Grade 11 Competitions

Grade 11 is the most eventful school year of my life. With all of the competitions that I joined and all the experience that I gained, I think that this school year is my most productive school year ever. In this blog post, I will tell you all the competitions that I joined, and also the things that I did throughout the school year.

1. UBAYA Business-Rally Competition (August 2017)
Ubaya held a competition in August 2017, about business-rally games. In this competition, we did the 1st round of elimination at home, and they chose the best 100 teams. Me, Michael, and Lian went through the 1st eliminations. The second day, we did the quarterfinals, and we went through the top 25 teams. Sadly, our journey stopped there, and we did not go to the finals.

2. UNIBRAW Math Competition (September 2017)
UNIBRAW, or Universitas Brawijaya held a Mathematics competition, which is joined by people all around Indonesia. The top 50 scores were chosen to go to Malang to join in the next round, and I got the 48th spot. In Malang, the top 50 students did the competition. The top 5 was chosen to be in the finals. But sadly, I placed 8th in the competition. It was a difference of 2 points that I lost to. But it is okay because I gained new experiences.

3. EMBASSY English Rally Competition (September 2017)
Embassy English course held a rally competition in September 2017. Me, Dylan, and Yonathan joined the competition just for new experiences. But in the end, we reached the finals, which is the top 15 teams. I was excited that we went through the finals. Even though we didn't win, at least we placed in the finals.

4. CEC Debate Competition (September-November 2017)
In September 2017, the preliminary round for the CEC debate competition was done. Me, Gerry, and Nicholas need to win 2 times before continuing to the quarterfinals. We won both debate competitions, and we went through the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, we beat the debate team which won the previous debate competition. In the semifinals, we were fighting a Cita Hati team. Sadly, we lost in the semifinals, but it was a new experience of public speaking.

5. SEAMO Math Competition (November 2017)
Around November 2017, SEAMO held a Mathematics competition in Elyon School. It was called South-East Asia Mathematics Competition. There was a lot of students who joined the competition. After finishing the competition, I found out that I won the silver medal in the competition.

6. UISI Logic Competition (January 2018)
On January 2018, there was a logic competition held by Universitas Semen Gresik. It was a logic/computer competition. The preliminary round was held online, and me and Rizky finished it well. The top 50 teams were chosen to compete in the semifinals. In the semifinals, the top 6 teams are chosen to compete in the finals. Luckily, we placed 6th and went through the finals. In the finals, we did the things well and finally, we placed 2nd place in the competition.

7. OMITS Math Competition (January 2018)
Omits is a well-known Mathematics competition, known for its difficulty. The top 50 teams are chosen to be in the Semifinals. Me and Phillip studied hard for the competition, and then we placed 50th and went through the semifinals. But sadly, we did not continue to go through the finals.

8. UPH Business Plan-Rally Competition (January 2018)
UPH held a business competition about a creating a business plan and then presenting it in the finals. There are around 40 teams that joined the competition. Me, Samuel, and Ingrid did the rally games on the first day well, and we placed 2nd overall in the finals. In the finals, after the presentations, we found out that we got the most creative business plan, and somewhat placed 4th in the competition.

9. UC Business-Rally Competition (February 2018)
Universitas Ciputra held a competition about a business and rally competition. In the 1st day, it was very tiring because the competition is held from the 1st floor until the 7th floor of Universitas Ciputra, and we cannot use the elevator. We got through the top 30 and went through the semifinals. The semifinals were held in Pakuwon Mall, and the top 10 teams will continue on. We finally won the semifinals and reached the finals. The final is a trivia about business. We crushed through the questions, and finally got 3rd place for the competition.

10. Habitat for Humanity (OcTober 2017)
Habitat for Humanity is an organization which helps people in need. I joined habitat for humanity because it looked fun, and it was. We helped build houses for the people in need, and it was a fun experience because I can do new experience with my friends.

11. School Organization (All Year)
The school organization, called OSIS is an organization which helps the school intact. I was the PIC for the Christmas celebration, and apparently, it was not easy to be the PIC because of all the ups and downs which was faced together. But eventually we got everything done, and here we are now.

I hope that in the future, I will be able to join more competitions and gained more experiences.

2017 Makassar Trip

2017 Makassar Trip

     Around April 2017, my friends and I went to Makassar, following the school program. The plan was to go to historical and educational places in the span of 4 days in total. We were asked to make a vlog of the whole trip, and record it.

