And here we go again. As cliché as it sounds, time do really flies–perhaps faster as we become older. When I woke up this morning, kinda hard to believe that it’s 2017 already. Last year was an interesting year. Many people freaked out at what happened in 2016. Some so creative they made 2016 as a horror movie. Other, as a comedy.
Despite of this, I personally thought that 2016, especially the last quarter, was one of the best years I had. To be honest, I tried to remember what happened earlier in 2016, but my short term memory loss really had me. So I turned to Facebook to help remind me of what I’d been through the whole year.
My 2016 began by meeting some new people that later became some of my closest friends. I’m grateful for them. It’s always wonderful to have friends you can talk to, debate, discuss, and laugh together.
Several months in February to June was really overloaded with the accreditation process for my Faculty. It was crazy like hell. But in the end, my Faculty got an “A” score from the government which means “Very Good.” Well, with that come a greater responsibility.
I had several research projects in the whole year of 2016. I thought that I handled more than five research, some individual, some with my colleagues. I did sacrifice some of my personal research to fulfill these projects, though. But I think everything went quite smooth in the end. In August, my personal research won another award in Indonesia Media Research Awards and Summit 2016, an academic conference held by the Indonesian News Publisher’s Association. I won the same award in 2015. Another research with my colleagues also won for two years in a row. It means a total of four awards in two years.
September was the month for one of the biggest events in our Faculty: Jakarta World Forum for Media Development. It was a join event held by Global Forum for Media Development, Indonesia Press Council, and my University. I didn’t play too much role in it but still, it was hectic on the d-day. But if you took that aside, it was quite fun. I became a moderator for several discussions, including with Media Diversity Institute, which I had big interest since I was a student. Also, I always like an international atmosphere, and with more than 500 participants from more than 60 countries, there’s no shortage for that in this event.
October and November surely will be the highlight of the year, and perhaps my entire life. In October, I made a commitment with someone very very very dear to me. A story for another time.
And after waiting for more than 6 months since I was selected, I finally started my first fellowship in November. It was Netherland Fellowship Programme. It gave me opportunity to study about media and radicalism for 3 weeks in RNTC, Netherland. It also took me to travel to 5 countries in Europe. It was an overwhelming experience, that’s all I can say.
Those are some great things happened to me last year. Surely there are more nuance to 2016 than what I can write here. In the end, if I have to sum up my 2016, it will be this: it slaps me in the face to remind me that the world out there is so big, yet I’m still so small.
I’m grateful for everything I had until this moment, there’s no doubt about it. Still, it is foolish to surrender to comfort zone. If I fail to challenge myself furthermore, I’ll regret my life. The next two years will be very crucial for my future, my years of vivere pericoloso.
There’s no slacking off.
Wish me luck.
Harry Febrian 