'Learning becomes life-long challenge'

Benget Simbolon Tnb., The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Are you someone who thinks that success is the sole preserve of university graduates?

Well, if you are, your misperception will become apparent if you meet Andrias Harefa, who failed to obtain a law degree but has managed to achieve success as a writer, trainer and speaker.

The native of Nias island, who was born in Curup, Bengkulu in 1964, passed an admission test for entry into law school at Gajah Mada University, Yogyakarta, in 1983 but did not finish the course.

"I had high hopes in Gajah Mada University after learning that I'd passed the entry test. It is one of the best universities in the region. But then, when I saw its teaching system, I became very disappointed," he told The Jakarta Post recently.

"Its system is more or less the same as that of senior high school, where lessons are dictated by teachers to their students. It was always one-way communication, from lecturer to student.

So, where is the dialog and discussion that should be encouraged to improve debating skills and broaden our knowledge? My disappointment peaked when I asked for consultation on my undergraduate thesis with my supervising lecturer. My requests were always rejected."

Despite that, his thirst for knowledge remained. He adopted a self-learning methodology to expand his knowledge. He also became involved in managing several magazines, including Antusias, which was published by Dale Carnegie, an American human resource training company.

The learning process, he said, cannot be reduced to that which is undertaken by the universities. "Learning is life itself. Our life is our school. It has to be pursued throughout our life and within the context of our lives in order to better integrate ourselves in society," said the father of two baby girls.

Life itself, he says, provides many lessons for people to learn from. He cited as an example the lesson of professionalism he learnt from a shoe-shine boy in Pulo Gadung bus terminal, East Jakarta.

"There I happened to see a boy who got many orders, while the others had none at all. I asked myself why, then discovered four reasons why he was successful.

First, speed: He was very fast. Second, quality: His service was better than that of the others. Third, enthusiasm: He was always happy at work. Fourth, generosity: He gave more to his customers and his friends. Because the others had no orders he asked them to deliver the shoes he had already cleaned to their owners. And for that he gave them some small change.

This is just one example. Our everyday experiences provide us with many lessons. And we only need to open our minds and our hearts to learn from them."

With that spirit of learning he has managed to record several achievements. He has written 24 books, most of which have been published by Kompas and Gramedia Pustaka Utama.

Most of the books, including Menjadi Manusia Pembelajar (On Becoming a Learner) and Berguru pada Matahari (Learn from the Sun), are bestsellers.

He has also won a number of awards, including a creativity and innovation award in 1995.

He said that when he left university in 1987, he came to Jakarta with a vow never to apply for a job. "But by the grace of God I met Soen Siregar of Dale Carnegie. When I was student in Yogyakarta I routinely sent a copy of one of the alternative media publications I managed to Pak Siregar.

By the time I met him he already knew me. And he asked me to help manage Antusias, a management magazine ran by Dale Carnegie," he said.

A year later he was a licensed instructor with Dale Carnegie. He then became a human resource trainer and instructor. Most of his training is concerned with encouraging people to pursue self- learning.

In 1998, he quit the American company and then, together with Jansen Hulman Sinamo and Agus Santosa, set up Darma Mahardika Institute, a company whose operations are more or less the same as those of Dale Carnegie.

The husband of public notary Ida Sondang Hutapea, said that one day an idea came to his mind: What about those who cannot attend human resources training? They might also benefit from such training.

The thought then encouraged him to write books. "That's how I started writing. Those who cannot attend human resources training due to their limited time or lack of funds can also learn something important from my books to improve themselves," he told the Post.

He said that those who were not university graduates were the target of his first book titled Sukses Tanpa Gelar (Success Without a Degree). The book is actually a compilation of his articles published by Antusias. The articles are about people with no academic qualifications who are successful.

"With more and more youngsters unable to enter university due to poverty and various other limitations, more people in this country will be without degrees. Who will take the responsibility to tell them that university is not the only route to learning, or that they can still achieve success by pursuing self-learning in their lives? -- That the scope of learning is much wider than what is undertaken by schools and universities?. I felt it was my calling to take on that kind of task," said Andrias.

For that purpose, he and several of his colleagues have initiated the formation of what they call the Indonesian School of Life, through which they encourage alternative learning.

"I want to return the meaning of learning back to its life context -- that life is our school. Learning is really a calling for human beings to further deepen their humanity and actualize themselves in society.

For most people here the learning process is only linked to schools or universities. They think that after completing their formal education at an institution they will get something in the future.

"I think this approach to learning is wrong: Learning should be put within a context that enables us to further develop our humanity and ourselves so that we can give something back to society.

"It is not in order for us to get something from society," he concluded.