Probably all of us have heard that to be successful in business, you’ve gotta be the first one who come up with a brilliant idea, and that there is no room for the second, third, and the rest.

I should say that this is foolish!

Let’s say that you are in college now and, for simplicity, you’re planning to continue to medical school. Then I come to you and tell you that there are already hundreds of thousands of doctors out there, and thus you would never make any money.

Naturally you will say that I’m nuts.. and for a good reason. 

Yet, whenever we are thinking of a business idea, then someone come to us and tell that it won’t work because someone else is already doing it, we’re likely to GLADLY believe them! Now, who’s nuts?

When Apple entered the mobile phone business, it surely wasn’t the first with the idea. But it improves what is already out there better than anyone else, and thus the iPhone becomes one of it’s profitable product.

I agree that most of the money really goes to the one on the top spot. But… certainly it doesn’t mean that the rest of the business don’t make money at all. In fact, the amount of money can be very good for most of the people.

To be fair, please reminded that I’m not saying that every business will be profitable, because that will be too naive. What I’m saying is, doing what others already doing can still be very profitable.

So whenever you have a business idea, be it something that is totally new, or not-so-new, just give it a shot, and don’t listen to other people who are not as courageous as you to try it!

Extra:
David Heinemeier Hansson (partner of 37Signals) in his startup talk mentioned how selling shoes is still a very good business model. (If you have about 30 mins, you might want to watch the whole talk).

Background

This might sound a bit weird for some of you, but ever since I was 10, I always like to read a self-help book. The first book I pick up was “Being Happy” by Andrew Matthews. I didn’t know it was called self-help book, actually I bought it because of the comic character on its cover.

It wasn’t the only book from Andrew that I bought, about one or two years later I bought his second book, “Making Friends“, and few years later I bought “Follow Your Heart” when I was in the Philippines.

Through the years, the list of self-help / motivation books I read keeps increasing, some that I can remember includes “7 Habits of Highly Effective People“, “Rich Dad Poor Dad” series, “The Secret“.

Honestly, I’m not a full positive thinker as I supposed to after reading these books. Probably because of my ‘realist’ nature.

However, if I started to connecting the dots (Steve Job isn’t the only one who can do that), I can see that these books indeed shaped the way I’m thinking now.

The Differences

1. I always think that I will always get what I want (sooner or later)

This is my habit, I always think that I will always get what I want, be it now or later, but they’re coming my way. So strong this habit, on the year 2009-2010 when some of the things that I wanted didn’t happen, I thought someone must’ve cursed me. *I never able to prove it.

The self-help guru usually describe this as focusing your mind to the things you wanted, and you’ll get it, or the law of attraction, or what have you.

I just want to say that, it WORKS!

Probably not always as quick as we want to, but if we’re patient, most of the things that we wanted so much will actually come our way.

2. I write my goals

Since I was in college I write my to do list, and some of the ideas, and goals I have in a little notebook. Organizing tasks and thoughts are some of the things that most self-help guru will suggest us to do.

I still write my goals until now. Not all of my goals come true, but surprisingly a good number of them do (read below).

3. I look like I don’t have any problem

This is a bit subjective, but I have a number of people who told me that I never look worried. People who personally knows me will probably say that I can be exactly the opposite, but most of the time, yes I can look very easy-go-lucky because whatever problem I’m facing, I always thought that I’ll find the solution (difference #1).

The Shocking Truth

1. The note on 2008

In early January 2008, I wrote a sentence in my notebook that I never knew would foretell the change that will affect the rest of my life. I wrote:

“This year I will work in a company that I like doing what I love.”

I wrote it down, but then I forgot about it. Because on late February 2008, I was accepted in a new job and I need to do some training out of city, and few months later I was placed in Bali.

Before the year end I saw my notebook again, and when I saw that sentence I was shocked.

It came true.

2. The grades on first semester

Starting 2010 I started studying Master degree in Boston.

As always with my habit, I wrote that I will get straight ‘A’ for all of my course on the first semester.

However, the road turns out to be not easy, having no proper bachelor background in the field that I’m studying puts me in a disadvantage.

But guess what, at the end of the semester I got straight ‘A’s and when I saw the goal that I wrote, I almost couldn’t believe it.

So what Djitz? Are you going to be one of those motivator?

