When You Love Someone, But It Goes to Waste.

No, dear. This is not an emptiness. I am not hollow.

I am broken.

By you. 

About AFS (Part 3)

Hello!

     First of all, I am afraid that I cannot share my 3^rd AFS selection test here. Well, apparently, it is not a secret. But, I just want to make it as a surprise! You cannot prepare or practise for this test. This test aims to know how your leadership is and how you work in a team. Those are the soft-skills that you cannot acquire in only a night or two. Just be yourself, do not be too ambitious, and answer the questions honestly. Good luck with the test!

     But the good thing is that I am going to tell you about my story after I passed my 3^rd AFS selection test!:> Hopefully, this will be useful for y’all.

     So, after I received the notification of being one of the participants who passed the 3^rd test, I got a phone from my PO (Project Officer). She said that I had to send a “parents permission letter” (or whatever the name was, I forgot it hehe) to Chapter Malang’s office, and wait for several weeks. That was quite an easy requirement! Thenceforth, I sent it right away and waited for about 3-4 weeks.

     One day, I unintentionally opened Binabud Malang’s blog and found a new post on the top of it. The title said something like this: “Pengumuman Kelolosan dan Undangan Pertemuan Keluarga Kandidat Calon Penerima Beasiswa Bina Antarbudaya AFS/ YES 2014-2015”. My heart skipped a beat. I scrolled the page down, and found this table:

     Blimey! MY NAME WAS ON THE LIST. I WAS ONE OF THE 15 LUCKY FINALISTS. GOD IS GOOD.

     I jubilantly jumped out of my bed, went out of the room and tried to find my mom. As soon as I found her, I hugged her and said, “AKU LOLOS AFS MAK. BELGIA MAK BELGIA”. (I really wanted to go to Belgium, btw)

     Several days later (13th of October 2013), I went to the family gathering and met with other 14 finalists. It was so awkward because some of us had not known each other before. Anyway, family gathering was an event where the families of the finalists were given an introduction to Binabud, AFS, and YES there. Firstly, the parents and the finalists were placed in a same room and got a little bit presentation about Binabud from my PO. Then, we were separated. The finalists were taken to another room to get a briefing about what we had to do next. I was unanimously appointed as the coordinator of the finalists-_- (It was so obnoxious, I had to make sure that everything in finalists’ application form was alright, and contacted them if there were some news). But anyway, we had to fill a brand new application form, which was MUCH MUCH more complicated than the first one that I filled before the 1^st selection test. One of the volunteers explained to us about how to fill the form correctly. Then, we arranged some plans about the home-interview. Voila! The family gathering had finished! I asked my friends’ contacts in the end. I did not know that the family gathering would be our last meeting togetherL

     At the next day, I tried to fill the application form. This one was an international application form that would be sent to the host-countries, host-families, etc. So, I got a health certificate, parents permission, academic record, letter to host-family, country preference form, and many more to be filled-_- If I am not mistaken, I only got a week (or two?) to complete the form. I asked for two days dispensation to my school to get the medical statement from a hospital. The medical test was rather scary, such as the TB test, because the syringe was bloody big kkkkkkkk-_- The process of finishing the form needed me to be patient. Some bureaucracies of my school and several institutions were such a nuisance. But finally, I got it done YAY!

     By the way, in the process of filling the application form, I got so many gut feelings that I would get a placement in Belgium. One of the examples: the doctor who examined me was an alumnus from a medical University in Ghent, Belgium! (I also really wanted to go to Ghent) And many more! They made me think positively about the placement. Hahaha.

     I finished filling the form about three days before the deadline. My PO asked me to send the documents to Jakarta and Chapter Malang itself. I sent the documents to Chapter Jakarta’s office right away. It was about 5 pm when I went to JNE. I thought that I had put all documents inside the package. But, I was wrong. When I got back home, I found several copies of the requirements on my bed! Oh shit, I forgot to put them in! Which means that I got to go to JNE again to put them in my documents. The clock showed me that it was 6 pm already. I rushed to JNE, for my house was 30 minutes away from there-_- When I arrived, its door had a “closed” sign hung over it. I barged (?) in and pleaded to the person in charge. Fortunately, she was so kind and helped me to find my package. I found it after I searched for about 10 minutes, and directly tore the envelope apart. In the end, I managed to re-send my documents and thanked the person in charge over and over. Coincidentally, Chapter Malang’s office was only a minute walk from JNE. So, I took a stroll there to give a copy of my documents to Chapter Malang. It was about 7 pm. Miraculously, there was my PO at that time in the office! I just gave my documents and went home safely. But, guess what? I left some documents in my bag! I should have given them to my PO! I cursed myself as I went back to the office. Hahahaha yeah you need to struggle to live your life.

     The process of finishing the form really made me to think and act quickly. Besides, it practised my patient to deal with some bureaucracy. I am glad that I got the chance to participate in AFS test until this levelJ

     So, that’s the end of my story after the 3^rd selection test. I had a home interview several days later, but there was nothing special in it hahaha. In the end, I waited for about…………9 months to get the final placement announcement (you can read it here).

     Thank you so much for reading all of my AFS selection process stories. I do hope that you can make your way until the very last of the selection process. But, if you don’t, do not be so sad, because there are so many opportunities out there to go abroad. If you are reading this, and you have not got any placement or host-family, don’t worry! If it’s time, it’s time. Believe me, God is really good. Have some faithJ Thank you!