If you only have 20 seconds to read this *wink as usual, don’t worry, I’ve already boiled down the insights into a sentence you can finish before your eyes blink thrice: to communicate data/numbers, give them emotions—angry number, happy number, tragic number, you name it.

Whenever I feel blue, there is something that puts things into perspective: the knowledge that some of my best days haven’t happened yet….

Yesterday, my friend excitedly told me about Sabrina&Belva’s wedding: an event that gave us abundant feelings, most especially warm euphoria. We barely know them personally but it didn’t stop the sentiments from coming over us. As if Disney movies jumped into reality, a fairytale-like wedding does exist. We are sincerely happy about their marriage.

We then talked about how mysterious fate was. We simply don’t know what will happen in the future, even in the next second. For sure, Bina (Sabrina’s nickname) in the past didn’t know that in the future she would sit in one of the best colleges in the world i.e. MIT while at the same time marry one of the most eligible bachelors in the country i.e. Belva. (P.S.: my friend has adored Belva since a long time ago and I occasionally heard about his works and manners. It’s safe to conclude that whoever marries him is on cloud nine.).

We also discussed Allah's mightiness to unite a person with someone alike. Indeed good men are for good women and vice versa. The Natuno's co-founder had gone through a lot and worked hard to be the person she is today--the kind of woman who's made Belva fall head over heels for. So did Belva who has put his all to build a better education environment in Indonesia. When the time came for him to settle down, he eventually ended up with someone like Bina.

Above all, their story gave us bounded optimism about the future.

Subsequently, I remember a post that has helped me get a hold of myself, written by Omid Scheybani. He mentioned that anticipating all the upcoming small and big things was something that put him on stable ground. The notion that several best days in his life haven't happened yet has assisted him to overcome his sorrow.

The aforesaid notion affected me likewise. It’s comforting knowing that some of the most beautiful feelings of my life are waiting to happen. It’s uplifting to realize that sundry best days in my life will eventually come. The day I fall in love, the day I marry someone, the day I embarking my master’s degree journey, the day I become a mom, the day I perform hajj, the days I see my parents, brother, and friends’ best moments, and so forth. It’s a wonderful thought that some of the most beautiful days in my life haven’t happened yet. I will work on myself to be someone who deserves those delightful moments.

Lastly, barakallah for the wedding which gave a lot of people heartfelt emotion, Sabrina and Belva. Thank you for reminding me once again that inshaAllah the future holds a bunch of my finest moments. I have faith in Allah so I trust my journey. Even when sadness hits me, I would remind myself of this idea: some of the best days in my life are waiting for me. The best is yet to come so I should be patient. 

I believe there is happiness waiting in front of each of us after the long tiring days :)

Love,

iim

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The title above mirrored Omid's post title: The Best Days of Your Life

image source: twimg.com

In case you only have 15 seconds to read this *wink, here’s the summary: to remain grounded amidst a sea of flashy buzzwords is a luxury.

I got inspired to write this on my way back from buying my favorite seblak (a Sundanese savory and spicy dish with wet crackers as the main ingredient) while raindrop was suddenly pouring over me. I saw some people had to work under the rain with nothing on top of their heads. Under this kind of circumstance, it is a luxury to be able to rush home and worry about nothing. Wait. I said luxury? Why did this word instead of privilege pop up in my mind?

Ever since I don’t exactly remember when, I rarely call something that not everybody has access to/opportunity of a privilege anymore. I used to call everything which wasn't near to a problem for me but still was considered one for some people as a privilege. For example, in this pandemic situation, the option to work from home when some people have to go out to earn money was called a privilege. Now I name it a whole luxury.

My standard on luxury has become lower and lower and for me that’s self-betterment. I realized that even the “basic requirements” in my life are out of the range of some people. A roof over my head, clean clothes, 3-meals a day, health facilities, internet access—who says everyone has access to them? Tertiary education experience, a stable job—the opportunities I casually didn't deem beds of roses. The realization I got from thinking about them humbled me every time.

(P.S.: I recently came across an article about global education statistics *tried to post the link but I can’t find it again. Globally, the percentage of individuals with college degrees was less than 8%. I was taken aback. Indeed, the saying "privilege is invisible to those who have it" was also applied to me and I felt sorry about that.)

From time to time, the list of what I called luxuries simultaneously expanded and shifted. Back then when I was a teenager, everything extravagant is a luxury. When I entered college, I remember mentioning having idealism as a luxury. I also remember saying that finding what you genuinely want to do in life as early as possible (and even better if we can live according to the results) is a luxury. Some years ago, because I found that being left with no choices could be a thorny situation, having choices slid up on my “what are luxuries” leaderboard.

Now, as I work in the information technology field, there is something I would like to call a luxury: the ability to remain grounded amidst the sea of flashy buzzwords. We live in an era where we hear (and maybe use) a fair amount of jargon. In the period where someone is regarded as knowledgeable when they mention sophisticated tech terms, it exerts oneself to be undistracted. 