How exactly good things keep coming to happy people, and bad things keep coming to unfortunate people, I think no one will ever can understand it.

I can assure you that happy people don’t always get the good stuff, but they always think the good stuff, so despite some bad things that might come, there will be more good things coming. The opposite is also true for the unfortunate people who focus on the bad things.

We don’t need to understand everything to make use of it. A lot of thing that we use everyday work without our understanding, but they just work.

I probably can be a motivator someday, but for now, I think I’m so selfish if I don’t share this things to anyone. So, here you go, I shared my experiences, and I will post some of the books that I think really helped me to where I am today.

I hope they will help you too (if they haven’t already).

Sabbath school (SS) teachers and leaders, you know what we afraid of most; a dull, boring SS discussion in which almost no one participates and you do all the talk.

The chance is even a lot higher when the lesson is doctrinal.

We all think that there should be something that can be done to prevent this from happening, and thank God, there is.

A Case Study

Jeff (his real name) was the assigned SS teacher last Sabbath in Boston Temple church and he did a really great job.

He isn’t a pastor or theologian, he wasn’t exceptionally knowledgeable about the lesson. The class members weren’t also any different from any other Sabbath.

So what was it that he did differently?

He didn’t start the SS class like any other teacher. He divided the class into group of three people, then he gave each group a piece of paper that has a paragraph of story, and at the end there is a simple, yet thought-provoking question about the story. He gave 5 minutes for each group to come up with their answer.

What even more interesting was, although the groups are given the same story and question, there was different details added to the other half of the group, that made the group response to be highly different.

It didn’t take long and the the class was filled with interesting discussions till the end, and what he needed to do is just to make sure the discussions are still within the lesson topic and scope.

But it’s not proven?!

Actually I did almost the same thing few years ago. Though, I had the grouping and question at the last half of the SS class rather than in the beginning. But it always work like a charm (ok, maybe we don’t believe in charm, just take it as an expression..).

So, if you’re going to lead an SS class you might want to try this simple idea, group the class into a smaller group (3 to 4 people), give each group real-life story they can relate to and question(s) at the end to answer, and see how the discussion will flow naturally.

God bless you brothers and sisters, and if you have any comment or ideas about teaching SS, feel free to drop some comments below.

Bookshelf at NEU CCIS Lab by djitz!

oleh: Peter Norvig

(disadur dari Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years)

Mengapa semua orang terburu-buru?

Masuklah ke sebuah toko buku dan anda akan melihat buku mengenai bagaimana “Belajar Java dalam 7 Hari” dan banyak variasi lainnya yang menawarkan untuk mengajarkan Visual Basic, Windows, Internet, dan sebagainya dalam beberapa hari atau jam. Saya melakukan power search di Amazon.com:

pubdate: after 1992 and title: days and (title: learn or title: teach yourself)

dan mendapatkan 248 hasil. 78 hasil pertama adalah buku komputer (no. 79 adalah “Belajar Bahasa Bengali dalam 30 hari“). Lalu saya mengganti “hari” dengan “jam” dan mendapatkan hasil yg luar biasa mirip: 253 buku, dengan 77 buku komputer dan diikuti dengan “Belajar Grammar dan Tata Bahasa dalam 24 jam” di nomor 78. Dari 200 hasil pertama, 96% adalah buku-buku komputer.

Kesimpulannya adalah entah orang-orang sekarang ini terburu-buru untuk belajar tentang komputer, atau komputer adalah hal yang sangat mudah dipelajari dari hal-hal lainnya. Tidak ada buku untuk belajar Beethoven, atau Fisika Kuantum, atau bahkan Melatih Anjing dalam beberapa hari. Dr. Felliesen et al. mengakui tren ini dalam buku mereka “Bagaimana Mendesign Program“, dimana mereka mengatakan “Memprogram dengan jelek sangat mudah. Orang-orang Idiot bisa mempelajarinya dalam 21 hari, bahkan walaupun mereka betul-betul bodoh.”

