I Found The Key In The Darkness

RECOUNT TEXT
Creted By: Ria Nuralawiyah

A few days ago my lecturer gave me a task. He asked me to make a fairytale. After heard it a few days later, I felt my breath had stopped. Then Fearful came into my mind. As though, I was in the darkness. Then I didn’t know, where the way out was. I felt locked up in there, no one who present to help me. Crying, that was what I did at the time. I wished a fairy present from this darkness and then she helped me to find the way out. My mind was keep developing. Afterwards I heard sound that so loud. I guess, it was a fairy who gave me the key to go out from here, but it was big wrong. It was just alarm of my hand phone that usually rings to wake me up. When I had woken up, I realized it was just a dream with the happy ending.

Annoyed, it was how I felt when I was getting the dream. Hopefully that dream will be real. A fairy who came in front of me and then she gave me the key, so that I could go out from the darkness. Unfortunately, that was a dream, I must open my eyes. Then I had to finish my task as soon as possible, I should not be delay my task again, although it was so difficult, because I seldom read a fairytale, so that I thought I would get many problems when I would try to do the task. Then it was my first experience to make it with using English. On the moment, it made me so worried until I got the nightmare. I was so grateful, because my best friend wants to help me a lot when I was getting some problems in the case to fix all my ideas. Finally a few days later I could fix it. That dream was real. I found the key so that I could begin to do this task. Unfortunately my difficulties didn't stop until there.

            My difficulties continued because my lecturer suggested me to make pre-writing, before you began to make a story. It meant I had to make brainstorming and focused questions. I thought pre-writing just made me so confused, because when I writing my ideas, it always flowing, developing, and present when I writing it in one by one sentence, my ideas present gradually, so that I have never made  pre-writing. I guess my ways to make a story for now, it is so different with the other people, but I don’t know, yeah it is my comfort ways.

In this task, I decided not to use pre-writing. I am still use my ways when I make a story. After all my ideas have been ready, I stay in my bedroom. I usually stay in the place, when I do all my homework, because it is the most my comfortable place. In there I always feel relax. Before begin to write it, first I always prepare all my materials to support my homework, such as laptop, modem, and grammar’s book. I have never forgotten to prepare it before I begin to do all my English homework. Without it, I can’t do anything, because my English skill is still low, so that I have to use it. After that, I began to write all my ideas in my document word and then I save it in my laptop. That is the ways that I do before I will begin to write my ideas in paragraphs.

The next steps were I had to develop it in paragraphs. I thought, the steps were the most confusing steps, because on those steps I often getting difficulties to write it. I kept think how the ways to develop it. When I am getting the condition, I usually stop write. I take some times to take a rest my brain. I usually listening music western and then I sing some songs, and the other things that usually I do are ablution and then I pray, or I go to sleep, or I eat some foods. After I do one of the ways, I usually immediately get many ways to write it in paragraphs.

            The first step was I had to understand what the genre of text that I would use. For examples, on this moment I was getting narrative text, so that I had to understand all the requirements in narrative text. I meant it would be helpful to do the next steps. Afterwards, I had to use the generic structure such as orientation, complication, and resolution. Then I had to use simple past tense, because the text told about past events. The Next I had to make the purpose to entertain the reader. After I understood all about the requirements of narrative text, I had been ready to begin write all my ideas in paragraphs.

The first paragraph I had to write all the parts of orientation. It meant to introduce all the participants in a story such as the characters, the times, and the settings. I explained so detail about it, so that the reader will can understand the beginning of my story before I began to the crisis. Then the next paragraphs I had to write all the parts of complication. It meant to begin raise the crisis. After that, the last step I had to write all the parts of resolution. It meant to solve the crisis.

Before that, I read it slowly. I checked all the grammar in my story, such as, tenses, preposition, conjunction, adverb of time, adverb of place, etc. After I thought I didn't find mistakes, and then I printed it, but the workmanship is not that easy to walk. In the workmanship process I found many challenges, when I done it my sister often bothers me. I’m the youngest child in my family, so that my sister often does that. Then my friends often sent me messages, they asked about grammar. And then my mother often asks me to keep my mother’s shop. Therefore I always do all my homework, after pray Isya, and after I close the shop. Exactly at 8 pm, I always do my tasks.

