Validated

I wrote that I had to submit three title ideas for my thesis. Today, I got the validation result. I was quite lucky since not everyone got their idea validated today.

The validator team approve my thesis idea on exercise and sleep. I will write it with the help from psychiatry department. If you wonder why student who wants to write about exercise and sleep is helped by psychiatry department, that's a long story.

A lecturer told us what the validator team consider before approving our ideas. They consider whether our idea is new. They see if we, undergraduate students, can do that. They also take a look at our three ideas and read between the line on what interests us.

I guess they see that I'm interested in psychiatry. Beside that, exercise and sleep have correlation to mental health.

What about my three friends? Their ideas were also validated today. Elsa will write about toothpaste. Lady Slytherin will write about eugenol (I don't know what it is). Miss Perfume will write about health insurance. 

I hope we can do it well.

p.s. I guess someday I will write on why I call my two friends Lady Slytherin and Miss Perfume.

I Write a Long Post

I open my mail today and there was mail from Writing 101. The mail said, “Today is a free writing day. Write at least four hundred words and once you start typing, don’t stop.”

I laughed reading that mail. I have difficulty in writing long article. One day I had to write a news and my editor pointed out my mistakes: 1. wrong format, 2. no title, 3. less than 400 words. Another time, I wrote another news with 400 hundred words and my editor (different from the first one) said that my writing wasn’t long enough.

The mail also said, “.... once you start typing, don’t stop.” I admit that I have concentration problem. Writing 400 words at once sounds difficult. What if I’m bored and I want to browse something random? What if I’m thirsty and hungry? I don’t put my drink and snack near my laptop.

Anyway, last Monday, I had an accident. I rode motorcycle to campus and I was crashed by another motorcycle. I was all right. I could still ride my motor to campus. My right cheek hurt but I later found out that there was no fracture. Now my right shoulder still hurts but overall, I’m fine.

Whoa, traffic accident on the first day of traumatology block was “awesome”.

Talking about traumatology, we’ve got lectures from surgeons and .... (can’t find the proper words). Well, the lecture slides were full of pictures of horrible injury. Yesterday my friend said, “It seems that the surgeons like to show us such picture. They implicitly said, ‘Look, this is what I see everyday and I’m fine with it. You all just see it once or twice and you cringe?’ ”

The lecture slides make any thriller film looks lame. If you watch a thriller or horror film, you can still enjoy it if it’s your preference. In film, you can still enjoy the actors’ performance, background music, and setting. One important point, film is fictional and you, as viewer, just have to watch. Or leave if you don’t like it. In traumatology case, we have to watch and examine. We also have to help.

Last Tuesday, my three friends and I visited our university bookstore. It was not interesting. The place was comfortable but the books were mostly textbooks. Nothing is wrong with textbooks. As students we need them. However, there is time when we just need to read thing outside university textbook.

Today at 12.10, I’m going to have anatomy practicum. Anatomy lesson in traumatology includes all organs in the body. It means that I have to learn a lot, considering most organ systems were taught in our second year, the year when I spent my study life in darkness.

Now I’m going to play minesweeper and study. 

I Once Hated Med School 2

Day thirteen prompt of Writing 101 is about finding something. The twist said, "If you wrote day four's post as the first in a series, use this one as the second installment - loosely defined."

I wrote that I once hated med school. Busy lady from darlenescorner asked how it changed me. Now I'm trying to explain it.

Since I was a kid, I had always been a top student. My academic performance was the source of my confidence. 

Then I entered medical school.

In medical school, I experienced failure (I still do), thing that would scare and worry my high school self. And because of my poor grade, I somehow lost a little of my confidence.

I learned from that.

I learned to fake my confidence. I didn't always succeed to do that but at least I can. I then learned that no matter how bad my grade was, I should always love myself. 

Then there was ENT and that talk.

