Finding Myself Off the Beaten Track

(life)

Awalnya semua ini terasa sangat menakutkan. Sanak saudara mulai bertanya “Mau lanjut kemana?”, bahkan bude sampai mengucapkan hal yang membuatku sedih “Makannya kemarin ambil disini aja” “Banyak milih ya?” Saat itu aku merasa insecure dan takut.

But as time went on, I relized this whole gap year is acctually pretty fun. I’ve learned to just stop worrying about what people say. Things I used to think were so difficult turned out to be way easier once I actually tried. And you know what? The best part is still the simplest: just staying home and spending time with mama, haha.

Learning Languages

Dulu aku selalu mikir belajar bahasa itu nggak terlalu penting. Turns out, I was totally wrong. Language is actually priceless and super valuable to learn. Especially English.

Right now I’m studying IELTS, yang dulu aja aku nggak tau “apa itu?” dan “buat apa itu?”. Now? I really need it, hahahaha.

Besides English, I’ve also started learning Dutch (Netherlands language) and German language. And it’s surprisingly fun! Learning new languages not only expands your knowledge, but also gives you that cool bonus point, people think it’s awesome when you can speak multiple languages.

Baking Adventures

Baking was something I never imagined myself doing. Dulu aku selalu mikir baking itu ribet: banyak cucian, bahannya mahal, and honestly more easier thing to just buy it right?

But during this gap year, I wanted something to keep me from overthinking. So I decided to bake for the first time, Fudgy Brownies!

And wow, it was so satisfying: Seeing mama enjoy the food, all my friend always reply my story when I upload my comfort food, admiring how pretty they turned out, and smelling that sweet chocolate aroma filling the kitchen. After that, I kept going — Burn Cheesecake, Garlic Cheese Bread, and more. Turns out, baking is super fun and all the dishes? Totally worth it.

Journaling

I’ve always loved journaling, writing down little stories from my day and decorating the pages with cute stickers and doodles.

But when i got ambitious about getting into Undergraduate Industrial Engineering University of Gadjah Mada, I gave up almost everything I loved — painting, journaling, gaming — just to study SNBT. But I got rejected haha, smiling like clown.

I thought journaling would feel boring after such a long break, but guess what? It’s still just as exciting as ever. Plus, it’s honestly the best way for me to release stress whenever burnout hits.

Reading

If you told the old Me about this, she would’ve rolled her eyes. Reading books? Back then. even reading a poster made me sleepy. Comics were fine, but “real books” full of text? No way.

But then I realized I’d been stuck in my comfort zone. So I challenged myself: read every single day.

At first, it was though, so many excuses: books are expensive, takut ih kalau udah dibeli malah nggak kebaca, and so on.

Then I found some amazing free, legal reading apps: iPunas, iJakarta, Eperpusdikbud, RuangBukuKominfo. And you know what? Reading turned out to be super fun and not boring at all. It even inspired me to write this story today.

Looking Forward

I really hope that in the future I can make even better use of my time. Semoga ke depannya banyak hal baik menantiku, and that everything I’ve learned during this gap year becomes a priceless foundation for whatever comes next.

Pati, Tuesday 23 September 2025