Woah, there are a lot of things I've passed on after I wrote this. Some of the stories below become irrelevant now. Especially the part when I wrote I won't become a programmer 😄.
A few months ago, in January, my school held an OSK (Regency Science Olympiad) selection. I, who have basic math skills, feel that this year will be difficult to pass because there are so many competitors. So I took another subject recommended by my friends, informatics.
Many people say, if you're good at math, informatics is nothing. It's just math, which is easier, so to speak. I immediately took the selection registration form, and I filled out the subject: INFORMATICS.
It's true, in the selection process, most of the questions are math, about combinations, while my competitors are generally people who have a basic in graphic design, not math like me. It's like they have no idea about how informatics looks like. In the question itself, there are five questions that I don't understand at all, about programming, I skipped. Because it's just five numbers, I also feel that programming is not too important, at least for that time.
Long story short Alhamdulillah I passed. I ranked 2 out of 3 received. In the first place, he was a team member last year, and the teacher gave him admission, without a test. The third is a girl. That's where I feel, well, I'm pretty happy. Because if I look at mathematics subject, it seems that I won't pass, at that time I rarely studied, and this was a bit sudden.
But now I have to study hard. Because it turns out that programming that I didn't think would be important has a decent effect on the competition later. Well, here is the good thing. This is also a factor for me to join the informatics subject. I can freely use the computer lab. Fyi, my school has many strict rules, one the most forbidden thing is to bring phones, as well as laptops. So during school there, I couldn't access the internet, except during computer lessons, but many sites were blocked by my school.
And now, I'm free to play study in the school computer lab. I'm free to use all computers, no blocked sites, even free to enter the lab even though there's a class in the lab, but I'm a bit uncomfortable, especially with a 1st-grade junior high school kid.
In that lab, I learned a lot; combinatorics, the most frequent chapter of mathematics. Also, all types of questions, last year's questions, principles, all of which I studied, because at that time I started from zero. It was only a few weeks until the competition was held.
Once I was looking for pdf material, then there was the book in e-commerce. My teacher suddenly left the lab, came back with the book, and put the book on my desk, the title is Discrete Mathematics. I was a bit shock, but it made me realize that I shouldn't use Instagram when the teacher was there.
February 28, 2018, I and others went to the competition venue, SMA 1 Tambun. The school is quite big, enough to accommodate 700 participants from all over Bekasi. One of the lessons I took that day, in a competition, it was not only our intelligence that was tested, but also our mentality. Just imagine that there are hundreds of people around you who are fighting for 3 tickets to qualify for the province, and all of them look smart.
Then comes the announcement day. All the competition participants, the school representatives, were called by the principal to the library, where we were quarantined before the competition. The results are read aloud, mathematics team passes as first and second, physics passes as fifth, chemistry as fourth, biology as third. And informatics, me, fourth. My friend who ranked first in the selection was on 6 or 7, I forget.
I almost passed.
From then on, I intended to continue studying, and I thought to study information engineering and work as a programmer. Before that, I will try the competition again this year, God willing.
Back to the present. Last Sunday I went to the beach with my cousin. He is already working as the sales dealer automotive in Jakarta. He said that living in Jakarta, there is no prestige if you want to survive.
I told him I wanted to study IT and then become a programmer. Then he told me that looking for a programmer job was difficult. There were still many of his friends who didn't get a job. Finally, he advised me to try an internship at one of the local e-commerce first. Which I can't because I still have to go to school, I'm not free yet.
That conversation made me think again, dimming my desire to become a programmer. So, I decided that programmer would just be my hobby, or maybe a side job. Because if you look ahead, there are still many opportunities for me, God willing.
There are some lessons from the stories,
First, make a lot of acquaintances, contacts, and friends. Because they could be our reason for achieving a goal. Don't be afraid to start. Try starting with the general stuff first, for example, talking about the weather, the world cup, or something.
Second, don't be afraid to try while you have the chance. Because many people have the ability but do not get the opportunity.
Three, find another way. Don't stop if there are obstacles or problems. There must be another way. To make it easier to get this way, we can make many acquaintances and not be afraid to try.