The first subject I studied in my third year was ENT. I was interested in ENT because I myself had problem with my ear. You can read about it here (if you don't like ENT related topic, the link can be disgusting).

I also had that talk with my mom. I forget what my mom said first but I retorted, "You don't believe that I can be a good doctor?" She said, "Of course I believe that you can be a good doctor. You must prove that my belief is right."

I found my interest in medical school again.

Unintentional Plagiarism

I've just remembered that my "Word List to Story" post was inspired by an episode of reality show. I forget the reality show but I remember that there was a girl asked the boys who wanted to be her boyfriend to create a song including certain words. I then thought it would be good to write story that way.

I didn't write it in that post because I forgot. All I remembered was how my friend and I wrote our story.

I'm sorry for that unintentional plagiarism.

We Need to Rest

Day seven prompt of Writing 101 is about contrast, "Write a post based on the contrast between two things - whether people, objects, emotions, places, or something else."

I have three close friends and I often think that we, four people, can show contrast when you compare us to most students in our year.

One day, we browsed internet randomly and read unusual articles together. Near us, there was some students talking about thesis.

We were like, "Read this article." "How can someone write such weird article?" "This article is annoyingly funny."

Near us, the students said things like, "Have you found what you want to write in your thesis?" "When will they announce the validation result?" "How should we contact the lecturer to become our mentor?"

Noticing this, Elsa said, "Hey, listen! People near us talk about thesis while we are here reading some useless articles." 

Note: when reading this article you may think that my friends and I are irresponsible students. Believe me, we're not that bad. We do care about our thesis. However, at that time, we just needed a little rest.

Journalists I Met

I missed a lot of prompts in Writing 101. This time I'm going to write for day six prompt, "Who's the most interesting person (or people) you've met this year?"

I met some interesting journalists last year and this year. They taught many good lessons.

In 2014, there was a journalism workshop for the members of student journalism club. The speakers were two journalists.

The first journalist was a young woman. She wrote entertainment news in local newspaper. I remember she taught us how to befriend fellow journalist. She shared her experience, "There was an event attended by many journalists. I was still new and I didn't know anyone. I then told my editor about it and he said, 'You have to talk to them (other journalists). Even if you don't know them. Just approach them and ask what media they work in,' "  To be honest, I often feel awkward around people. There are many times when I attend events with people I don't know well. I will try to start conversation.

The second speaker was a journalist for online media platform. He gave us important lesson on news writing and deadline. I remember he said, "I work for online media and it means that I must write quickly. Right after an event happens, the news should be seen online." I was amazed by that considering that I often procrastinated writing article.

Also on 2014, my friend and I became representatives of our journalism club to attend a journalism gathering. Ardus. M. Sawega, a senior journalist, spoke in that gathering. He used to write article on art performance and culture. He told us that one day, he watched a performance with fellow journalist. They both were going to write it in their newspapers. Their articles were quite different since Mr. Ardus notice things that his fellow journalist didn't notice. Lesson to learn: always pay attention. 

Recently in the journalism club upgrading, a student journalist from history faculty came as a speaker and she was cool. She has written since she was in junior high school. Not only that, she has ever seen "tawuran" (student fighting) and child jail for her articles. Whoa, I haven't written article on those topics. It would be quite terrifying for me to see such things.

There was also one thing they always told us about: etiquette.

Trauma & Traum

Next Monday on April 27th, I'm going to start studying traumatology. It's not about mental trauma anyway. It's about physical injury.
The word trauma sounds similar to the word Traum in German. They have different meaning, though. Traum means dream.
Can dream cause trauma? Maybe.

16 Weeks to Write Thesis

Yesterday I attended a meeting on thesis. We got information on thesis timeline (when we can start, the deadline, etc), mentor, and examiner.
We are given 30 weeks to finish our thesis. However, the lecturer said that if we work well, we can finish our thesis within 16 weeks. She said, "You are going to write undergraduate thesis and it only needs 16 weeks. Believe me, 16 weeks are enough."
I'm still waiting to know which of my ideas is validated. I hope I can manage my time well so I can write thesis, study, and still post regularly in this blog.
16 weeks? Challenge accepted.

