Turning 22 and Looking Back at Uni Life

I’m writing this on the day I turn 22. Hahaha.

And somehow, reaching this age made me do a little flashback to my university days.

As someone who intentionally chose to study far away from home, I remember having so many things that I wanted to experience when I first started college.

You know, all those things I used to see in movies. The average madness of university life.

I was curious about everything.

Beli kopi sebelum kelas, nitip absen (don’t judge me), diskusi materi, ngejar praktikum, sibuk urusan organisasi, sampai mentally drained gara-gara coding sendiri. Wkwkwk.

And honestly, those moments were fun.

Kalau ditanya apakah gua mau mengulang semuanya lagi?

Definitely yes.

Throughout college, I was never the type of student who stood out. Gua tipikal mahasiswa biasa aja, trying to survive every semester one by one.

Coming from a private university, there were many moments where I found myself in the same room with students from top universities during competitions and events.

And somehow, gua suka agak geter dikit pas sesi perkenalan. Wkwkwk.

There was always this little voice inside my head:

“Can I keep up with them?”

“Apakah gua bisa compete dengan mereka?”

Especially during national and international competitions.

But surprisingly, I enjoyed the process.

Because through those experiences, I got exposed to so many things that I probably wouldn’t have learned otherwise.

And looking back now, I think those moments quietly shaped who I am today.

Another thing that I realize now is that I never really experienced living alone during college.

Semester 1 sampai 2 tinggal di asrama.

Semester 3 sampai lulus, gua ngontrak bareng temen-temen.

So life was always noisy.

Not noisy in a bad way, but noisy because I was surrounded by people.

And honestly, that’s something I’m grateful for.

Because if life had gone differently, maybe I would never have met Dika from Sorong, Fajar from Pekanbaru, Fikri from Sumedang, or Baim from Tomohon.

Living together with them was a roller coaster.

Kadang chaos.

Kadang ngeselin.

Kadang rebutan kamar mandi.

But somehow, we just clicked.

We complemented each other in ways that are hard to explain.

And maybe that’s what made those years so memorable.

Now everyone is busy pursuing their own paths.

And I sincerely hope we’ll meet again someday.

Hopefully healthy.

Hopefully successful.

And hopefully with more stories to laugh about.

Because years from now, I don’t think I’ll remember every assignment, every exam, or every line of code that made me question my existence at 2 a.m.

But I think I’ll remember the people.

with my uni fam

And maybe, that’s what university life was really about.