Growing gain, not pain

Friday, 29/05/2015 14:41 WIB

The Great wall of China would have never impeded Fedora Devena’s quantum leap and dreams. She had a great childhood – so good that she calls it “a kingdom”. Just like many other kids, Devena was consumed with the fantasy of someday growing into the ideal herself, whomever she is meant to be.

As she grew, she became a person loaded with an ambition to be perfect, to get 10 out of 10, believing that it was her only way to fulfill her dreams. She spent her childhood striving for outstanding marks in school and that cost her a dear price: she just did not know how to make friends.  She got drowned in papers and books, writings and readings.

Coming through to the next phase of life where she had to go to college, Devena decided to enter the world of visual communication design, driven by her strong passion, interest and affection for the philosophy of arts.

To Devena, college experience offers the greatest chance to grow in life. And she knows that she could not waste such an opportunity. That is why she has been growing fast: intellectually, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. She is fully aware that she is lucky enough to have the privilege of studying the subject of her choice.

The learning process at the university level has opened up her eyes such that she can see the world from many perspectives. Not only that she has a lot better understanding about the problems, challenges and difficulties in the real world, she also now can recognize the abundant opportunities that are present around her. The new insights serve as a motivator in her journey to reach her vision.

“In my college, Institut Teknologi Harapan Bangsa, good marks, academic achievements and a great GPA are important, but they are clearly not everything. For me, the whole process is probably the essence of learning itself. It takes a lot of effort, commimtment, integrity and faith: The qualities that I will need to succeed later in my life. The various assignments also make me keep pushing myself further and dig deeper. I can never afford to be complacent.

But, it was not all sweat and hard work. It was a lot of fun too. The team assignments and the atmosphere in the campus also helped me open up and build good relationships with different people.

And if you follow the process, no matter difficult it may seem in the beginning, it will eventually pay off.  I am so fortunate to be awarded scholarship for six semesters, a GPA of 3.93 and a crown being the first runner up of 2014 the Putri Harapan Bangsa Award”.

In her university, the ‘Putra and Putri Harapan Bangsa’ awards are probably the most sought after recognitions by many students as they reflect not only academic achievement, but also character, leadership, and popularity among the students (the award process includes a voting by fans).

Three years ago, while she was just in her first semester, Devena started her career as a professional by following her passion in design, story writing, photography and videography. Engaging some friends to start a production house business, Devena set sail and is now clinching the creative director position in the company.

Devena has had a great start and is about to embark on an even greater journey. Even though the future always has some level of uncertainty, with such a great passion and dream, Devena surely has a great chance to succeed. She believes that everyone is perfectly, divinely and uniquely created by God for a purpose. And He surely can make his plan happen. Such belief sparks a true optimism in her.

Devena is now enjoying her growth. Even though it sometimes feels like a growing pain, to her it is more like a growing joy. And she has a lot of friends now, sitting with her in the same boat.

If she can do it, there won’t be any reasons for you not to.