Friday Lecture Note: Bandage and Splint

Yesterday, I got lecture on bandage and splint. 
Bandage is used on injury without fracture. Splint is for fracture. Both procedures are first aids.
Bandage shouldn't be too tight but not too loose, either. A pen can be inserted in well-fitted bandage.
Splint should pass both proximal and distal joints. However, if the fracture is on femur, the outer splint extends from malleolus lateralis (outer ankle) to axilla (armpit) and the inner splint extends from malleolus medialis (inner ankle) to inguinal.

Note: due to poor internet connection, I can't put picture in this post. 

Marriage?

"Today, take a cue from something you've overheard and write a post inspired by real-life conversation."

I sometimes overhear people talking. However, today I stay at home and study for exam so I don't overhear any unusual conversation. I can't even recall conversation I overheard so I write a story of my conversation with a friend.

One day in February, I met my old friend. We first met in high school and we became close. 
We had conversation over fried rice (because conversation over coffee was not enough, duh). Never meeting each other for a long time, we had many things to talk: university life, news from old friends, our own lives, and marriage.
I'm not good at relationship advice. However, talking about marriage with a close friend doesn't require me to be an expert. We can always share our opinion, thought, and worry. 
My friend said, "I want to marry when I'm 25 but now that I'm 21, I haven't figured out how I will find my husband." I said, "I haven't figured out, either. Sometimes people find their match in unexpected places, though."
Since we both were single (we still are), we came to our usual conclusion, "Let's just think about it later. We need to take care of our study first."
Anyway, I found a good video from BuzzFeedYellow, "Marriage Advice from Divorcees". It's a good video and if you're an inexperienced single who want to marry, I suggest you to watch it.

House

Today's prompt in Writing 101 is, "Where did you live when you were 12 years old? Which town, city, and country? Was it a house or an apartment? A boarding school or foster home? An airstream or an RV? Who lived there with you?"

Reading the first sentence, I answered, "I've lived in my house in Surakarta since I was born." All right, I was born in hospital but after that I live in my house.

When I read the last sentence, I got that strange feeling. When I was 12 years old, my grandma was still alive. She lived in my home. Now I live with my mother, father, and aunt.

My house changes a lot through the years. I remember there was an empty area near the living room. There was soil, some plants, and grass. It is now a dining room, or not. It was supposed to be dining room but later it became my mother's work space. And my father's, too.

We still had a mango tree back then. It was later cut. Why was it cut? There was caterpillar outbreak in some cities and my mom was worried of it so she asked someone to cut the tree. It turned out that the caterpillar outbreak didn't reach my city. Now I sometimes see mushrooms grow near the tree stump.

My grandma had a bed near the television. There she read or created paper boat. She also watched soap opera. In the night, she slept in my room. After she passed away, the bed was moved to somewhere I didn't know.

Those are what I remember from my house when I was 12 years old. I've lived in this house for a long time and I have no idea when I will leave it. 

Weekly Doodle: Imagination and Acceptance

I haven't doodled for Weekly Doodle. There were Acceptance and Imagination themes. I decided to draw one picture for those two themes.
I have weird, even annoying imagination. My close friends know that and they're fine when I tell them what I think and imagine.

Record, Speak, Listen

I found a good video in Easy Russian channel, "How to improve your pronounciation". In that video, Maria showed how she improves her English speaking by recording her speech then listening to it.
I've ever done that with my English. I recorded myself speaking English then I listened to my voice and I found it terrible. It was fun anyway. I guess I will record myself speaking Russian after this.
You should try that, too. Record yourself speaking foreign language then listen. If it doesn't sound good, try again.