Mari menganalisa bagaimana judul seperti “Belajar C++ dalam 3 Hari” bisa memiliki arti sebagai berikut:

• Belajar: Dalam 3 hari anda tidak akan punya cukup waktu untuk menulis beberapa program yang berguna, dan belajar dari keberhasilan dan kesuksesan program-program ini. Anda tidak akan punya cukup waktu untuk bekerja dengan seorang programmer berpengalaman dan mengerti seperti apa hidup dalam lingkungan C++. Singkatnya, anda tidak akan punya cukup waktu untuk belajar banyak. Jadi buku tersebut hanya bisa berbicara tentang hal-hal yg superfisial, dan tidak pengertian yg mendalam. Seperti Alexander Pope pernah berkata, mengerti sesuatu hal dengan sedikit adalah hal yang berbahaya.

• C++: Dalam 3 hari anda akan bisa belajar sedikit sintaks C++ (bila anda telah mengetahui bahasa pemrograman yg lain), tapi anda tidak bisa belajar banyak bagaimana cara menggunakan bahasa tersebut. Singkatnya, bila anda seorang programmer Basic, anda bisa belajar menulis program dalam gaya Basic menggunakan sintaks C++, tapi anda tidak bisa memahami keunggulan (dan kekurangan) dari C++. Jadi apa gunanya? Alan Perlis pernah berkata: “Sebuah bahasa pemrogramman yang tidak mengubah cara berpikir anda tentag programming, tidak berguna untuk dipelajari.” Satu kemungkinan yg terjadi adalah anda perlu belajar sedikit tentang C++ (atau mungkin JavaScript atau Flash Flex) karena anda perlu membuat sebuah interface dari program yang sudah ada untuk melakukan sebuah hal. Tapi kembali lagi anda tidak mempelajari bagaimana untuk memprogram; anda hanya belajar bagaimana melakukan hal tersebut.

• dalam 3 Hari: Sayangnya, hal ini tidak cukup, seperti yg sudah dijelaskan di atas.

Belajar Programming Sendiri Dalam Sepuluh Tahun

Para periset (Bloom (1985), Bryan & Harter (1899), Hayes (1989), Simmon & Chase (1973)) telah menunjukkan bahwa diperlukan sekitar sepuluh tahun untuk mengembangkan keahlian di berbagai macam bidang, termasuk bermain catur, mengomposisi musik, mengoperasikan telegraf, melukis, bermain piano, berenang, bermain tenis, dan riset dalam bidang neuropsychology dan topology.

Kuncinya adalah latihan dengan penuh perhatian: tidak hanya melakukannya lagi dan lagi, tapi menantang diri anda sendiri dengan suatu hal yang diluar kemampuan anda saat ini, mencobanya, menganalisa performa anda dan setelah itu, membetulkan kesalahan-kesalahan yang ada. Lalu ulangi lagi, dan lagi.

Sepertinya memang tidak ada jalan singkat: Mozart sekalipun, yang sudah memiliki bakat musik luar biasa di umur 4 tahun, membutuhkan 13 tahun lagi sebelum ia mulai membuat musik kelas dunia. Di aliran musik yang berbeda, The Beatles seakan-akan mencuat dengan beberapa hit #1 dan sebuah penampilan dalam acara Ed Sullivan pada tahun 1964. Tapi mereka telah bermain di club-club kecil di Liverpool dan Hamburg sejak 1957, dan walaupun mereka mampu menarik perhatian massa dari awal, kesuksesan terpenting mereka, Sgt. Peppers, dirilis pada tahun 1967.

Malcolm Gladwell membuat laporan dalam sebuah studi murid-murid di Berlin Academy of Music yang membandingkan satu per tiga group terbaik, menengah, dan terakhir dari sebuah kelas dan bertanya kepada mereka berapa lama mereka latihan:

Setiap orang, dari ketiga group ini, mulai bermain kira-kira pada umur yang sama, sekitar umur 3 – 5 tahun. Dalam tahun-tahun pertama ini, semua latihan sekitar 2 – 3 jam seminggu. Tetapi sekitar umur 8 tahun, perbedaan yang sesungguhnya mulai muncul. Murid-murid yang akan menjadi terbaik di kelasnya mula berlatih lebih banyak dari yg lainnya: 6 jam seminggu pada umur 9, 8 jam pada umur 12, 16 jam pada umur 14, dan terus bertambah hingga saat mereka berumur 20 tahun mereka berlatih lebih dari 30 jam seminggu.

