2014

Well... it's the end of the year already, time sure flies so fast. I know this is not the New Year's Eve, and whatever I'm saying in this post might be more suitable if I write it there, but anyway, I just want to say that this year has been a very beautiful year for me. In 2014, I found new friends with an amazing bond of relationship. This year was somehow adventurous, with every ups and downs, but that's what makes life thrilling, right? I learned a lot about life, about fighting and not giving up, about believing in yourself and your will this year. I found a new solace, a new and much better way to pent up my frustations in writing poems, and it's actually exciting to discover new things aboutmy own self.

Next year, I'm sure, will be another even greater adventure. Lots of fights of blood and sweat. Things going to be hectic, but somehow, I can't wait for that.

So, to celebrate the end of the year and my discovery about myself, I've decided to make a new page consisting what-I-think-as my best ten poems I've written until now.  I was reluctant at first, but then I thought "why not?'. Why would I be ashamed of something I should've spoken out loud to the world? You can navigate there by clicking the  'Poems' tab, just right next to 'The Front Row' one. I'm planning to change the content once a year, but let see what will happen later.

Last, I wish you all a fun holiday and a great year ahead!

#20FactsAboutMe

Got tagged by one of my friends on Instagram, and after I posted it there, I thought why not here as well? So... here the list goes.... (btw I changed the number 8)

1. First things first. My full name is Nagita Gianty Annisa
2. My family calls me Gita, but my friends usually calls me Nagita, Nagit, or whatever nick names they have
3. I was born in Jakarta, 1st November 1997
4. I have Sundanese, Batak, and Melayu bloods running on my vessels
5. You may call me nerd, but I love science, esp biology.
6. I have joined science olympiads since when I was in primary school
7. My hobby is reading and writing drabbles and poems in my notebooks or post something on my blog
8. My favorite poetess is Lang Leav
9. I love Fantasy! My favorite author is Rick Riordan
10. And my favorite books are, of course, anything with Percy Jackson in it ;)
11. When it comes to music, I got to say that I'm a HUGE fan of Owl City! The music, the lyrics, are just so perfect (y)
12. I can tell you I was not born for arts, I'm suck at them
13. I join the graphic design class in my school, but it is just bcs it's the only art I might be able to do
14. I'm also suck at sports
15. But I love watching matches, esp soccer. And I don't care whatever people say but my fav club is Manchester City
16. I also like watching sports anime and reading the manga, like Haikyuu or Free, but my favorite is Kuroko no Basuke, and I'm so sad it has ended
17. Hmm... but honestly I do like playing sports, as long as it's only for fun, like playing soccer with my family. And as long as no one laugh at my skills -_-
18. Believe it or not, I learn how to swim by myself copying my father's moves, but I can only swim freestyle
19. My favorite place in the whole world is my own bedroom, yes, call me introvert
20. People might say I'm a cold person, but why don't you try talking to me by yourself if you want to know more?

'Almost'

Some people say that 'Almost' is the saddest word in the whole world. Today, I understand why. OSN was finally over, and so was the medalists announcement. Alhamdulillah, my school got 1 gold (earth science), 1 silver (biology), and 5 bronzes (geography, physics, IT, chemistry, and math <from a tenth grade student>) this year. Yup, there, the silver one, is mine. I got silver last year, and I got the same this year. Not bad, not at all. My rank moves upward too, from 11th to 6th. Yes, 6th, which means first silver. Just one step close to gold. I don't want people to think that I'm ungrateful. Because I'm grateful. I'm happy because it's really a good result. But I'm sad that I couldn't get something actually so close to reach. I feel like regretting something, but I do realize there's nothing to regret. So I'm really conflicted right now. I'm happy for all my friends who get the golds (I know all of them personally), but I'm sad because I wish I would be one of them.

But after all, it's fine. Not perfectly, but fine is still fine. I believe God knows best. And this, is the best for me. There are a lot awful of lessons I've learned today. How to accept that some things are not meant to be ours. How to understand that in the end, it is all depend on our faith. No matter how good or bad you were, today is a very different story. How to learn to be grateful, to look down when you feel bad, and look up when you feel proud. And after all, this is clearly NOT the end. I will join pelatnas (I guess and I hope), I will join the national examination and get to a new life. I still have a long way to go. I still have many chances ahead. I hope everyone, whoever he or she is, who is not satisfied with the result, will get over this, soon or later.

It's bad that I cried in my last year of national olympiad, but this has always been a fascinating experience for me. One of the few places I feel like belong to, and one where I could find cool friends (and even best friends) who have the same passion and dream with me.