After some people (especially the influential ones) talked about the tech buzzwords, what usually happened next is those things seemed too splendid to be unimplemented. The truth is, I have seen a lot of cases where technology implementation was rushed while the fundamental stuff was nowhere near steady. I've witnessed that technology adoptions were done hastily just because they were fancy yet no one carefully analyzed/calculated the cost and benefits in advance. I’ve heard here and there that the necessary requirements to make them effective hadn’t been established while the decision to invest in the new technologies was made. I wouldn’t even go deeper with the benefits realization and investment payback because in that kind of situation, what do we expect? :)

(Have you ever seen memes of a boy trying to skip some stair-steps which were widely used to represent how humans sometimes skip the important parts for whatever "shiny" stuff represented by the step which was aimed to? High five if you laughed over them 😊).

I know to be updated with technology advancement information is something highly necessary. I agreed that it’s essential to understand what’s going on in the tech world so we could react appropriately—anticipate and respond to the risks and/or leverage the tech in case it is beneficial. However, to be easily dazzled by the buzzwords and lose sight of what’s truly important is something I consider harmful. Imagine investing a great sum of money on something for the sake of following the trends while the expected benefits are uncertain and the risks haven’t been properly assessed (or even more addressed).

For those reasons, I can say that the ability to remain grounded amidst the sea of fancy buzzwords is a luxury. The ability to prioritize the fundamental things while having the serenity to not feel missed out is such a luxury. In the IT world, maybe that’s one of the highest kinds of luxuries ever existed. 

Your "hey I am back writing about IT again even though the IT part is microscopic" friend,

iim 

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*In the tech world, it's not that having the most sophisticated tool that I called a luxurious life, it's knowing what's really needed.

*I remember my high school counselor ever advised the students: ojo nggumunan (don't be too easily impressed). Now I understand its hidden meaning even more.

image source: wallpaperaccess.com

Beberapa bulan yang lalu, saya mengikuti ujian kompetensi IT Auditor yang diselenggarakan oleh Badan Nasional Sertifikasi Profesi (BNSP). Berhubung akhirnya sudah mendapatkan berkas sertifikatnya, saya akan menuliskan pengalaman mengikuti ujian tersebut. Siapa tahu di antara teman-teman ada yang akan mengikuti ujian dimaksud dan penasaran bagaimana prosesnya.

Pertama, pastikan kita memenuhi persyaratan dasar yaitu minimal telah menyelesaikan pendidikan diploma tiga (D3) atau memiliki sertifikat pelatihan berbasis kompetensi yang sesuai dengan skema sertifikasi IT auditor atau telah berpengalaman kerja pada lingkup yang sesuai dengan skema sertifikasi IT auditor minimal 1 tahun secara berkelanjutan. Setelah itu kita bisa langsung mengajukan permohonan sertifikasi melalui TUK (Tempat Uji Kompetensi) yang telah diverifikasi oleh LSP TIK Indonesia. Pemohon sertifikasi akan diminta melengkapi formulir permohonan dan formulir asesmen mandiri serta membayar biaya pendaftaran. 

Pemohon juga diminta menyerahkan (tetapi waktu itu mungkin karena mekanisme ujiannya adalah daring, saya hanya perlu mengunggah dokumen-dokumen tersebut di formulir yang disediakan):

a. pas foto 3x4 (3 lembar)

b. fotokopi KTP/KK (1 lembar) copy

c. copy ijazah terakhir (1 lembar)

d. copy sertifikat yang relevan dengan skema sertifikasi IT auditor

e. CV pengalaman/keterangan kerja yang relevan dengan skema sertifikasi IT auditor

f. portofolio yang relevan dengan skema sertifikasi IT auditor (bila ada)

(Keterangan selengkapnya dapat dilihat di Panduan Uji Kompetensi Skema Sertifikasi IT Auditor)

Calon peserta yang memenuhi syarat akan mendapatkan waktu pelaksanaan ujian. Ujian saat itu menggunakan mekanisme daring di mana saya diwawancarai oleh assessor melalui aplikasi Zoom. Pertanyaan yang diajukan seputar pengalaman melakukan audit TI dengan memuat aspek-aspek sesuai dengan unit kompetensi yang dipersyaratkan (sesuai gambar di bawah ini). Saya juga diminta mempresentasikan salah satu kegiatan audit TI yang pernah dikerjakan. Total waktu wawancara dan presentasi adalah sekitar 40 menit. Kabar baiknya, jika teman-teman sudah memiliki pengalaman audit TI, sesi wawancara dan presentasi ini tidak akan terasa sulit kok :)

sumber: sertifikasi.lsptik.or.id

Saya mendapatkan hasil ujian sekitar satu bulan setelah tanggal ujian dengan hasil dinyatakan kompeten. Oleh karena itu, saya berhak mendapatkan sertifikat kompetensi IT Auditor.  

Demikian pengalaman saya mengikuti ujian sertifikasi IT Auditor oleh BNSP. Apabila ada yang ingin ditanyakan, dipersilakan untuk menuliskannya di kolom komentar atau menghubungi melalui platform apa pun di mana saya tergabung. Stay safe, everyone.