PRACTICALLY PERFECT!

Quoting one of the songs in the musical theater Mary Poppins that the 10 participants enjoyed between our professional visits to Sydney, that, is how I would illustrate my experience throughout the past six weeks.

Although economic reporting is not entirely new in my journalistic work, I came carrying all constraints and weaknesses in order to gain more knowledge to support my career.

Six weeks is not plenty of time to learn. It can even be considered too short. However, this marked a new beginning for me personally, to learn.

The process of training is precisely the entry point to learning. Thus, the process of learning will not stop here. How I see it, upon graduating from the fourth batch of APJC fellowship and returning to my home country, that is where the process of learning starts.

Personally, every second that I spent in this training is important. It is difficult for me to determine the most important, or the favourite within the six weeks training as it had all been useful.

There was not any part of it that I would consider flawed, that it would need to be changed in the future.

This is my opinion.

Personally as a social being, the most interesting part was meeting the 9 friends from 5 different countries. Coming from different backgrounds, we merged into one with of course, the same purpose – to be more beneficial to our home countries. This opportunity is like a golden opportunity for me. It felt like undergoing a college credits schedule that was packed and within the short time we had, through these friend I have managed to learn more about the 5 countries.

Indeed, it was all very interesting.

Meanwhile, as an economic journalist I have also learned to understand my role better. Beginning from my understanding of myself, my perspective and approach that I use, to finally making a decision.

The process of finding myself would probably be the most important thing to me.

Like the saying ‘you are what you eat,’ I can say ‘you are what you do and you are what you write’.

This lesson had refreshed my memory and realization hit me, why did I become a journalist?

The next three weeks of the workshop allowed me to gain new insights on economic knowledge. Again, even though it is not something new to me for I wrestle these issues daily, I have managed to always gain something new from the training.

Likewise, the professional visits that went on for a week was beneficial. It opened new insights that are more complex to an organization, viewing it not only from a narrow point of view. The most interesting bit was visiting the parliament.

It was quite the valuable experience, visiting on the announcement of budget by treasury. Despite it being common in Indonesia, it had been a great opportunity in opening new, complex insights towards the budget.

Previously, my thinking processes on issues mostly come from a single point of view and leaning towards little complexity. However, from this opportunity, I gained a rich understanding and was able to view issues on all perspective.

When you look at a coin from one perspective, you can only gain so much from that angle. Truth is, we would miss out on the other perspective that might bear more importance.

When you look at the coin from both perspective, it could be hard to see clearly, but you would get a complex point of view, two perspectives, complete.

The last but not least, three days attachment in Financial Review. It was like a plunge to the real world after more or less 4-5 weeks of learning on economic reporting.

Practically Perfect!

It is really difficult for me to separate my experience and categorize it differently, to the most helpful and the least helpful. It was all helpful.

Every second that passed by, I am thankful for it was an experience that came with an expensive price. This experience will help develop me as a mature economic journalist.

My goal had been to be a journalist who is mature. I would like to be a journalist who is solid. New challenges I shall take upon as soon as I return from Melbourne. With knowledge packed home from here, I am certain that I would be able to handle any challenges, come what may.

Thank you for APJC, presenting this opportunity to me! What I have gained here, I will not keep for myself but to colleagues back home.

A Mary Poppins song is seemingly right to portray my feelings towards the learning process that was short yet meaningful.

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS!