Pygmalion Effect

By Mutiara Srikandi

I always remember these words, 'an inspiring and courageous women', a wish  that is uttered in a prayer of Father will go to heaven to be a reality. "Pearls are jewels, they will be maintained for their beauty, however it merely depends on the owner," he said. I always believe it and bring in my prayer until I make it happens. As the second of three siblings and the only woman, I struggled to live independently. Having graduated from vocational school in 2017 as the best graduate and then been accepted in my dream arts campus, Indonesia Institute of Art majoring in Interior Design became great gifts that I got after a long struggle. Further, I got an Educlinic scholarship in 2016-2017 with a great responsibility to give contribution to the society. I like to learn new things so I love to ask questions when I was in vocational school and eventually became participants in regional and national seminar and other public discussions.

It is like a Pygmalion Effect that I always look ahead to what I do as the best prayer and the best version of a long hope that requires struggle and hard works. The Pygmalion Effect itself is a term about expectations that are pinned to someone, so she/he will increasingly improve their quality and achieve these expectation. It is a form of self-fulfilling prophecy, either directly or indirectly that drives to the realization of the prophecy. It encourages me to take risks and challenges so that it grows many times faster, a leap in achievement that should occur in the next few years but manifested in the last few years. Another challenge is not just risk-taking, but also being able to measure risks wisely. Perhaps, with his/her intelligence, someone may change things but a wise soul is needed to change himself/herself.

Last year, I got a mandate as President of the Young On Top Yogyakarta. It still feels like "am I good enough to be?" because there are still many more people at the same age, more senior members coming from campuses with better academic, besides the branding of YOT Yogyakarta should be well kept. I am with my art campus background like 'stepping out' from the comfort zone and having extra study, from rarely reading news to be a news subscriber, from rarely reading books to be a frequent library visitor and to buy books more often. The goal is simple, I am able to 'connect' in talking with members and to be flexible on various topics, so I can provide valuable feedback to them. Apparently, a real leader is not how smart she/he comes forth or how his/her charm appears, but rather than understanding behavior of each human being with the uniqueness. Further, a real leader is willing to learn and listen, responsible and dare to take risks. The answer is in us, so "be bold with yourself."

Especially when I decided to be active in Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta, the activities and values provided were very positive. Stube encourages students from various parties to be actively involved, and provides opportunities for new individuals to grow. For this reason, I dare to make a 'big leap' from Java to Sumba in Exploring Sumba program where I really learned many things although with different religions and cultures, I was not isolated or separated, but felt sincere attention and learned each other in tolerance. Also in Multicultural training several weeks ago, I had more challenges when I was involved as voluntary with its consequences, such as preparing myself earlier before the event started, and when having discussion with friends with different religions or visiting Vihara Karangdjati never make justifications to other parties as  evidently there were many things that needed to be understood more deeply with straight assumptions. At that time, someone asked me, "Why did Mutiara study other religions?" My answer is simple, "by studying different religions does not mean we believe it too, it actually strengthens what I believe." Learning to understand will provide space for mutual respect and sharing love with many other people.

Stube becomes an 'ecosystem' that can help us growing and having self-actualization well. Do not forget to have strong desire to learn many things because by being eager to learn, we can find many opportunities. Please choose a good ecosystem to grow to be a good person, and find how the people in it gives positive feedback. From there you will meet people having similar vision and mission. They will not say 'wes to koe rasah neko-neko' (you do not need to do something unusual), but say 'Good, let us go further'. Learning  from Nobel or award winners, according to someone who met them, they are like paddy, 'mature but humble'. (Mutiara Srikandi).