Twenty Something and Other Stories

It's a late announcement.
Sandeep from Daydream & Happy Things created an online magazine called Twenty Something. It's a magazine written by bloggers in their twenties and I'm one of those bloggers. Yeay!
Beside the content, I really like the layout. It's so colourful and enjoyable to read. Read the magazine in ISSUU.
My post in Twenty Something is "Word List to Story". Since Sandeep has just created a story out of word list, I also make one.

Words:
pass
move
outlook
skunk

It was a sunny day and she decided to take a walk. Wearing a midi dress, she went to her favourite cafe.

She ordered pancake and tea. While waiting for the order, she heard someone said, “Dad, let’s move near the window.”

A boy passed her chair. He held his father hand and walked to the seat near the window. She couldn’t help smiling when noticing that the boy carried a ransel with skunk picture on it.

The story talked about cafe. May I cheat and include it in Writing 101? I haven't written for day eight prompt. It was, "Go to a local cafe, park, or public place and write a piece inspired by something you see. Get detailed: leave no nuance behind."

Three Titles

I once said that I had no idea about what I should write in my thesis. I also stated that I considered writing psychiatry. However, I had to submit three titles to be validated.
I have submitted the three titles.
At first, the only idea that came to my mind was a thesis talking about internet addiction. I still had to find two more titles.
I then read that many senior students pick anxiety as thesis subject so I considered anxiety. My friend said, "Why don't you choose ADD (attention deficit disorder) instead of anxiety. We both seemed to experience ADD so it would be more interesting." I then decided to choose anxiety. 
I got two titles.
The third titles just came to my mind when I remembered once a penpal told me to exercise more so that I didn't experience sleeping problem. My third title is about exercise and sleep.
Now I just wait to know which of those titles is validated.

Lecture Note: If You Like It then Go for It

I think I've been a lazy blogger lately. I missed two Friday lecture notes. I don't write four posts out of Writing 101 prompts. I will talk about my laziness in other posts.
In this post, I want to share an advice from a pediatrician last week. He said, "Choosing a specialty is like choosing a wife. If you choose a wife solely for her beauty, you will regret since beauty doesn't last long. If you choose a specialty just because it looks cool, you will regret. Choose a subject that you love. For example, psychiatry doesn't look cool for many medical students but if you like it then go for it."

A Wet Book

Today's prompt in Writing 101 is like this, "A man and a woman walk through the park together holding hands. They pass an old woman sitting on a bench. The old woman is knitting a small red sweater. The man begins to cry. Write this scene."
Today's twist: write the scene from three different points of view.

The Woman
I held his left hand while walking through the park. The book he wanted to borrow was in my bag. It was wet but still readable. He could wait until it's dry then read but I knew he never wait to read.
"Here. Sorry, it's a bit wet," I handed him the book. He grinned widely then I saw tears in his eyes.

The Old Woman
The park was quiet. There were only a couple walking together, a kid reading a book with a cat on his lap -I wondered how he can take the cat to the park-, and me knitting red sweater for my granddaughter. 
While knitting, I couldn't help noticing the couple. The woman handed a book to the man. After that, I heard the man shouted.

The Man
I was so excited when she told me that she brought me the book I wanted to read. She said the book was wet but I didn't care. I could always read book no matter how bad the condition. 
I smiled when seeing the book but seconds later, "Oh, my eyes! Why didn't you tell me that the book was wet from formaldehyde?"

Just Do It (Let's Get Fictional)

p.s. Just do it. You've procrastinated for a long time.

I read those words in a piece or paper in the park. It's a letter, I suppose. I didn't know whom it was for but I feel like being reminded to start the project.

"Excuse me. I left a piece of paper here. Do you see it?" a girl, 15 years old I guess, asked me.
"Is this yours?" I gave her the paper.
"Oh, thank you. I just need to read it everytime I'm about to procrastinate." She then put the paper inside a sketchbook.

