Moment of happiness

Elders said that there are three big events in your life that bring you and your family joy and happiness: graduation, marriage, and birth. From all three events, only the first one brings you happiness without possible pain.

In marriage, you may get stressed by the pressure to provide a "perfect" marriage. You have to accommodate both your family and your partner's family wishes. Friction may happen when the families have different arguments or different point of views. The same friction may also happen when you have your own child. Don't get surprised if in the end, the name of your child is decided by both your family and your partner's family rather than yourself as the child's parent. In the eastern culture, at least in Indonesia, the name of a child is a kind of family legacy and is believed to determine his/her character and fortune. Hence, both families often "suggest" you name for your child... which means that if you totally do not accept it, there always a chance that your parents or parents in law may feel uncomfortable. Wisdom is needed to accommodate both families' wishes.

However, graduation is very different. Everyone is happy during graduation. Nobody has any reason to complain. This makes graduation as a perfect moment to gather with your family, friends, and people close to you.

This noon, I had my graduation ceremony. It was nice. I wore my one and only suit that my father gave me before I arrived in the Netherlands. I tried to be the best as I can be. I ironed my clothes, used my perfume, shaved my beard, just to make this day perfect.

The ceremony went very well. The main event was held in the "blauwe zaal" (the blue hall). First, the dean representative gave a speech. Then, personal speech were given to each graduate candidates by their supervisors (dr. Natalia represented both Prof. Wil van der Aalst and Boudewijn as my supervisors, because they were not able to come due to an obligation to attend a conference in Ulm). The ceremony ended with a reception in a room just beside the blauwe zaal. Some friends came to share the happiness: Andi Rusiawan, Mas Lesky, Ceu Qonita, Phacoel, and Eva. Later during reception, Agni came too.

Apart of my sister, Elva, and my best friends, if there is something else that I really wanted for my graduation, it is the presence of my Mom and Dad. Mom, Dad, thank you for all of your support. Without both of you, I wouldn't be here, choosing the path that I'm on. This following picture of me is dedicated to both of you. Hope you notice one of your favorite suite in this picture, Dad. And Mom, hope you can see that I am smiling in the picture in the way that you like me to. :)

P.S: Special thanks to Ceu Qonita and Andi Rusiawan, as both of you helped me to document one of the most important events in my life.