times for all of us.
Even though the unknown future has made us in a constant state of worry, there are also times where this uncertainty can be exciting. There’s even news on the media about predictions after this all ends, such as “Congress can go virtual”, “More people can cook”, “Less individualism in our society”, “A healthier digital lifestyle”, and so on. These predictions could come from people who dreamt and thought big about what’s going to happen next. And I am sure that some of us are like that too while waiting quite patiently for it, but the big question is, are we actually ready for it?
Despite the difference between the worrying side and the exciting side, one thing for sure is that we all expect the quarantine to end.
And when it ends, how do you want to look back on these trying times?