Eventually after I done all the steps, I published it on my blog. Hopefully my story will bring useful to many people, although my story is not too perfect. Finally, I could finish my task on time. I found the keys to finish my task that so difficult. The darkness was finally disappearing. 

Peranan Pendidikan Pada Abad ke-21

Pertanyaan yang selalu membelit saya setiap harinya ini akhirnya dapat terjawab. Pertanyaan yang  telah lama hadir dalam memori ingatan jangka panjang saya ini akhirnya dapat terpecahkan melalui sebuah buku yang berjudul Accelerated Learning For The 21^st Century, karya Malcolm J. Nicholl. Pertanyaan saya yang hadir sejak dulu adalah apakah peranan pendidikan sangat berpengaruh bagi sektor perekonomian negara kita? Merujuk pada fakta yang ada bahwa gelar sarjana pun tak cukup mampu untuk dijadikan sebagai mata pencaharian berskala panjang. Pada kenyataannya di negara kita ini cukup banyak jumlah sarjana yang berujung pada pengangguran. Lantas apakah peranan pendidikan dapat berpengaruh cukup signifikan dalam perbaikan nasib kehidupan bangsa pada abad ke-21 ini?

Saya temukan semua jawaban itu dalam buku ini. Dalam buku ini dijelaskan secara rinci mengapa peran pendidikan terasa begitu penting bagi suatu bangsa.

Pada tanggal 14 Mei 1997, seorang Ratu Inggris berpidato di depan parlemen. Pidato tersebut berisi:

“Prioritas Utama pemerintah sekarang adalah pendidikan. Pemerintah berusaha keras meningkatkan standar pendidikan di Sekolah dan Perguruan Tinggi, serta berupaya menggalakkan program belajar terus menerus di tempat kerja.

            Selanjutnya ada lagi pidato yang dibawakan oleh pemerintah partai buruh di bawah pimpinan Perdana Menteri Tony Blair, beliau berpidato dikarenakan beliau sedang mengkampanyekan program politiknya. Beliau mengatakan bahwa tiga prioritas utama pemerintah Inggris saat ini adalah “Pendidikan, Pendidikan, Pendidikan”.

            Perdana Menteri Tony Blair yakin bahwa komitmennya itu akan membuat bangsa Inggris bisa bersaing dengan bangsa-bangsa lain untuk meghadapi tantangan abad ke-21 ini. Kebijakan itu juga sesuai dengan deklarasi pemerintahan Bill Clinton di Amerika Serikat yang juga memfokuskan program politiknya pada sistem pendidikan.

            Komitmen berupa pentingnya pendidikan itu dapat menghantarkan Perdana Menteri Tony Blair dalam memenangi pemilu di Inggris. Semua rakyat inggris pun begitu antusias dalam program belajar sepanjang hayat ini, sebab belajar harus dimulai sedini mungkin dan tidak akan berhenti sampai manusia meninggal dunia.

            Kemudian kita dapat melihat contoh-contoh real-nya bahwa mengapa peranan pendidikan ini terkesan begitu penting.

Para pakar sependapat bahwa pekerjaan yang paling bernilai di masa depan adalah para pekerja otak yang memiliki bakat yang besar dan terlatih. Apakah benar begitu?

Contohnya:

Pekerjaan yang berulang dan mekanis akan diambil alih oleh mesin-mesin yang dikendalikan komputer, atau diekspor ke negara-negara berpenduduk padat dimana penduduknya dipersiapkan untuk bekerja dengan upah rendah dan dimana pemerintahannya menawarkan insentif-insentif besar bagi dunia bisnis. Itu hanyalah contoh kecil untuk menunjukkan bahwa sedikit sekali lapangan pekerjaan yang tersedia bagi orang yang berpendidikan rendah.

Sekalipun anda mempunyai suatu “Pekerjaan otak”, pendidikan tetap harus menjadi perhatian dan kepedulian utama anda. Jika seluruh standar pendidikan bangsa kita tidak mengalami peningkatan pesat, anda akan dikenai pajak lebih tinggi, output perekonomian nasional yang rendah, dan biaya kekacauan social yang tinggi.