Saat mereka berumur 20 tahun, orang-orang terbaik ini telah berlatih selama 10,000 jam dalam hidup mereka. Murid-murid yg cukup baik hanya 8,000 jam, dan yang menjadi guru musik di masa depan hanya sedikit lebih dari 4,000 jam.

Jadi mungkin saja 10,000 jam, bukan 10 tahun, adalah angka ajaibya.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) berpikir bahwa angkanya lebih banyak: “Kesempurnaan di bidang apapun bisa didapatkan hanya dengan usaha seumur hidup; hal tersebut tidak bisa dibeli dengan harga yang kurang dari itu.”

Dan Chaucer (1340-1400) mengatakan “hidup ini terlalu pendek, keahlian terlalu banyak untuk dipelajari.”

Hippocrates (sekitar 400SM) dikenal untuk potongan berikut “ars longa, vita brevis”, yang adalah bagian dari kata-kata yang lebih panjang “Ars longa, vita brevis, occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile”, yang berarti “Hidup ini pendek, keahlian lama, kesempatan menghilang, eksperimen berbahaya, keputusan sulit.” Walaupun dalam bahasa Latin, ars bisa berarti seni atau keahlian, dalam bahasa Yunani aslinya kata “techne” hanya berarti “keahlian”, bukan “seni.”

“My friend once asked me,

‘you saved so much, what are you gonna do with all the money you save anyway?’

i should have answered her,

‘it’s not what i’m gonna do with my money that matters, rather it’s what my money gonna do for me…’”

-djitz!

“The only difference between the programmers in Bali Camp software house and the people in any mental hospital is the earlier knows how to program.” -djitz!

Pastor Ginduk from Flickr by caB.jm’s photostream

I know that a position as Sabbath School group discussion leader is one of the unwanted position in some Adventist church. You got to come early and face a bunch of people who never study their Sabbath School lessons. Help!

Do it wrongly and you got a dull and boring SS discussion… And that was the case with my church youth SS group discussion few years ago.

I tried several ways on how to improve the live of our youth SS discussion. Some works, some don’t, but in the process I learned several things that I believe are essential to improve a SS group discussion.

In this post I want to share to you some of the things that work in my church.

1. Small is Beautiful (and Circle Formation is Advantageous)

When it comes to the size of SS discussion, I prefer a small size of 4-6 person. Why? Because it encourage everyone to speak.

Smaller size means that less number of eye contact and since what refrain most of the people to speak is fear of rejection, the small size becomes your advantage to make everyone speak.

For any new SS group leader I encourage you to try this as this also will build your confidence as you try to lead more and more number of people.

There are some cases where you cannot force this idea of small group discussion size, but you can have a list of question and divide the group to discuss the questions seperately.

If possible, also create the group discussion in a circle form. It will make everyone sees everyone and also encourage a live group discussion. I believe this is one of the critical factor for encouraging everyone to speak too.

Most of Sabbath School group discussion I know is setup similar to a class room where the SS group leader stands in front of several rows of pew. It’s not so hard to guess who do all the talking in this kind of setup.

2. Get Prepared

Preparation is what a SS group leader should do every week. As SS group leader you should read your Sabbath School lessons everyday, period. You cannot skim read the lessons on Friday night and hope everything will be allright the next morning. It doesn’t work that way.

Your group will easily notice whenever you lack of preparation. Those of you who have experience it, you know what I’m talking about.

3. Choose The Proper Weapons

If preparation guarantees you ready for the discussion, choosing the right materials guarantees you to have a great discussion. Although we believe in “Bible and Bible alone”, preparing with the right materials broaden your mind of what the lesson could lead to.

You can refer to my earlier post “Djitz Sabbath School Stack” to see my list of weapons before leading the SS discussion on Sabbath.

4. Pray

Pray in your heart before you read your Bible and SS lessons, and before you go to Church on Sabbath, and pray together before you start your SS group discussion. There is no such thing as too much prayer.

I learned my lesson when one of my youngest student in AY reminded me that we didn’t pray before we start the Pathfinder lesson.

(Wait a second, are we talking about AY or SS?)

The point is, you can forget anything in this tips but never forget to pray to God that He will lead you as you lead the discussion.