Note:
This post is a response to today's prompt in Writing 101, "You stumble upon a random letter on the path. You read it. It affects you deeply, and you wish it could be returned to the person to which it's addressed. Write a story about this encounter."

Having the Loss

The fourth prompt in Writing 101 reminds me a song by Letto, "Memiliki Kehilangan". The title can be translated as "having the loss". 

The repeated part of the lyrics is the best part of this song, "Rasa kehilangan hanya akan ada jika kau pernah merasa memilikinya." It means, "The feeling of loss will only exist if you've ever felt having."

Do you have more proper translation?

I Once Hated Med School

The fourth prompt in Writing 101 is about loss. It says, "Write about a loss: something (or someone) that was part of your life, and isn't any more."
I don't like that prompt, to be honest.
Actually, I'm a person who can move on easily after losing someone or something. I think I will talk about the loss that changed myself: the lost of interest in medical school.
I've always been interested in medicine. When people ask me why I choose to study medicine I always say, "Because I like it." However, there was time when medical school seemed to suck my life.
I was in second year. The subjects were difficult at that time. We had to study neoplasm, musculoskeletal, respiratory system, neurology, reproduction, urology, digestive system, and cardiology. 
Those subjects are important but they were overwhelming for me so I lost my interest in learning. I didn't study well for tests and exams. I didn't read a lot before group discussion. I didn't really care whether I failed or passed a test. I was like, "Why should I study this? I will forget it anyway so why should I study?"
I felt guilty for that but I just couldn't focus my mind. I just lost interest. I was tired. 
Now in my third year I'm doing better. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because the subjects in third year aren't so overwhelming as in second year. Or there may be other causes.

Three Songs and Some Stories

Today's prompt in Writing 101 is, "Write about the three most important songs in your life - what do they mean to you?"
I listen to many songs but I don't actually have important songs in my life. However, I'll still make a list of three songs.
3. Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance 
When I read the lyrics for the first time, there were some words I didn't know the meaning. I guess I should thank My Chemical Romance for expanding my vocabulary. 
2. Child in Time - Deep Purple
My mother bought Deep Purple cassette several times and she was always disappointed if the Child in Time song in the cassette is just the 4 minute version. She said, "Why is this song cut? You should listen to the long version. It's very good." Then one day we bought a CD and we cheered after finding out that it had the long version of Child in Time.
1. Asmaradana
I haven't found a version of Asmaradana that I like in YouTube. In wikipedia, there are two versions of Asmaradana lyrics. The one was often sung by my late grandmother.

Aja turu sore kaki                              (Don't sleep early, [kaki])
Ana dewa nganglang jagad            (There is god wandering around the universe)
Nyangking bokor kencanane          (carrying a golden [box])
Isine donga tetulak                            (It contains [prayer against the bad])
Sandhang kelawan pangan             (Clothes and food)
Yaiku bageyanipun                            (That are meant for)
wong melek sabar narima               (people who are awake and patient to accept)

The words I put in [....] are the words I'm not sure about the translation. I understand the meaning but I just don't know the proper English translation. "Kaki" in this song is not "kaki" in Indonesian which means foot. Kaki here is for addressing someone but I forget who that someone is.
By the way in wikipedia, the last line is, "wong welek sabar narima" but my grandma sang it as, "wong melek sabar narima."
Since I'm not so philosophical right now, I will write about the message behind this song in the future.

Take Me to the Bookstore

Today's prompt in Writing 101 is, "If you could zoom through space in the speed of light, what place would you go to right now?"
I would go to book store right now. It sounds simple but I really need to refresh my mind. I didn't actually do a lot of things recently but I'm just a little tired.
In the bookstore, I usually go to stationery section first. I have this weird obsession for stationery. Everytime I see a cute notebook, I just want to buy it. If I buy it, I won't know what I should use it for. If I don't buy it, I'll be obsessed a little longer.
I will then visit the shelves of fiction novels and look for any unsealed novel so I can take a look and read. That unsealed novel is a good thing when I visit a bookstore and I don't have enough money to buy book. I once read "Peter Nimble" novel in a bookstore but I didn't finish it. I then came over and over to read Peter Nimble but one day, I can't find the book. It was sold out. 
I also like comic section. My favourite comic? Asterix, Conan, and Miiko. I also want to read "Three Kingdoms" comic series but I can't find them in the bookstore. If you're curious about Three Kingdoms, you can read it in here. The comic version is interesting and easy to understand.
What do you like to see in the bookstore?