        We arrived at the airport first in the morning around 7 am, whilst waiting for the plane and other things. After boarding the plane, Makassar is a 1-hour plane ride from Surabaya. The plane ride was really entertaining since the plane is mostly filled with students. After reaching Makassar, our first location was to go to "Rumah Kecapi" which is a place where master's of the musical instrument show off their skills, and we can ask several questions to them. We were there for a couple of hours, then we went to some kind of forest/garden. We walked to the location of the cave where there are several artifacts that were on the wall of the caves. That day was a rainy day which slowed the process. From the garden, half of the students went to a passion fruit factory, and half of the students went to a chocolate factory because Makassar is famous for their Passion Fruit and Chocolate production. After we finished doing stuff there, we ate dinner and then went to the hotel to sleep.

         The second day, we went to a Seaweed and Chocolate Factory to watch the creation of Seaweeds. After finishing the interviews, videos, and stuff there, we went to lunch, then went to Trans Studio. Trans Studio is like an indoor theme park where we can play games and have fun. We spent around 3/4 hours in there playing the games, some of us just roamed around the mall in that period of time. After that, we went to a well-known Souvenir shop, and we can buy anything there for quite a while. After that, we went to the hotel.

        The third day was quite an interesting day. Early in the morning, we had breakfast in the hotel and then went off on a 6-hour journey to somewhat the other side of Makassar, to see the production of wooden boats and take some pictures along the way. That was a really fun experience because combined, it took us half a day/ 12 hours sitting on the bus. The ride was a fun experience because we played games on the bus and had a fun experience overall. After we reached the hotel, it was around 9 pm. The last night was really fun because a lot of us did not sleep that early, and we were doing activities for hours.

               The final day, we had lunch eating Coto Makassar. It was quite delicious. After that, we went to the airport, and go home to Surabaya. In this trip, I learned a lot of stuff, such as creating chocolate, seaweed, etc. I also learned that Makassar is a diverse city, with a lot of interesting stuff there. Overall it was a fun trip to go through.

Interview with Mr. Dean Potter (English Assignment)

Dean Potter: DP

Rob Buchanan: RB

RB: We are here today graced by the famous rock climber, Dean Potter. Hello Mr Potter

DP:Hello Mr Buchanan, you can just call me Dean.

RB: So Dean, I heard that you like speed, and are also crazy, so why do people call you that?

DP: Well, you can say that I like speed, and well I’m also crazy.

RB: But what did you do to make people call you crazy or foolish for your work?

DP: Well, my life has been about rock climbing, and the greatest achievement to get from rock climbing is being really fast.

RB: I saw that. When I counted your time to climb the Nose of El Capitan, you did that in 3 hours and 24 minutes! Amazing! So how can you outpace the other climbers?

DP: Well, this is also the reason why people call me foolish, is that I use my equipments to the bare minimum, and by doing this, I have less weight to carry on me.

RB: So usually, what do you carry, and what do you don’t?

DP: Well, I usually don’t carry my packs, and I never bring food and water, I even don’t wear clothes when I ‘m climbing.

RB: What happens when in the middle of your climb you get thirsty?

DP: Well, I just hold it until I get back down, because to obtain speed, you need to let go weight.

RB: How can you get such bravery to do such a thing?

DP: Lots of practice is the key to success. At first, I was scared as heck, but now, I am used to my equipments and surroundings, which is the main component of being fast.

RB: But seems like all of your hard work have payed off with your achievements these days. Are you proud of yor achievements?

DP: Well of course I am, but I can’t do all of these without the help of God, my family, and my good friend O’Neill.

RB: Oh yeah, I heard a lot about him. But who is your said friend O’Neill? Can you tell us your relationship with him?

DP: O’Neil is my closest friend, he feels like a family to me. He is my one and my only climbing partner that is willing to do anything with me.

RB: When I saw you climb the Nose of El Capitan, I saw that you did a heroic action to O’Neill, you saved a life! Tell me what was the story?

DP: So, because of the bare minimum of our supplies, O’Neill slipped, and luckilly, I was there to save him by grabbing his rope so he doesn’t fall.

RB: Why do you say that you are lucky to save him?