At last, Thank you for the amazing ride for these last 6 years... :-)

ASC 2014

These weeks might be the busiest weeks I've ever had in my life. From 16th to 21st August, I joined a training camp for OSN in Bandung, then from 24th to 29th I went to Singapore for Asian Science Camp or ASC (which I'm going to write about here). And later, from 1st to 7th September, I'm going to Mataram for OSN (I really hope I'll do really well here, Amin...). I don't really feel tired, I guess. The trip and flight was OK. I'm just tired of packing my clothes and things. After all, I enjoyed those two activities I've joined. I got new friends from both and I'm sure I'll get more in OSN later.

So... Let's start the story!

What is ASC? ASC is an event where students from countries in Asia will get the chance to meet and hear lectures and classes from Nobel Laureates, Field Medalists, and eminent scientists from Asia. There are also some other activities related to science like, poster competition, lab visits, and excursions. This year is the 8th time the event is held, and the country that got an honour to hold it is Singapore, hosted by NTU. There were 29 participating countries with over 300 participants. I stayed in Hwa Chong Institution Boarding School, while most of other participants stayed in Nanyang Executive Centre (NEC).

Hwa Chong

What is so special about it? Well, that was my first time going abroad, so of course it is special. This was also the first international event where I got to work in team with students from other countries, so it was really fun.

How can I participate in this camp? Actually, I don't really know how. My counceling teacher just appointed me and that's it. I wrote an essay and submitted my data (including my achievements) before, but there was no selection or anything. I guess I was lucky.

What did I do there? Mostly I listen to the scientists giving lectures. There were some very interesting ones, and frankly speaking, some others are boring. I enjoyed lectures around medicine and biology. I also enjoyed lectures about nanotechnology which is new for me. After the lectures, we had master classes. The participants were divided into three classes according to our interests.The scientists will come to different classes and usually they will talk about their personal lifes and how they become who they are now. We could ask questions more frequently and easily than in the lecture (where all the participants packed in one hall together) if we wanted to. We also had a panel discussion with theme "Can Discovery and Innovation Solve Global Challenges?"

Took a picture with one of the Nobel Laureate, Ada Yonath

The Panel Discussion

There was also a poster competition, where we were grouped with people from other countries randomly who has the same interest as us (in my case, it's biology). The poster we needed to make was about things we learned from the camp, and if possible our own ideas of how to solve global challenges. There were five students in my group. We made a poster about personalized medicine (something we learned from the camp) and our idea to solve the problem of antibiotic resistance. Unfortunately, we didn't win. But none of us cared about that, it was really fun and nice to work with them all. We even made a WhatsApp group for us! I wish I could meet them again somewhere, sometime later. 

I remembered the first day where we needed to find our group, and I was like... "WHAT?!" I mean, I didn't even know their faces! How could I find them? So I just shouted my group's number, B8. I met Wei Shan first, she was really friendly and we were relieved when we finally met the others. Then the second day, after a short meeting for the poster, Shreya invited me and Wei Shan -who stayed in Hwa Chong- to her room in NEC. We didn't really do anything, just seeing the room and talking about random things. We talked about school and college, and how all our countries accidentally have their independence days in the same month, August. Shreya even showed us her video of traditional Indian dance while we were talking about our performance for the 'Open Stage' on the last day. The next day we discussed more about the poster, then the last day we made it. It was really fun, discussing, writing, painting, and all. Zhang do most of the 'labor' work, like drawing and writing things, and Ingon mostly do the researches. I helped in-between. I write some and helped with designing a bit, and I give some scientific journals for them to read. We received some critiques in the presentation, but I guess it's OK. I know more about the thing we talked about since then.

B8 (left-right, Zhang Bochao-China; Yoo Ingon-South Korea; Shreya Gupta-India; me; Teoh Wei Shan-Singapore)

We also visited science labs. I visited labs in School of Bological Sciences and Traditional Chinese Medicine in NTU. Honestly, it was more like a 'classroom visit' than 'lab visit' because we couldn't really enter the labs. After lunch on the same day, we had excursions. First we went to Marina Barrage, where we got information about how Singapore control their water level using the reservoir. We took some pictures from the rooftop and it was awesome. After that, we went to China Town. I bought some souvenirs there, and I got one super cute owl bag for me! Then, we went to Asian Civilization Museum, where we could see traditional stuffs from many tribes in Asia. We walked to Merlion Park soon after. And at the end of the day, we went to Satay by the Bay to have our dinner. I also went to Clark Quay (not recommended if you don't like nightlife, I just bought a cone of ice cream there -_-) and Marina Bay Sands (Just for sightseeing, I can't afford a single thing here).

