Odessa Zara's

At six forty, I woke up and thought I’d skip the networking session in Jakarta that I’d planned to attend. But at the very last minute, I thought, " Why not? "—because I hadn’t taken a bath, hadn’t washed my face or brushed my teeth, but then I just threw on a mask; because I hadn’t done laundry either, so I only had one piece of clothing left, and it was super wrinkle, but then I wore it anyway; because I was still really sleepy, but then I figured I’d solve everything later. So, I just threw whatever I thought I’d need into my backpack and left. At nine thirty, I arrived at the travel pool, still half-asleep. I dragged myself toward the MRT. The first thing that popped into my head was, “ Let’s go to Blok M. ” I could find food there, maybe buy some clothes, and most importantly: I was already a bit familiar with the area. That alone took half the burden off my shoulders. I had brunch at a small toast shop I’d been to before, then scrolled through SNS to decide where to fi...

Esai ini ditulis oleh Zahra Annisa Fitri dan meraih juara ke-2 dalam "Integrated, Smart, and Sustainable Indonesia Land Transportation System" Essay Competition oleh Sekolah Kajian Stratejik dan Global Universitas Indonesia & Kementerian Perhubungan Republik Indonesia pada Oktober 2024 Bencana tidak mendiskriminasi; demikian saya ulang-ulang pernyataan tersebut untuk membuka baik skripsi maupun tesis saya. Dalam esai terkait transportasi darat ini pun, saya ingin mengungkapkan hal serupa. Bencana tidak mendiskriminasi, tapi pemulihan bencana benar mendiskriminasi, sebagaimana tajuk tulisan Tidwell (2019). Bencana, yang dapat mengakibatkan kerusakan signifikan, akan menurunkan kesejahteraan rumah tangga serta status kemiskinan mereka, seperti pernyataan Dartanto (2017). Itulah mengapa bahasan bencana diangkat ketika topik kesejahteraan masyarakat dipilih untuk esai ini.  Baru Maret lalu, kesejahteraan masyarakat dipertaruhkan setelah bencana terjadi dan akses transportasi ...

My psychologist told me that I have to know them more. Not myself, but them —the people around me. Because if I don't, I'll only fill the gaps with assumptions. And you know what assumptions lead to? Overthinking . It’s like trying to figure out what’s inside a locked box. If I never open it, I'm left with my own scary guesses. And most of the time, what I imagine is scarier than the truth. I’ve heard this idea before from Hange Zoe (tmi but she's my favorite character in Attack on Titan, haha!). She once said, “ The world cannot trust people whose faces they have not even seen, so let’s go and meet them. If there’s something we don’t know, we can go there to understand. ”  And the same message was carried forward by the next commander, Armin Arlert. I believe it was in his nature to talk and understand others first. Then I thought about how much this mindset fits the research I’ve done for both my bachelor’s and master’s studies. I dived deep into an -ism that has face...

Hook is everything. First impressions shape the experience. The beginning sets the tone. Just like how I used to feel hopeless if I woke up late—like my whole day was ruined before it even began. “Today isn’t perfect anymore.” At least, that’s what I once believed. Then, I picked up Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. I started with the Introduction, and honestly? It felt slow. Page after page about some town called Roseto Valfortore. I kept thinking, Why do I need to know all this? What’s the point? But I kept reading, and by the end of those 12 pages—boom. It hit me. Insightful. Eye-opening. Now, I can’t wait to read the next chapter. So why did I stick with it? Maybe because Malcolm Gladwell is a big name—the author of The Tipping Point and Blink , another international bestseller. I knew the payoff would be worth it. Or maybe it was my own commitment—I had already signed up for a daily reading challenge, so I had to finish it this month. Or… maybe it was something else. Maybe I’ve ju...

An early morning walk often feels calm and predictable, but today was different—an ambulance parked in my neighborhood, its lights flashing silently, made me slow down and reflect. While I was leisurely strolling, enjoying the stillness of the early hour, someone else was likely having a very different kind of morning—one filled with urgency, worry, and perhaps fear. I don’t know what happened. Maybe someone needed immediate medical attention, or maybe—just maybe—it was a different kind of emergency, like a birth. That thought gave me a bit of comfort—the idea that, perhaps, a new life was about to begin, offering a positive twist to an otherwise tense situation. Even then, starting your day with a rush to the hospital must feel like being thrown into the deep end of a pool before you’ve even had time to wake up properly. It’s interesting how life can show you such contrasts in a single moment. Life’s like that, isn’t it? Sometimes, we’re on a calm ride. Other times, we’re on a rollerc...