Let's get you up to speed......

I. Am. A. Ninth Grader. Wow.

I can't believe how fast the final semester of 8th Grade ended. I had a nice holiday. Went out of the country and roamed all over Hongkong, with a short stint to Macau and then Singapore. And of course, all over malls with some of bestest of friends :)

It's been taking some getting used to all of the new surroundings. New class, new friends, new teachers. I had to constantly remind myself that I was not "8A/23" anymore. I am now, and proud to be "9B/16" :)

My class adviser is Sir Darma, and the decor of the class really reflects what he teaches: Biology. Complete with a small aquarium filled with goldfishes and guppies, and small potted plants airing out the classroom, I have to say, the whole atmosphere it quite COZY. :D

Sir Darma is known for being a creative yet perfectionist teacher. Though he might be easily-overworked, I know he wants the best from us 9B kids, the students put under his care, to help find our true potential. His ways may not be the most preferable, but his intentions are good.

I've been managing to handle classes so far. I've found a new sense of purpose, diligently slaying homework beasts that spill out of schoolbag with such... gusto.... that I've been getting a lot of things done in front of schedule.

One of my commitments for the upcoming year, is to become more active outside of the academic stuff. And yes, that includes: AYC :)

The Asean Youth Convention was the start of beautiful friendships and everlasting memories. It was definitely the best 10 days of my life last year. And a year has passed since then. One of the things we did when us delegates arrived home was to spread some Youth Empowering fever! Just last July, a number of students attended GYCi (Global Youth Congress International) sister event to AYC, GYF (Global Youth Forum). It was nice to see some friends depart on an inspiring experience and come back with a little more youthful panache ;)

Tomorrow even, another batch of kids will fly to Singapore to attend the 3rd AYC. Damn, I really wish I could go with. But the registration was open to 8th Graders only, and I do have a school retreat coming up that conflicts with it. I have, though, enjoyed taking a 'consultant' position, sharing personal experiences and making sure that the new advocates are ready for what's in store for them.

Don't worry. Though the newbies will fly off to find their wings, us experienced AYC-ers have bigger plans to deal it at home. That is of course preparing for AYC JAKARTA! :D

Some negativity, or rather pessimism, is thickly surrounding this matter. Does no one really believe that we can prepare a huge event like this? Not just prepare it on time, but make it special, make it unique, make it OUR OWN?

Everyone has their own vision for this AYC Jakarta plan. I can sum mine up well, in this lovely little sentence:

"Deliver not only an AYC experience, but the complete INDONESIAN experience as well."

Best of luck then, to all of this talented 'future leaders' :)

Asides from that, there are tons of extra-curricular stuff going around school that I want to take part in. Apparently, I'm taking over Yudhi's Writing Club. The thing I'm focusing on is selections and finding possible writing competitions. Then there's the school's magazine, "VieR", and I really wanna make it a swell edition. And in terms of extracurricular period ("Ekskul") I've taken... Volleyball. Yes. My new athletic goal is to become good at the sport. Maybe, go professional. (My friend even laughed at this, and I admit it might sound silly, but I'm really being serious! :D)

Besides trying to maintaining this blog, I've also joined the free period class ("KIR") of: Creative Writing. Along with some other Writing Club members. And I have been working on my first novel for a while now. About to hit 50 pages of A4 paper, small font and narrow margins, so yes, that's actually quite a lot.

And... my love story? Well. I guess that's another story for another day ;)

-Karin Novelia, Going Through A Fast-Paced Life

Pressing Restart

Hey, dear readers!

Been such a random week for me back at school. Lot's of changes, a few setbacks, near full-blown emotional explosions. But, I never post any bad details here, so yeah, that's the main point of the negativity that's been floating around lately.

But as I wrote on my twitter (@kainovelia):

"Having a fun weekend is like pressing restart for a terrible week."

And this was certainly the case for this week! Quick recap of what's been going on:

1) AYC After-plan hit a snag. 9th Graders getting back to hear bad news, was like total wildfire.

2) Got two writing comps, which I don't really see turning out well.