Marina Barrage

Sinapore, taken from the rooftop of Marina Barrage

China Town

The city view

Merlion Statue

Sky Tree at Night

The last night we performed in the 'Open Stage'. Indonesian team gave presentation about our country, from size to places recommended to visit. After that, we invited people to the stage to dance with us. The music we used was dangdut. Honestly I don't like the music and the dance, so I just stayed in the back while talking with other participants who came to the stage and told them about the music and the dance (._.v). The other countries' performances were really good and amazing as well. I guess my favorite is Japan's. They danced to a Japanese song, and it was so cute and funny (sugoiii (y) ). 

I just went back to Indonesia this morning, and I was sad to leave. There are many reasons. First, I've made some good friends there, and second, back to Indonesia means I have to study again.When we parted with our LO, some of us even cried. It was such a great experience for me. I had so much fun there. But now let's face the reality, I still have some days left 'til OSN, so that means I need to study more (because it was hard to join the event while studying for OSN before). I received the results from the training camp in Bandung. It was good actually, but I don't think it was enough for me. I want to be better, as good as I can be before the D-day. I hope I could get a gold medal this time (Amin...) and joined IBO next year in Denmark (Amin...).

Good Bye Singapore! and should I say... 'Welcome Mataram"?

Indonesian Team for ASC 2014 + our LO

My Stories

So recently I've been enjoying writing some stories, and because I think it will be messy if I post it here, I decided to make a wattpad account and post my stories there. Wattpad is a site for writers and readers where they can read, write, and share their stories with the others. Mostly people write fanfiction there, but many also write their own stories with their own characters (including me). Until now I have just posted one story, which is not finished yet and I think wouldn't finished in any near time. The story  is titled "Clara & Claire". It sets in U.S. and is about two girls with very different paths of life whose lifelines meet because of two boys. Clara is a hollywood star who always feels lonely, and Claire is a girl who caught HIV and always feel guilty and burdening people near her. I guess I pour many of my opinions and thoughts about life (and even love) there, haha... And one more thing, it's in english.

So, if you mind to check it out, please open this link:
http://www.wattpad.com/story/19098855-clara-%26-claire

And if you do, please let me know what you think about it, ok!

Escape to Europe

Kinda stressed out today. Get bored while reading Alberts eventhough I know I need to finish it ASAP.

Amsterdam Mirror Morning

So I open my tumblr and see pictures from Europe (the first picture that I saw and made me think about writing this shown above). Then I think to myself, what if I just go somewhere in Europe? Introduce myself in a new nick name, showing the real me to the acquaintances. I guess I could get myself some friends, or even one best friend. I could meet a stranger boy who I could talk about every little silly things with, and find a new hello.

(looks like) A Lovely Neighbourhood in France

I will walk to school and say hello to the old grandma, my new neighbour. I could say hi to my new friends and wish them a good morning. I could watch some football matches on Saturday, and try a new cafe which people say serves a nice coffee on Sunday. I could go travelling on holidays. Visiting Paris, Vienna, Milan, London, Amsterdam. I might even go horse-riding in Ireland!

Ireland

I could buy myself new clothes and decorations for my room in a vintage shop, then find a good novel in an old book shop. I will buy flowers from a beautiful nice lady randomly. Sometimes I give it to the special ones, the other days I will just buy it for myself.

a Cafe in Greece

I will plant some roses in my front yard, and ask the grandpa next door to build me a swing in my back yard. I will work part-time in a restaurant, and do some tutoring for some elementary students (but definitely there will be no babysitting!).

I'm going to play in the snow at winter, watch the leaves turn red at fall, and smell the flower scents at spring. I will go to some summer concerts and festivals (maybe I could see Coldplay :D), watch some plays at theatres or go to some shooting place and get a signature from my favorite British actor (hint: he has very beautiful blue eyes). I will eat fish n chips in Manchester while waiting to see Manchester City play, I will eat macaroon beside the Seine, I will eat some pasta near Pisa.

I will sign up for a university in UK for my favourite course. I will meet scientists that I adore, join some researches until they call me a scientist as well. I will get some work in an important research department and meet scientists all around the world.

Or maybe... I could apply for a journalistic school then join an internship at Vogue and work at NatGeo. The last option, I could enter School of Sport Science in Liverpool and work at a women football club (not as a player of course, or maybe I could learn to be one?) Or just write novels or series which are so good that they are filmed.

Maybe I could go to London Fashion Week and see brilliant designs by high-class designers or even Haute-Couture shows in Paris (eventhough I know surely I couldn't wear that kind of clothes. Or maybe I can with some modifications?). I would be able to talk to J.K. Rowling and ask her why Neville doesn't marry Luna.

God, I just want to escape my usual everyday life. Can I?

To Indonesian Team for IBO 2014 and those who left behind...

