BRA Kusuma Maharani
My name is BRA Kusuma Maharani. I graduated from FIS in 2017 after spending more than the half of my life there. Since I stepped out of FIS after almost 12 years, I have never felt any regret/ON the contrary, I felt very lucky and grateful. Especially to my parents that had trusted FIS as an appliance to develop my character and myself through educational aspects and non-educational aspect, along with qualified teachers and an interesting curriculum that I know I could never experience anywhere else.
There are 3 things I treasure most about FIS and I have never had the same experience until today. The first is how the teachers always appreciates the effort and results that students have made. They never looked down on students and always helped us to be more enthusiastic about learning. I remember when I was in Early Year and Primary, whenever a student made a simple gesture like maybe giving a helping hand to others or even a simple thing like raising a hand to a question, teachers always gave us a ‘star sticker’ as a reward. I remember how proud I was bringing home those stars and telling my parents how I achieved it. The way teacher appreciate students is a memory I could never forget. Even in Secondary where ‘star stickers’ weren’t that appealing anymore, teachers always appreciate students with kind words to build up our enthusiasm in learning.
Second to last, is the way we learn. The curriculum was very interesting because it showed that learning is not just in class and we could learn more things than staying in class and listening to the teacher talk for hours. I remember the countless outings we did, the experiments and the projects that helped me to develop my educational aspects and non-educational aspects. We did it since we were in baby class. That made me open my mind and see that the outside world offers us knowledge bigger than a class and thicker than a textbook.
Last but not least, is how much FIS accepts and tolerate differences. Not only tolerance on different ethnicities and religions, but also tolerance in being open to other ways of thinking that can help with personal development. In FIS, I could see people from different ethnicities, religions and even backgrounds uniting in a place with the same goal which is ‘to be the next generation to make a difference’.
I admit, when I was still a student in FIS I couldn’t feel the things I mentioned above. But as I graduated, I realized that FIS has been a part of the journey of building the person I am today. After all of the struggles I passed, especially in FIS Secondary, I achieved something really impactful that helped me in a lot of ways. I was lucky that I was honored to be the Best Student in 2017. Having that title didn’t make me feel satisfied with myself, infact it made me learn to always do better. After I graduated, I went to continue my study in SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta. There are a lot of aspects that helped me a lot, especially the English skill I developed during my years in FIS. I joined PASKIBRA in my high school and I also represented my high school in PASKIBRAKA Surakarta in 2018. In 2019, I had a wonderful chance to lead and manage the school’s performing arts festival which was called SMART 2019. I was beyond proud because it made me improve the basic aspects and skills that I built during my study in FIS.
Now, I am an exchange student in France with Rotary International programme. I go to a public high school here and I live with a host family. This is a wonderful experience that opens my mind and spirit and help me build a better version of myself. Without FIS and especially my parents I wouldn’t got this far. Even though I speak French here, my English skills that I learnt in FIS are still very useful. I believe that in the future everytime I speak English I will always keep in mind to be thankful to FIS.
There are wonderful people behind the journey of building the person I am today. But most of it includes my beloved teachers in FIS. They have always been a part of my life and FIS will always be one of the most important thing involved in my life and I will always be grateful for that. Words could never explain how thankful I am. I believe that FIS will graduate the next generation to make a difference to face the future of the world and our country. Even now, the proof are endless. Not only me, but there are a lot of FIS alumni that are also proud and grateful for the things FIS have done to help them be the person they are today.
Mulhouse, France