3) Getting scolded a lot this week. Hahahaha

But all those negative thoughts and feelings, disappeared over the course of one night. I can't believe how hard I'm laughing now. It all started yesterday:

1) Though my weekend plan with friends failed, I had an awesome day with my fam.

2) We bought Guitar Hero for PS 3 :)

3) I had such a great time laughing, *ngerusuh* with Odi and Jeffry on my fb status announcing the above

4) I've been twittering some funny things. And made twitter a bit insecure to the majority of people who like to talk behind people's backs *Wink Wink*

5) And yeah, getting back on track with some AYC business.

6) OH, can't forget, hearing someone say "I kind of like you", for the first time in the 8th Grade. (Even if you ask, I'm not gonna tell ;) )

See how all the positives triumphs over the negatives? Cuz the main point is, no matter how dark things get, it only gets better from there.

Thanks for reading!

--Karin Novelia, The Girl Who Still Can't Stop Laughing

Foreseeing the Uncertain Future

Time is a fluid as water, as brittle as sand. It moves forward endless, unbounded to the forces and power we humans posses. Lately, I've been feeling that time has become an enemy of mine. It moves so slow, when I want it to speed up, and yet it taunts me by giving me so little of what it can give when I have numerous things I want to resolve and accomplish.

I've going through some problems, after evidently reaching such a jubilant high.

Apparently, our ASEAN day plans have it a rut in the road. The school has shown disagreement for the planned proceedings to be held on the 30th and 31st of August, which is coming up pretty soon. They don't approve us taking up some school periods, especially since we're nearing Lebaran holidays.

It has been suggested that we postpone ASEAN Day back to the 28th of October, coincidingly Hari Pemuda or Youth Day in Indonesia. Personally, I see nothing wrong with this change. But what bothers me is that we have to change ASEAN day to Indo Day. Cutting back on the ASEAN stuff and showoing more of Indonesia, isn't wrong, but what about all of our hard work and preparation these past few days? Do we just throw them out the window?

There are times like these when you don't like something, but feels so powerless to do anything about it. The future is unexpected. We can't say for sure what it holds for us. But when we try to foresee this uncertain future, we catch a glimpse of what could be. An image of a brighter future.

I guess that inspite of all this uncertainty, I want to only work harder than ever. By keeping optimistic, keeping on picturing a better future, I'll do what I can to make sure it comes true.

Wish me luck!

--Karin Novelia

Busy Bee Me!

Quick update, faithful readers!

1) Got most of schoolwork done! Finished catching up on all tests and quizzes too!

2) Getting so pumped for ASEAN Day

3) Two writing competitions coming up! Wish me luck :)

4) Been going through a few high in the sky fantasies. Yup, cloud 9. Hahaha ;)

5) Still have post-AYC fever :) Keeping in touch with great friends and even had a chat with the awesome Carin Loh! :D

Soo yeaaahhh, life seems so great all of a sudden! Coincidentaly, I'm pumped on the same day the 9th Graders leave for retreat! Just kidding! Hope I can keep this spirit up! =D

Thanks for reading!

--Karin Novelia

Being Oh So Ever Grateful

So AYC is over! Yeah, it's sad yet also a momentous occasion.

I know I've been behind on the blog. (Don't let the altered time stamps fool u XP). But I got them all up in the end right?

So yeah, AYC has really changed me. And it's makes so grateful about absolutely EVERYTHING!

I even got so caught up in our AYC after-plan, that I really stepped into the "Leader Throne" today. It was a bit frustrating, at first, but in the end we managed to pull through. But it was also exhilarating, so much that my heart's still pounding right now! I actually am EXCITED to go school now.

I'm so glad and proud of my fellow Laurensia AYC Delegates who are really putting in their hardest right now! Thanks for such a fruitful facil discussion on our after plans, and for cooperating with me!

So, like after every momentous occasion, I wanna write a Thank You Note, thanking everyone through this crazy AYC experience. Maybe I should've done it sooner but I'm pretty busy, so I'll do it tomorrow on the next post!

Nyahaha, sounds like cheating/making excuses? Whatever, at least I know my heart is in the right place.

See u tomorrow!

--Karin Novelia