You know, sometimes we want to be the best, we want to be the one and only, we want people to look at us and say "She is THE girl" But I guess we can't always get what we want. At the end, we need to learn from our mistakes and congratulate others who get the chance. We just need to believe that one day, our time will come. Sometimes, we get sad and think that our life is miserable. We look at people and think how their lifes are better than us. But the fact is, we don't know their story. And we need to realize that somewhere there will be people who crave for the life of ours. We need to thank God everytime, every miliseconds of our life, even in the bad times. Because He always give the best for us, like, ALWAYS. Even if we haven't understood the good side of it. There is always a reason why.

So, to indonesian team for IBO 2014 (Hana, Kelvin, Sam, & Valen), congrats guys, go and fight, bring the golds, and make us proud!

p.s. I always wish to be one of you, but I guess I wouldn't be able to representate Indonesia as well as you all YET. I know I need to learn more and study harder. So... Denmark, maybe? ;)

Be Brave

Hope

So, last week I received the result of Pelatnas II, and as I had expected, I didn't pass to Pelatnas III. I understood that every competition has its winners and losers. I understood I wasn't good enough to pass. I understood that I might not study well enough and I had lack of experiences to help boosting my rank. I was sad, I admit. I imagined that I might not meet my friends there anymore, and I thought how 'fun' it would be to skip school and learn things that I really like there. But still I accepted the fact, the one thing that I can't stand about this is the hope. The hope from my parents, my families, my teachers, and my friends. That look when they said "yah..." when I told them I didn't pass felt hurt. I'm literally crying that day whenever I thought about telling the result to my teachers. "Should I say sorry? Will I be able to hold my tears when I tell them?" Those things came to my mind. Maybe I'm afraid, maybe I'm ashamed of myself. But if I get to choose one thing I wouldn't want to do in the world, it would be to disappoint people and destroy their hopes.

But then I realize I shouldn't blame myself all the time. I shouldn't regret this. I should 'move on' and forgive myself. I should learn from this failure. I ought to find my weaknesses and fix them, so I won't repeat them again. I need to study harder and pray better, because when you have done your best, you wouldn't be able to regret anything. I know this year the competition will be much tougher, but I believe with my work and Allah's will I would be able to do that. Nothing's impossible, right? My parents said it's like how Messi, one of the best soccer player in the world, coudn't score a goal in a penalty kick. Or like how Chelsea, which was in the top of clasement in Premier League, could be beaten by Crystal Palace from the low level of clasement. I need to believe that I will be able to make my parents, teachers, and friends proud of me. I will make them happy. My parents said I need to focus on my goal. I need to learn to say 'no' for 'unimportant' things. But I know the truth more, I just need to stop delaying my duties and spending my time wiser and better.

There are some songs I listened that could help me stand up again after I'm feeling down and made me feel much better. It also helped boosting our spirit, and here they are:

1. Embers - Owl City

2. Shooting Star - Owl City

3. Tidal Wave - Owl City

4. The Climb - Miley Cyrus

And I also recommend Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. It really helped boosting my mood.

Afterall, because I don't want to regret anything, I just want to say that I'm grateful. I'm grateful because I could join Pelatnas II and meet such great people, and I'm really grateful to have them as my friend and even as my 'third family'. I'm so lucky because not everyone could experience the same thing. I'm happy that I was there. So, I will share some photos taken there

And here are some photos I took by myself during our recreation time in Tangkuban Perahu

And here is our frog...

Smile. Good things only start to happen after a failure when you have forgiven yourself. :)

Leav

I don't know why but I get a bit interested in poetry nowadays. And this book below is the one I really really want to have. I knew this book from tumblr. I've read some of the poems and I thought " Hey, they're beautiful!" It's not available in all bookstores in Indonesia, and I don't want to buy the kindle or e-book,  I just haven't got the time to go to the right bookstore. I guess, owning this book is one of my wishlist in 2014.

This is one of the poem, titled " Just Friends"

I know that I don't own you,
and perhaps I never will,
to my anger when you're with her,
I have no right to feel.

I know that you don't own me
and I shouldn't ask for more;
I shouldn't feel so let down,
all the times when you don't call.

What I feel - I shouldn't show you,
so when you're around I won't;
I know I've no right to feel it -
but it doesn't mean I don't.

And the one above, titled "Broken Hearts" is my favorite.

I know you've lost someone and it hurts. You may have lost them suddenly, unexpectedly. Or perhaps you began losing pieces of them, until one day, there was nothing left. You may have known them all your life or you may have barely known them at all. Either way, it is irrelevant - you cannot control the depth of a wound another soul inflicts upon you.

Which is way I am not here to tell you tomorrow is another day. That sun will go on shining. Or there are plenty of fish in the sea. What I will tell you is this; it's okay to be hurting as much as you are. What you are feeling is not only completely valid but necessary - because it makes you so much more human. And though I can't promise it will get better anytime soon, I can tell you that it will - eventually. For now, all you can do is take your time. Take all the time you need.