5. Ask Questions

SS group leader should not do all the talk, for it won’t be a discussion.
Besides your goal here is to make everyone thinks and talks (if possible) so go ahead, prepare some questions before you start the SS discussion and asks for everyone’s opinion appropriately.

SS lesson has some good questions you can easily ask. Most of the resources in my Sabbath School Stack will also give you some more good questions. You even may also ask some of your personal questions sometimes.

Here’s how I do the discussion:

First, I present the lesson title, have people read the texts and I explain briefly what the lesson of that particular day is all about.

Then I ask the group about the question that I have prepared in relation with the lesson.

Let the discussion flow from there, but keep it under the lesson context.

6. You Don’t Know Everything, Don’t Act As If You Do

Face it, nobody knows everything about Bible, not even your Pastor, so why should you act like you do?

Humbleness is one important characteristic for a SS discussion leader. However much resources you have read prior to the SS discussion you will never know all the questions that your group will ask.

Rather than trying to be the know it all, why not ask everyone’s opinion of the matter? You will be surprised on how much actually we can learn from everyone.

7. Smile

Don’t smile only to the cute girl (or guy) in the group, but smile generously to everyone in the group. People don’t go to church to see people frown, they go to church to feel how everyone is happy in the Sabbath day.

I believe Jesus must have smiled a lot during Sabbath when He was in this Earth.

I usually smile whenever I don’t know an answer. I smile whenever anyone try to tell me I’m dead wrong.

Control yourself and your words, don’t let emotion takes control when you lead a SS discussion. Keep smiling.

Conclusion

Believe me, becoming a Sabbath School group discussion leader is one of the most interesting responsibility in a church. When else you have the chance to talk and discuss about Bible with a group of people? You will also meet so many different types of people with their different understanding and perceptions.

Simply put, if you are one of the person who likes to meet different types of people, you’ll love it.

Moreover, a Sabbath School group discussion leader bears a heavy responsibility of leading the group to Jesus, the main reason of the Sabbath worship itself. Never take it for granted.

If you have some other tips that you can share here, please write them in the comment section.

God bless your Sabbath School discussion brothers and sisters!

Veneta SDA Church from Flickr by YoungWarrior

Quite a catchy title huh? Well, I just wanna talk about my theories of different church types. I’m not gonna talk about different church denominations here, but rather the different church of SDAs.

From my experiences going around the churches in Philippines, Singapore, Surabaya, Bali, and Jakarta, I see that basically SDA churches can be categorized into at least four types, they are:

1. Family churches

Family churches are churches that, well, consist of families. I know you gonna scream, “But aren’t all churches consist of families???”

Yes, but these churches are really full of different families that have known each other for several years and attend the church together.

This kind of church maybe small, or big, it doesn’t matter. But it is characterized by the strong bond of families inside, usually the grandfather, father, children, and great grandchildren are in the same church.

2. Tourist churches

Tourist churches are churches that looks full because 50% of the attendees are ‘tourists’ most of the time.

The word tourists here can mean literal tourist for the churches that is located in tourist cities, but it also can mean the SDA ‘tourists’ who have no permanent churches.

It’s quite easy to notice this kind of church, just ask several people beside you if they know who is the name of the church pastor. If the church is consists of tourists, at least half of the people will politely told you that they don’t really know it.

Other characteristic of tourist churches, if more than 50% of the people you see in the sermon was gone after the potluck, then it is indeed a tourist church.

3. School churches

School churches are churches that is located inside or near an Adventist school compound.

You can notice that more than fifty percent of the attendees are beautiful and handsome young people, high school or college age, usually they are in couples holding hands.

It is characterized by the higher number of young people classes during Sabbath School discussion time. However, though it is full in the Sabbath morning, 80% of them will be gone and no longer can be seen when AY program starts.

4. Social churches

Social churches is like a meeting point. It is a church with convenient environment and facilities located in a strategic location, making it the best place to meet old friends. Usually it is full after the Sabbath School time because people will need to prepare and show their best before meeting their old friends.

It is usually characterized by fashionistas where the church attendees have the latest fashion trend and gadgets.

One more thing, potluck is the most favorite part of this type of church, as the attendees make discussions that far interesting surpass the Sabbath School discussions.

Closing Words

I believe you notice some of the churches that fall to four categories I mentioned above.