DP: Because when we climb, we usually get ahead of one another, and not knowing how far back one of us is, and this method is used to gain speed and reach the top faster.

RB: Now we are going to rap us this interview, thank you for giving us your time Mr Potter.

DP: My pleasure Mr Buchanan.

Pekan Matematika competition in Malang

Hello readers,

I am going to tell you about a Math competition called "Pekan Matematika Nasional"

     There is this competition, called Pekan Matematika Nasional, or in other words, PemNas. This competition was held by Unibraw, but I joined it at ITS near Pakuwon City. I was surprised that I got picked by the school to join this competition. Me and some of my friends were picked for this also. It was like 15 people from Cita Hati School. So, after I sat at the table to do the paper, I looked at some of the questions and I think to myself "What is this?" Because I literally do not know a lot of the question and never experience the question.
     After a few days, the results was introduced to us. I was nervous when I scrolled down the result. I was surprised that I was picked to go through the semifinals, because only 50 people were picked to go through. And actually, it was held in Malang.
     We slept for a day in Malang because the competition was very early, and we went for a day before. We had a traffic jam when going to Malang. So, when it was supposed to be only like 2 hours to go there, we were in the car for like 4 hours. But I actually enjoyed it. It finally was the day of the competition, and I was nervous. So the way this works is that there are 10 questions of multiple choice, and 5 essays. And only 5 people can go through the finals. There were 2 other students from Cita Hati also that went to Malang.
     When I Tried to do the questions, it was really difficult, it was like 10 times harder that the one in Surabaya, not even kidding. So after we finished, we sat for like 3 hours waiting for the result. Sadly, all 3 of us did not get picked, but it is ok though, it was a learning experiece. Finally, we went home to Surabaya. The ride home was even longer, which was 6 hours. But it was fun, so it did'nt actually felt that long

The ICAS competition 2016

Hello readers,

I am going to tell you about my 2016 ICAS competition

     There is this competition, as you know called ICAS competition. This competition is hosted by the UNSW Global, Australia. I posted about it 2 years back. But sadly, last year (2015) I didn't get picked for the ICAS competition, but this year I got picked to my surprise.

     So this year, I am in the 10th grade. So my ICAS paper is paper G. I was really shocked when the results came in, and out of 40, I got a 35. It was the first time for me that I got that high of a score. Because of that, I got a rank of High Distinction which is pretty cool, because I think that is the highest rank you can get in the ICAS competition. 

      I was so satisfied when I got the result paper. Even though I did not get any medals this year, but hey, I'm in the top 1% in the world which is sick. And finally, I will try again next year to improve my score.

The most outstanding awards

Hello readers,

I am going to tell you about some of my most outstanding award at school.

The trophies I got in elementary

                   My school was always in Cita Hati school, East Campus. If you do not know, there is this award called the most outstanding award, which is given to about 4 students in each class who have the best character and good in academics. The first time I got this trophy, I was in the 1st grade. At that time, I was really happy when I got it because, that is my 1st trophy I ever got from school in my entire life so it was pretty nice.

My 8th grade trophy

                   I was so happy about this achievement that I tried to get the trophy every year. I tried my best them I did it. I collected the trophies until the 5th grade. Unfortunately, I did not get the 6th and 7th grade trophy. But the good news is that last year , I got the grade 8 trophy. My goal is that I want to get the most outstanding award this year.

  

My SMALA competiton

Hello readers, 

I am going to tell you about my SMALA competition with Phillip Harmadi.

                 I joined a competition a few months ago in May. It was a team competition , and I was invited by him to join this competition with him. This is a Mathematics and Physics competition called the S2LC competition. I was excited for this competition even though I am not to good at Physics subject , but I am just going to try this. This competition is held by SMALA , Sma Negeri 5 Surabaya. The competition I think is in May 10th 2015.

                 The day of the competition, I was nervous , but Phillip looked confident. We then came into our assigned rooms, then we do this competition. It was about 240 teams that joined this competition, and the quarter finals was 30 teams. In the same day, the results were in. Amazingly , thanks to God, me and Phillip got the 11th spot, then we advanced to the quarter finals. But , the quarter finals were really difficult. So then , we lost on the quarter finals.

The quarter finals certificate of S2LC competition

                 Even though we lost , I am still happy with my achievements and I will be studying harder for the next competition I will be joining. I felt flattered with my score.