(Rara: First person in the left)

We’ve all struggled to live up our dreams, and every one of us wannabe the success one living on it. But can we cope with the obstacles coming in the way? Some fail, some move on.

I am the later one.

I began with a simple dream, dreaming of flying and going around the world to taste merely its local culinary. In fact, it has brought me even farther. In my 20ish, I managed to visit several countries for better causes.

My journey began with a failure. I failed in following student exchange competition to Japan when I was in junior high school. I was not chosen because I couldn’t master the selected traditional dance at that time. Things started to change when I studied in vocational high school. I was selected as a Young Lecture for Hanoi Open University students and a Young Speaker for SEAMEO ASEAN BOD summit. This news arrived to a program called Kick Andy by Metro TV. They invited me to become a key speaker in endless innovation episodes to inspire thousands Indonesian people. It surely was one of a kind for a young girl like me.

Time passed and news arrived, I got full scholarship for my undergraduate degree at the best Engineering school in Surabaya.

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My adventure didn’t stop there. More stories were drawn at my college life. Two of the many I thankfully received are I was selected by JICA to become Indonesian ambassador in Asian Youth Student Exchange and one of five super young Indonesian talents to join International conferences attended by Nelson Mandela and a lot of famous figures, leaders and businessmen around the world in Johannesburg, South Africa. The later event took me to the journey of being an awesome student ambassador to promote Indonesia to the world. I got the chance to experience more adventures and for sure, to enjoy the culture and the food!

This extraordinary experience has given me a better and wide perspective in seeing the world; the problems and the solvency. Difference is beautiful. Because of differences, I have had more various network, friends, and even family! Time has brought me to have a taste of the world. It’s not only enriching my knowledge, but also enhancing my application. It has also given me the spirit of nationalism; I love my country more and more.

First step after it was to bring the love to my campus life; I actively followed its executive organization, became the leader of campus debate club and numerous social services. I kept my goal to make differences and big impact for my surrounding. I felt that I had grown better and better. I became more brave, active, firm and persistent in doing many things. I embraced failures, I set harder determination.

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“20 years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the things you did do. So throw the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore-Dream-Discover”.  Mark Twain.

That quote pushes me farther.

That’s when my Journey with XLFL began when I saw XLFL TVC in one of national TV channels. I managed to apply. I was accepted, and found a new family here. I was a proud student, and a more proud alumni. I met with a lot of inspiring Indonesian colleagues whom very supportive to each other. I was proactively involved in every XLFL activity, never stopped loving it! I got the chance to share and empower many more students in some of its workshops and roadshows; Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali. And this journey brought me to meet a gorgeous leader who has inspired me having my career now; Pak Ongki Kurniawan.

“We don’t meet people by accident. They are meant to cross our path for a reason”.

XLFL got me learned a lot, not only in enriching and fueling my potential but also in spreading positive impact to my surrounding and the most important thing was to give tangible social actions to others.

In my professional work now, all thinking tools taught are used well. Moreover, for the past one year I’ve been into three different tasks; Business Relationship Management, Marketing Communication, then to Social Business Innovation. I managed my to apply my Managing Change skill, one of skills in the curriculum we were taught. In day to day activity I should collaborate with various internal cross function departments, external vendor and top tier management consultants who are somehow older than me. Here, my Effective Communications skill gives me the smooth path in interacting well with them as well as working with the team. It’s very useful for me in delivering good presentation to BOD (CMO, CDSO, and CEO). Last is my Entrepreneurship and Innovation skill that helps me in every deliverable process, especially in my current position dealing with social business innovation.

Being an alumni doesn’t mean being in a distance. I feel like I am still close with the program and its family. XLFL keeps us together. I can still share, care, and inspire my juniors in many occasions provided, even I’ve been graduated. It’s an endless relationship with Facilitators, FL001, FL002, XLFL Batch 3 – 4, and hope to keep connected too with more batches to come.

Life is like completing a puzzle; step by step with perseverance and curiosity. In life, we will find these pieces of puzzle, we connect them, draw them into a square of picture, making them together to make a meaning in a picture. When it’s done, we’ll start another one. I have done mine, and heading to do complete more puzzles.

Have you started yours?

Rara Indah Permatasari

Twitter : @rara_ip

IG : rarapermatasari