To be honest I’m not trying to attack nor disregard churches with this post, please consider this post as a ‘reality’ joke that actually happening around us. If you look closely, the churches are actually reflections of the church members and attendees.

Guests, newly baptized, and all other who want to know more about Jesus is actually judging Christianity through our behaviors and worship habits. It is a pity to show negative images to people who seek the wonderful Savior and His humble followers.

If you have comments or critics please let me know.

photo by Rafael Fischer (http://iasd.org)

AY Department is probably one of the most important department in a church because it prepares the next generation for their responsibilities to God and fellow men. Unfortunately in most churches it is also probably the department that has least attention.

I’ve had a year experience as my church Adventist Youth (AY) Leader. The church was a petite one, with only more or less 10 youth in total. However, the lessons that I learned I believe are quite fundamental and exist in other churches as well.

In this post I want to share some of the lessons that I have the great opportunity to learn during my AY leadership term.

Lesson #1. Every church has its own problem

So you see another ‘ideal’ church and you start envying how on Earth they could be so perfect in all AY aspects? Great programs, great parents support, cool officers, and other things that make you want to move to that particular church.

Well, believe me, there is no all-perfect church, and that church that you think is the heavenly church is no exception. That church must have one or more problems that it’s facing.

There is one church in Jakarta that is famous for its number of youth. It has a great choir group with full schedule, beautiful girls, and handsome guys, and very active AY members.

I happened to have a chance to talk to one of its AY member, and I was surprised with what I heard. She said that there is actually some internal problem among the youth. Well well well.., who would’ve thought?

What’s my point?

Don’t get panic and discouraged when you meet a challenging problem. That’s really the life fact since the second Adam and Eve sinned. Problems are in nature just like the gravitational force, and as the AY leader, you are the lucky person who should handle them. Hehehe..!

Don’t get mad at me yet. It’s really your responsibility to handle those AY problems, but always work with the other AY officers and church officers to solve the problem.

Lesson #2. Have a Purpose

Allright, I’m not actually promoting the book “The Purpose Driven Life” here, though yeah, the book is a great one.

Rather I’m encouraging every AY leader to have a deeper purpose rather than just be an AY leader.

What does it mean?

When I was the AY leader of my church, I always have this purpose of “teaching the teens and kids in my church so that they will be smarter and better person when they are at my age later.”

That way I always prioritize programs that are aligned with this purpose, such as Adventurer and Pathfinder programs.

Having a purpose means you have a higher goal than just completing your one year AY leader term. This will help you set out one year AY plan, help you cope up with problems that come to you, and feel more sense of accomplishment when you are done.

Please make it personally, not something that you got from the Pathfinder Guide Book or any pre-made sources. Because you won’t feel the passion to do it unless it really comes your personal thought.

Lesson #3. Be patient, have an open mind, and be tactful

Now I should admit that this is one of the toughest thing that I learned. I thought having seen so much in Philippines, Singapore, and Indonesia, I must already possessed enough level of the so called ‘open mind’.

Maybe, but there is no word ‘enough’ for this. There is really so many different people in this world, and this world always have a ready stock of people that can make you crazy.

So what should you do?

First, keep your head cool. Then talk to them and get to know them better. Try to know their passions, goals, and hobbies.

Why?

Because from my experience, people that are bad and kill joy at one event, may be the central of the universe and heroes at other events. They who you believe ruin one of your carefully planned program may be just the person who save your face in other program.

It’s similar to the colors of different painting. Blue may be the color of choice when you are painting a scene with lots of skies in it. But not be a good choice when you are painting a close up flower.

Knowing your AY members will give you a great advantage of choosing the right people for the right time. It will give a win-win situation for you and the AY members.

Lastly, never think that people should always think like you do, because naturally they just don’t. Keep your mind open for different opinions and options. Besides, who knows that these opinions and options may be better than your original ideas.

Lesson #4. Network With Other AY Leaders And, If Possible, AY Mentor

Who says that networking only work in business world? Leading a church AY will be a lot more fun and interesting when you have fellow AY leaders to share and discuss with.

Some problems may not be as hard as you thought before when seen from other person’s point of view. Some problems may already even solved by other person, so you don’t need to find out the solution further.