20 Minutes to Free Write

The first assignment of Wordpress Writing 101 is to take twenty minutes to free write. Here I go.

It rains outside. An Indonesian puppet master, Sujiwo Tejo once said that "If you can't make a poem when it rains then you're ...." I forget what he actually said. It was something like "not romantic" or "doesn't have feeling", or something like that.

I've just realised that I've never posted my poem in this blog. The last time I wrote poem was in 12th grade. I was 17 or 18 at that time. That was a short poem like this

Senja

Pagi ini kulihat senja

Senja?

Percayalah, itu senja

Translation:

Dusk

This morning I saw dusk

Dusk?

Believe me, that was dusk

I remembered that was a last-minute poem. I procrastinated a lot (I still do).

Back to the rain. If I have to write a poem about rain right now it would be like

Rain lightly

Softly

I'm not gloomy,

just sleepy

Duh. I need more practice in writing poem.

It's April 6th and I'm going to have pediatrics written exam on April 17th. I have to revise soon. 

I also have to think about what I should write in my undergraduate thesis. I consider psychiatry. I've thought about one title but I'm required to write three titles first. Those three titles will be validated then I will write thesis with only one title. Why three?!!

Talking about April. If I'm not mistaken, it's supposed to be a dry season in Indonesia. Correct me if I'm wrong. Global warming affect the seasonal change, I guess. You know, Sapardi Djoko Damono's poem "Hujan Bulan Juni" means June rain. What's so special about "June Rain"? When the poem was written, the seasons still changed regularly so June was a dry month. At that time, there was no rain on June. The poem "Hujan Bulan Juni" talks about June rain that longs for the flowery tree but it keeps its feeling secret. How do you interpret it? Who do you think June rain is?

Now I'm going to write a case report and look for the three titles, I guess.

Du weiβt, was wunderschön ist – oder?

Du weiβt, was wunderschön ist – oder?

Lese das erste Wort noch mal.

Want to know the translation? Look at this page. Once I sent the translation to my friend and she was happy.

When I read that page, I laughed reading this

Jemand folgt dir auf Twitter => Juhu, ein neuer Follower!

Jemand folgt dir im richtigen Leben = Oh mein Gott, ein Stalker!

Translation:

Someone follows you on Twitter => Yoohoo, a new follower!

Someone follows you in real life => Oh my God, a stalker!

Friday Lecture Note: Exercise while You're Young

I study geriatrics and one lecturer said, "Before you enter 30s, you have to exercise often so you can maintain your bone mass when you grow old." Another lecturer said, "Two best sports are swimming and cycling, especially swimming. If you can't swim then learn to swim while you're still young."
Those lecturers gave me idea on what I should do on weekend.

Religion and Politics: I Should be Careful

I talk about various things but there are two things that I choose to be careful with, especially in facebook: religion and politics. Religion is sensitive, politics is scary.
Let's talk about religion first. I'm a muslim and I still need to learn a lot about Islam. I sometimes share religious post in my facebook. However, I don't share religious content on topic that I don't understand. I don't share content that, in my opinion, can lead to debate or, even worse, conflict. 
About politics, .... Well, I can still share religious content but I don't share any political content in my facebook. I learn it from my father. Every time there is political news and I tell my father, he often says, "That's what you know. The truth can be different." Considering my general principle in the internet, "I don't share content that I don't understand," I take my father's advice seriously.