Teenagers pave their way to success

Teenagers pave their way to success

Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Sanur, Bali

Evelyn Mintarno is just like any other MTV generation of
teenagers. She adores the music of teen pop idol Britney Spears
and hums hit songs by boybands.

But, she also listens to the classical music of Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig Van Beethoven and is an accomplished
pianist herself.

In her spare time, she can be seen strolling Jakarta's crowded
malls or watching her favorite movies at the local cineplex. What
makes her different, though, is that Evelyn is really fond of
physics and science -- the two most difficult and hated school
subjects.

Evelyn was one of five Indonesian students representing
Indonesia at the International Physics Olympiad in Nusa Dua, Bali
last week.

The four other students were Agustinus Peter Sahanggamu from
SMU 78 high school in West Jakarta, Christopher Hendriks from SMU
Pelita Harapan in Karawaci, Fajar Ardian from SMU Insan Cendikia
in Serpong and Widagdo Setiawan from SMU I in Denpasar, Bali.

The news of their success at the International Physics
Olympiad -- grabbing three gold medals, one silver and one bronze
-- has breathed fresh air into the tarnished world of Indonesian
education.

"I would have won a gold medal if I had not been so sloppy
when doing my theory examination and experiments. I was a little
bit nervous at the time, maybe because there were a lot of 'cool'
students," smiled Evelyn, while sipping her vanilla milkshake at
a cafe in Sanur last Tuesday night.

Evelyn, who has just graduated from BPK Penabur I high school
in West Jakarta, should not feel too disappointed as she was also
awarded a prize for the best female participant by the Olympiad's
organizing committee. Only 15 female students out of 300 students
from 69 countries participated at the Physics Olympiad 2002.

"The number increased from only six females last year," said
Evelyn, who also took part in last year's Physics Olympiad in
Chinese Taipei.

"But, I want to prove to people that a girl like me can also
master tricky subjects like physics," said Evelyn, who will
enroll at the famous Stanford University in Palo Alto, California
along with her twin sister Evelyna next September.

She has not yet decided whether she will major in physics.

"But, my dream is to become an internationally recognized
scientist," said Evelyn.

With such encouraging results, these teenagers have excelled
in the world arena, erasing the image of Indonesian students as
unintelligent and dull.

"We never felt inferior when facing students from various top
schools in developed countries. We knew for certain we could go
through all series of examinations. And we've made it," said
Agustinus Peter Sahanggamu, the gold medal recipient.

The youngest of three children, Peter was always "the best
student" since he was at elementary school. He had taken part in
a number of world physics competitions, winning a gold medal at
the Asian Physics Olympiad in Singapore last May.

"My last achievement in Singapore forced me to do better at
this Olympiad," said Peter.

His friends, Widagdo, Christopher and Fajar had other
interesting experiences.

"I feel relieved now because we have already ended 10 months
of training," said Widagdo, who won the Indonesian team's second
gold medal.

Before taking part in the Olympiad, these five students
received intensive training for 10 months. Led by Yohanes Surya
and his team of trainers, the students were quarantined in a
small shop house, locally known as ruko, in Tangerang. They were
exempted from daily school requirements during the training.

"While other kids were playing and having fun, we had to
practice and practice, sometimes for 16 hours a day," recalled
Widagdo, who will take part at the International Computer
Olympiad in Singapore on Aug. 18.

Playing computer games and Playstation became their favorite
pastime.

"When we felt that our brains were swamped by all the physics
theories, we sneaked to the TV room to watch cartoons or teenage
TV series like Meteor Garden," Fajar said.

Christopher once broke the locked TV cabinet with a knife
because he was so desperate. "As the Olympiad got nearer,
watching TV was not allowed. But I was so tired and bored, I
needed to watch television," said Christopher.

But Fajar, the son of a nuclear expert, found all the training
necessary.

"Only a few countries such as Indonesia, Russia, India, Iran
and China seriously trained their Olympiad teams. A lot of
students, including those from Western countries, came to the
Olympiad with inadequate preparation," said Fajar, who has been
invited to study at Nanyang University.

Still, he regretted not being able to chat and make friends
with overseas participants during the Olympiad.

"We spent most of our time in our hotel rooms, resting before
taking our examinations. We also had a strict diet, avoiding fat,
sweet food and soft drinks," explained Fajar, while eating a
chicken breast.

The shy and introvert Peter regretted some local media
coverage. "Many articles were exaggerated," Peter said.

Many articles, he said, wrote that by winning gold medals,
they had already been proposed places at prestigious universities
like Harvard and Princeton in the United States. "The fact is
that only the rector of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB)
has invited us to study there," Peter said.

Winning gold medals does not guarantee these gifted and
brilliant students an easy road to achieve their dreams, although
their triumph has already given Indonesia a better name.

Studying at world-caliber universities has been their ultimate
goal and will certainly hone their intellectuality and
professionalism.

"Yet, it will be too expensive to study abroad. We have to pay
at least US$100 to buy a registration form, and that is excluding
the annual school fees. My father is only a high school teacher,"
sighed Peter.