Capaian pendidikan yang rendah, keterampilan analitis dan keterampilan pengambilan keputusan yang parah akan mengantarkan kita kepada ketergantungan ekonomi. Anda akan mengalami pajak yang lebih tinggi di masa mendatang karena sebuah bangsa yang sebagian besar penduduknya tidak dapat berfungsi dalam sebuah dunia yang berteknologi tinggi akan berarti kerugian besar akibat angka pengangguran tinggi, biaya kesejahteraan yang tinggi, dan ongkos pengendalian kejahatan yang tinggi, sebab ada korelasi besar antara pendidikan dan kesehatan. Banyak penelitian menunjukkan bahwa orang yang berpendidikan tinggi pada umumnya sehat dan berumur lebih panjang.

Lihatlah sisi positif. Kekayaan bangsa kita adalah hasil dari kualitas otak penduduknya, kreativitas, dan keterampilan.  Dengan kata lain, aset terbaik kita adalah kemampuan kolektif kita untuk belajar cepat dan beradaptasi secara cerdas terhadap situasi yang tidak dapat diramalkan.

Pada masa yang berubah sangat cepat seperti sekarang ini, keterampilan super seperti yang tersebut di atas yang mampu membuat kita tidak akan menganggur pada abad ke-21 ini. Selanjutnya setelah menelaah contoh wacana sebelumnya, anda perlu bertanya kepada diri anda sendiri, akan menjadi apakah anda di masa depan nanti? Apakah anda sudah siap menghadapi masa depan yang terus berkembang seperti sekarang ini? Apakah anda dapat bertahan hidup di era abad ke-21 ini?

Kuncinya hanya satu. Menurut Daniel Burns, penulis Techno Trends 24 Technologies That Will Revolutionize Our Lives, menekankan bahwa “Masa depan adalah milik mereka yang mampu untuk terus berlatih dan belajar”

Belajar bukan hanya mengetahui jawaban-jawaban. Juga bukan hanya mengetahui serpihan dan penggalan dari suatu batang tubuh pengetahuan. Belajar tidak hanya diukur dengan indeks prestasi dan nilai ujian semata. Belajar bukan hanya aktivitas menuliskan di atas papan tulis apa yang diketahui orang lain.

Belajar adalah petualangan seumur hidup, perjalanan eksplorasi tanpa akhir untuk menciptakan pemahaman personal kita sendiri. Petualangan itu haruslah melibatkan kemampuan untuk terus-menerus menganalisis dan meningkatkan cara anda belajar. Belajar harus dimulai jauh sebelum hari pertama masuk sekolah seorang anak dan terus berlangsung seumur hidupnya. Kita tidak boleh berhenti belajar dan mengimplementasikan apa yang telah kita pelajari.

Merujuk pada kesimpulan dari segala pertanyaan saya yang telah dibantu oleh buku yang berjudul Accelerated Learning For The 21^st Century ini adalah yang terpenting bukan membangun perangkat kerasnya, melainkan yang terpenting adalah meningkatkan kualitas otak SDM-nya. Tentunya kualitas SDM akan dapat terus meningkat jika dibarengi dengan investasi pendidikan yang terus dilakukan sepanjang hayat. Kesimpulan terakhir saya sependapat dengan Bill Gates, pendiri perusahaan Microsoft, dalam bukunya The Road Ahead, mengatakan bahwa, “Dalam dunia yang berubah, pendidikan adalah modal utama bagi seseorang agar bisa beradaptasi”.

The Wolf Prince and The Ugly Princess

NARRATIVE TEXT
Created By: Ria Nuralawiyah

I felt, I was the most miserable person in the castle. I had separated from you. Did you know? You were the girl who the most I loved. I was still hope that, one day I will meet you, although it might not happen, because now I had changed into a wolf. At this moment, I lived away from the castle. I lived in the forest. The location of that forest is so far from where I lived. I felt sad when every time I remembered the incident a year ago.

