When I was a teenager, I always thought that getting some cool or prestigious position (such as college or achievements) would make life easy. I thought that being admitted to a top level college would make me have a lucrative job, pretty wife, lots of kids and happy life until the day I die, without having to struggle so much. That was the reason I pushed myself to go to one of the top universities in Indonesia, ITB. I was lucky enough to get admitted. Not long after, came the days which I thought that I can just chill, relax and success will come to me.
I was wrong.
Like other colleges. Even though you are the smartest person in high school, you are nothing there. What would that made me, an average Joe in high school? I had to struggle like crazy. Add some nationwide competition and the harsh world of young adults, I was defeated many times there...by defeated I mean failed exams and got stressed on a lots of occasions. Every exams, every lab works, internships, thesis, and finally the defense... I barely got out of them with enough score.
Then I graduated. And I though I would soon got accepted to some big company with lucrative career. Again, I was wrong.
Looking for job was tough as well. Basically I need experience to land an offer, but then I need job to gain that experience. It was a vicious cycle. With someone who graduated with "just good" grade, I was lucky to even land the first interview.
Then the opportunity to continue my education abroad came. This time I was aware that this opportunity called for another struggle. I didn't want to burden my family too heavy financially for the requirements such as IELTS test and preparations. I had to go find some books to train my English skills, and again doing sleepless nights to prepare myself for the scholarship selection process.
I got accepted and was ready to go abroad...to Sweden. I knew once again this called for another periods full of struggle. Yeah, I was right! 2 years of engineering study with the need to acclimatize myself with the weather, obligation to socialize with my-not-so-good English at that time, while being away from my family and homeland. It was not a chill or relaxed 2 years period, even though I enjoyed the travelling, having new friends, and other perks of studying abroad.
That struggle, combined with full intention of opportunity-hunting, and add some luck on top of it, made me the most successful version of myself during my 24 years of life. I graduated with very good grades. I got an award of being one of the best 20 international students by cumulative grade. I added a little more effort just to enhance my record and I got an opportunity to do volunteer work with International organization Engineers Without Borders.
But even that could not guarantee a good life full with relaxation and chill. I thought that with those accomplishment I could at least get a lucrative job easily. Once again, I was wrong. I applied for a job in Sweden without any luck, same thing with several PhD positions throughout Europe (I am currently applying to other 2 now). I realized that I need to do the struggle again and again. This time, to at least land a job. Who knows what kind of struggle I will have to do later on...
About 4 months ago, I got a temporary position in one of the top 3 management consulting company. It was one of the proudest period on my life. I got a rather good salary with some benefits and facilities, albeit busy schedule and tiresome work I need to do. But as they say, good things come to an end. Now it has been more than a month since my contract ended. Even so, my time there taught me a precious lesson: I can never stop learning, I can never stop struggling. After one struggling and enjoying the result, next round of struggling awaits. Like the saying: The end of one battle, is the start of another.
Now, I am currently on another journey to struggle and learning. I am learning about business. I want to get a hands-on experience in business by plunging into the business world after some reading about the theories (of course, I am still reading and continue to work on my knowledge). Running a business, so far has been giving me many knowledge and experiences such as how to manage money, how to deal with people, and understanding the process of delivering value to other people (the market).
Again, after this, I know that there will be countless more struggles I have to do to overcome countless more obstacle. But I have to enjoy the process, while considering that the struggle itself is a learning process on which I will benefit at least from the learning within it.
The picture was taken when I got the Adlerbert's 60th Anniversary Award, the one which I got chosen to be the one among top 20 international students. Back then my speech was almost exactly like what I wrote today: that after struggling and enjoying the result,another struggle awaits.
Have a good day!