When I was an AY leader, I had a very good friend of mine who happened was the AY leader of her church. It is really encouraging when you can talk to someone who isn’t only understand the situation, but also can feel the problem.

Having an AY mentor is actually an ideal situation, a utopia for every AY leader, especially for a beginner. Unfortunately, it is a very rare condition because what happen most of the time is rather a sad fact.

Most of ex-AY leaders are usually very much tired and exhausted with the AY affairs. With several famous reasons such as ‘no longer a youth’, or ‘i’m already married’, these ex-AY leaders are actually wasting their precious experiences that can help any current AY leader to repeat the same mistakes.

However, I believe you still can consult them every now and then. To recognize them early is really important, because usually they play low profile once they complete their term.

One important notice though in networking, please don’t think that it’s an obligation for your fellow AY leaders and AY mentor to help you. They are just like you, so they probably have their own problems. Do return the favors and offer them help if you can do something for them. This will keep a healthy relationship.

Lesson #5. It’s Not About You, It’s About Jesus and Others

When I knew I was elected as AY leader,  I was not only surprised, I was outraged. How on Earth??? Why me? I almost never attend the AY when I studied in college, though it was Adventist college. Once even I got a ‘prize’ for being the person who attend the least number of AY. (It was the idea of the AY leader, she really knew how to recognize the lazy AY goers.. :p).

So I thought, okay, whatever, just let see what gonna happen.

To my surprise, it wasn’t actually that bad. Besides, it’s pretty cool to be an AY leader sometimes. It caught girls attention pretty good sometimes.

However, I realized it’s totally wrong to think selfishly when you are the AY leader. Jesus has showed us that to lead is actually to serve. I know it sounds cliche, but trust me, it’s hard to refuse the chance to use your position for some selfish reasons. Especially when people don’t notice and it’s all covered in great programs.

Always pray to God, ask for His help, and surrender yourself and your plans fully to Him. Because when He takes control, it just can’t get wrong.

Wrap Up

Remember guys, an AY leader has a really great responsibility. It’s the person who the younger kids are look up too. Whatever examples that the AY leader showed, they are what the kids will most probably do when they grew up later.

Don’t do it because you were elected and you have no choice. If you feel so, please consider resigning, because it will only hurt yourself and the AY.

So far, these five tips are what I can share with you. If you have problems and suggestions about AY, feel free to contact me.

I remember almost a year ago I googled for article about this. I’ve been a system and network administrator for more than two years in medium sized company, dealing with Windows Servers, Sun Solaris, IBM AIX, Firewall, and VMWares.

Then, for an unknown crazy reason I applied for a programmer position in one of the biggest software house in Indonesia. I was accepted and suddenly had a dillemma of choosing to stay as an administrator or to shift career as programmer.

Being a good information age generation, I looked for what other people’s opinion in online forums. Some are pros for career in sys and network administration, and some others are pros for career in software development.

To be honest, they made me even more confused. But I finally made my choice.

Now after 8 months of work as Java EE programmer, I want to share about what I know about these two IT careers. Please note that I don’t think one is superior than another although during this article I may be a bit inclined to software development career.

It’s Not The Career That Make One’s Success

Like most of the fresh graduates I know, I used to think that success is closely attached to one’s career. That some careers are naturally better than the others. However, through time I realized that this thought is not true.

There are successful administrators and there are successful developers. On the other side, there are also unsuccessful administrators and unsuccessful developers.

What makes the difference?

It’s The Person With The Right Career

In the online forums that I found those who are pros of each side listed the reasons why one career is better than the other. They all speak from their experiences and observations.

Some of the wiser members, however, posted that one should ask himself about what career is more suitable to him rather than only looking for the salary number or future overseas outsourcing trend.

Why I chose what I chose

I accepted the work as programmer and I don’t regret it a bit. It’s not because I don’t like the work as an administrator, but because I enjoy the process of creating something so much.

Making something has been my passion since I was a kid, and now I enjoy making software in every step.

So what should you choose?

Ask yourself this question,

“Will I excitedly wake up every morning to do this career?”

Some of my work colleague said that they actually don’t like coding and it’s really sad. I think they are not only waste their time here, but they also waste their life.

For me, someone can only achieve his greatest potential when he does what he really enjoy. And since life is not as long as we always think, choose a career where your passion is.