Girls from junior high

When I was in junior high, I had some ways some best friends: Arum, Ebi, Fitri and Ayu. I'm hoing to tell you about them, but before that I need to let you know that the main purpose of this posting is not about them or our friendship. It's more about what I've been thinking for some times.

Back then, those girls are still my best friends until now, even though we haven't met in a long time and we don't communicate really often. We've gone to different directions, quite far from where we started while in junior high. Well, it's been a really long time though. We've changed in several ways, but somehow I can still in some ways that we haven't.

Arum is the smartest one, silly but brilliant. She's also the most patient among us. And she's the oldest also. Haha. One fact that she doesn't really like to admit.
Ebi is the funniest one (as you can see from her blog). Despite of that, I also think that in some ways, she's the most romantic one. And she really loves to talk, about everything, but mostly about herself and her life. Haha. In a strange way, I love those talks (well, sometimes I do...).
Four of us have agreed that Fitri is the prettiest. She's kind of girl/woman that will looked good in any outfit or haircut. She maked an outfit looked good, not looked god because the outfit. Fun is also one of her things. Those and several more that made her a man eater. Haha. In a good way, of course. She's not (quite) a player, she's just adorable and guys love her.
Ayu is the one who's always been a good girl. She's like the main character in sinetrons, the protagonist one. Some friends consider me as family-woman, but trust me, I am nothing compare to her.

Arum, Ebi and I went to the same high school, while the other girls went to different schools. But we managed to keep out communication.

Then came the time when we had to decide which major we would've like to go in college. I was puzzled. My mom is a pediatrician so I had thought about being a doctor. At that time, almost all pf my friends wanted to be a doctor. It seemed cool to be one and able to cure sick people... and proved that you're a smartass. Well, everyone knew how difficult it was to be accepted as medicine student, especially at reputable universities. So it would be soooo freakin' nice to be one of those students.

But biology freaked me out. I thought that there was no way I could remember all those medical terms. Besides, it would take at least 6 years in school of medicine plus 4 years of specialty before I could be a pediatrician. Then when I would get married? Hah, silly reason from a silly impulsive teenager.
Medicine was off the table. I would take engineering instead. It was quite prestigious also.

Which one? I always like to draw so maybe I could be an architect. But I also like chemistry, so perhaps I could take chemical engineering. But industrial engineering also seemed interesting. Ithought, maybe I could have my own company in the future. That would be nice.

While I was puzzled by the alternatives, Arun had already made her decision. She always wanted to be a doctor. It wasn't easy, but like I've said, she's the smartest one.
She did prove that she was a smartass and became one of those chosen students. I was and always be happy for her.
When you know someone wants something really bad for good reasons, and the she/he finally able to realizes it, the happiness will spread. And you will feel it too.

While we were at colleger, we still managed to meet every once a while. Except fot Ayu, well let's say that she's been a bit out of our reach.
Sometimes we talked about our college, how the studies went, the new friends, the lecturers, etc.

My first and second year didn't go very well. I had failed at 2 subjects in my second year and didn't get really good results at other subjects. I though maybe I didn't belong to engineering at all.

I've never admitted this but for some times I felt jealous to Arum. Not because she could manage to get good results at her first and second year subjects, it was more because I could see her passion to what she was studying at.

Every time the girls and I went out together in the weekends, she barely forgot to bring some lecture materials to read. I understood that she always had some tests every week, which made me amaze that she could survive well.

But somehow, watched her studied quite hard was interesting. I learned that things didn't go easily on her too, but she tried to work it out. And it seemed that she was enjoying doing so.
Sometimes I asked her about medical problems I saw on TV or happened in my surroundings, and she could explain it very well. At least for a person who doesn't understand medicine like me, she seemed brilliant.
I recalled that medicine had been her dream since long time ago. She always wanted this. I believe that medicine is tough, but maybe if someone can manage to enjoy what she/he doing, things will be a bit easier. Every rock she/he stumbled upon to becomes a lessons, not a reason to feel down and angry.

It took more than 2 years for me to see how it should be worked through my best friend. I had to stop complaining and just started to work it out. I recalled the reason why I took engineering. Maybe it was for silly reasons, but I had been 'trapped' to that decision then.
Back then, I realized that I always had 2 options: find interest in other field of study, ot work this one out. I chose the second one. That time my choice wasn't based on silly reasons anymore.
Once the decision made, I must stopped play as a victim and took control of my life instead. The mind set made huge difference, because it was more about what I want, not what I thought people want from me. And somehow it worked. I managed to get results that could cover my previous ones.


Several weeks ago I watched Grey's Anatomy for the first time from the first season. It reminded me of this Arum thingy. Part of it because the serial is about surgeons/doctors, but mostly because of their determination of what they do. I am amazed on how those surgeons enjoy their exhausting jobs very much. That part reminded me of Arum.

It also evoked me about a kind of work like I've been dreaming of. Whether in my own company or somebody else's company, I want to have that kind of passion on what I do. So even though if I have to spend long hours on my works, it will still be a nice day to remember.