My name is Victoria Joanna Huangga and I was born in Medan, Sumatera Utara. I will be turning 19 years old soon, 26th of January next year, to be exact. Fortunately, I grew up in a good house with loving and responsible parents. It’s safe to say that I have a great relationship with my family. Maybe that was part of why I felt like living so far away from them would be quite a challenge. Still, I do not regret making the decision to move away because a part of me also wanted to separate myself from them in an attempt to create a version of myself that is both independent and mature.
I could still remember what was going through my head when I was at Kualanamu International Airport in Medan. That was my second time flying alone in a plane, so obviously I was very nervous. I wasn’t just nervous because I would be flying alone, but because I knew that once I had arrived in Jakarta, it would be a while until I see my family again. We were sitting in the airport’s Starbucks, and at that time I was still teasing my brother that he would probably miss me a lot. Of course, he denied it and said he wouldn’t. Minutes and hours passed as it was finally time to board my plane. So, before this I had actually gone to Jakarta to participate in Binus University’s First Year Program back in early August. At the time, I came with my mom. After finishing all the FYP’s activities, my mom had already gone back to Medan by then. Because I was from the third batch, CBN, my parents and I had decided that it was better for me to go back to Medan as I had 2 whole weeks to spare before Week of Welcoming. Going back to Medan was my first time flying alone in a plane, but that time it didn’t feel as nerve-wracking as the second time. If anything, I was excited to be flying back to my hometown.
Back to my second time flying alone ever, it was time for me to board my plane. I still remembered the feeling of almost tearing up but stopped before I did just because they were doing an ID check and I would’ve been embarrassing to cry in front of a stranger. I waved my last goodbye and I didn’t look back, not because I didn’t want to look at my family but because I was scared I would cry if I did. Soon we got in the plane, 2 hours went by and I was at Jakarta, all on my own.
Next day after I arrived was immediately Week of Welcoming Day 1. There I met up with friends that I had previously befriended at the First Year Program. Admittedly it was fun, living on your own, you don’t have anyone tell you what you should and shouldn’t do, and the best thing of all- no curfew. But once you start living on your own, you start to make your own curfew for yourself, so it didn’t really matter.
Obviously, I do miss my family a lot. Because of that I’m very grateful to be living in an era where seeing another person is just one phone call away. Even as I’m typing this, I’m in a call with my mom and we still talk almost every day, but it just doesn’t feel the same. Not that I expect a phone call to be even remotely similar to talking face to face with another person, nor am I complaining. But as time went on and I started attending classes and was immediately bombarded with multiple assignments all at once, the only thing I’m ever thinking of these days are when and how I am going to finish an assignment. I guess you could say that being an architecture major really helped distract me from being homesick and miss my family.
What seems like a never-ending amount of assignments was definitely something that I didn’t expect but I wouldn’t say it necessarily surprised me as we were already warned multiple times by our seniors that the amount of assignments for first year students like us is no joke. Before coming here, I actually had plans on going to multiple places in Jakarta as I wasn’t a local, but in these past three weeks the furthest I’ve ever managed to go from my room was Binus Anggrek, another one of my campus’ establishments. Me and a couple of my “anak rantau” friends had even made plans to go out and visit a couple places in Jakarta and we couldn’t even do that because of the piles of assignments that is all due next week.
It might sound like I’m complaining, which I guess technically I am doing that right now, but I wouldn’t say that it’s a bad thing. At the end of the day, I am still a human with the ability to have feelings and emotions. Although I am complaining a lot, trust me when I say I wouldn’t want it any other way. I had come all this way from Medan to Jakarta to study in architecture, so I would’ve been way more pissed if all I had to do is small amounts of assignments as that would’ve been a waste of my potential. If anything, I almost feel like I’m challenged to finish multiple projects at a time, which is something that I need to get used to as being an architect is my current end goal in my career path. I’m sure it will get better overtime when I’m finally used to doing multiple assignments at once, but as of right now it would be a lie to say I don’t get frustrated at times.
I’m sure when I look back at this time of my life, I would probably laugh and find it hilarious as the assignments would’ve been a piece of cake for me by then. And hopefully I’m right. Getting to laugh or be embarrassed about your past should be something that is celebrated as it shows growth in a person. It shows that I have changed and grew as a person and is currently a better version of myself. And that better version of me shouldn’t feel cocky and instead try to learn more things and be an even better version until finally I can be the best version of myself.
Maybe until then, all I need to do is keep learning new things and find ways to improve myself so that in the future I get to be someone that I’m proud of. Speaking of future, like I have mentioned multiple times, I want to be an architect.
Before applying to many universities to major in architecture, I have thought about for so long whether this is the best path for me. I researched many forums, watched many videos, and the consensus was no, majoring in architecture is not worth it. If I had a penny for every video and forum that said you shouldn’t major in architecture, I would probably have about 10 to 15 pennies. That honestly really made me doubt my decision, as most of them has said it would probably be better to major in popular majors like business marketing or management as that at least could secure you a stable 9 to 5 job.
But then I started to change my question. Instead of typing “Should I major in architecture?”, I started to type “Why should I major in architecture?” in the search engine. And there it is, finally, a different answer. Most of the answers this time are from actual architects. From what I’ve seen, all of them don’t do it for the money. Most of them even said that if you only want to get into architecture for the money, don’t do it. Instead, from what I’ve seen, all of them got into architecture purely out of love. They said architecture is one of the many majors that you truly have to love to be able to do it. Of course, this isn’t them saying that being an architect means you can’t be rich, but its just something to keep in mind that you might be average.
I was also surprised to see many people with architecture majors that didn’t end up going through with working in the architectural field saying positive things about the major. Many said that being an architecture student really helped them with time management and discipline. Because of that, they were then able to do well in another job they ended up choosing.
Seeing those responses really sealed the deal for me; it made me realize that I do love the idea of majoring in architecture and other people’s opinions shouldn’t matter as much. I still think listening to other people’s opinions and points of view is important as it helps us consider our options. But ultimately, the decision should fall into your hands, not others.
So when I do become an architect, I want to create an environment where people can thrive and it should be able to prove itself useful from generation to generation. As of now, I still don’t have a clear picture of what it could be, but hopefully in the future, I will.
My Mayonnaise Jar 