At that moment I dared to go to the castle, but unfortunately everybody in there, did not recognize me. They threw me with the stones, and then they evicted me. Now my body that likes this, surely no one could not recognize me. The only one people who I expected to can recognize me were her. Her name was the girl riding hood. Everybody called her with that name, because she always wore a red riding cloak whenever she went out. She was the girl who the most I loved. Where was she? Why in the castle, I could not find her?

All this happened induced by my stepmother. She seized my royal throne with the sneaky ways. He killed all of the people who I loved. My mother, my father, my grandmother, they disappeared without the traces. Then she had bewitched me into a wolf. And then it also might, the loss of the girl red riding hood caused by her. She was the cruelest person in the castle.

In this forest was a place that made me comfortable. In here I met with many new friends, although they were not human. They were animal. They had liked my family. I felt this forest had liked my castle. There are, the plenty of fruit to eat, the beautiful trees, the river that flows very clear, the comfortable cave for me to sleep. The cool breeze blowing, it can make me fast to sleep. Moreover when the sun rises and sets, the flock of birds always flies, it passed on the air, and then it made wonderful formation and a melodious sound. The views of this forest, I thought, it's the most amazing views that I had ever seen.

Someday when I had finished helping a herd of rabbits to make their home, after that I immediately went back to my cave home. After I had arrived at my cave home, I slept. When I was sleeping deeply, suddenly I heard a human voice crying. After that I immediately woke up to find the source sound. I shocked that there is a human dare came to this forest. She was a woman. She wore a red riding cloak and her face looked so scary.

I met her and then I asked her.

“Who were you? Why were you here? And why were you crying?” said the wolf

“Introduce me, my name was riding hood. I came here because of all the people who I cared had not recognized me anymore. My face had changed so scary like this, because the queen had bewitched me”

After heard it, I became so shocked. She was a human, she could respond my questions, although my body was still wolf shape. When I was being silent because, I was thinking about her. She realized me with touched my head.

“Why were you being silent? What were you same like the people who lived in the castle? They were so scary, when they saw me. So that they did not want to meet me”

“Absolutely, it was not. I wonder why you could respond my voice. You were a human and I was a wolf. We were different. Who were you? What did the causes your face to be like this?”

“When I was a child until now, I had advantage. The advantage was I can talk with animal. And the cause that had made my face looked like this is a queen who lived at the castle. She bewitched me be ugly. So that everybody had not recognized me anymore. After that I was feeling sad, and then I decided to go to this forest”

The wolf shocked, he was still wondering. Is it true like his expected? That the ugly girl, who in front of him now, she is the girl riding hood who he loved. The wolf could conclude it because what did she tell, looked a lot like with all the characters and advantage that had by my the girl riding hood. Her name was same, her cloak was also same. After The wolf was thinking for so long, and then he asked for her.

“Was before your face ugly like this, you were a princess?”

“Yes, it was true. Where did you know?”

The wolf did not answer that question, and he asked again to her.

“What was it true, your name is the girl riding hood?”

“Yes, it was true, Why did you keep gave me many questions?”

              And then the wolf explained it

“Did you know? I was a prince who lived in the castle, but for now I had not lived in there anymore, because the queen had bewitched me became a wolf”

“Really, what did you said? What was it true?”

“Of course, it was true”

After heard it, the girl riding hood was crying, and she said on him

“Eventually, I could find you. I was so happy”

“So do I, I was very missing you. Forgive me, for all the misfortunes that happened on you at this moment. It induced by my stepmother”

“It was not your mistakes, but it was the queen's mistakes”

After that, the prince and the princess were chatting. They were so happy, because had been for so long, they could not meet. While from the long distance and then getting closer, suddenly, appeared a fairy forest in front of them.

“I will give you reward on all your patience and all your services that had kept this forest. I will help you to delete the curse of the Queen”

“The fairy, thank you so much, what would I do to reply your goodness?”

“Just simply ways, you just need to go back to your castle, married with the princess, and Led the castle. The princess will be a queen, and you will be a king. So the sneaky queen could abdicated”

“Well I will do it. Once again thank you very much the fairy”

            And then, the prince and princess were back to the castle. Everybody who lived in the castle had recognized them. The prince's stepmother abdicated. The prince got married with the princess, and then they led the castle. Finally they lived happily ever after.