Is This Failure?

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Yes, I have been rejected, yet again, as I have wrote in this blog I was going to Stanford pending the visa approval. I have gotten the sponsor which is no other than a place I worked at, East Ventures, but unfortunately United States Embassy in Jakarta didn’t approve my application for a B1/B2 Visa.

It was such a depressing experience, especially the first application which took place at March 9, 2012. I was so confident of getting a visa that I only bring the letter from Stanford other than the other necessary document. Apparently I got the most cynical and hardest interviewer. The grim reaper, so to speak, put a long pause after I told him that I’m travelling alone. The fact that I am 19 and graduating next year puts another dent to my chances.

The second time, I bring all the necessary documents, whether from East Ventures, TechinAsia, or even from my married cousin who already had a U.S. Passport there. Yet, i was being rejected for the second time. This time, the interviewer looks really convincing that he’s going to accept me, but I think the fact that I was rejected not too long ago made me unavailable for the visa.

Yes, rejection is always painful, especially when it’s something you have been waiting for, and got through a lot of things from the application to the Stanford itself, then rejected from the scholarship by the Embassy, I got two sponsor offers, which I accepted one of it, yet the only step that I thought was the easier turns against me and brings me back to earth.

No, this is not the ending. I believe it was just another lesson learned, it was just a chance that I missed, there will be many more that will come, maybe this year, or next year, or even the year after. One thing I know is that when I set an eye to a dream, I will never let that dream go. I’m very thankful for a very supportive friends, colleagues and everyone that has given me support. Hopefully in the coming months I can link back to this post and happily said that I just repeated the rejected experience.

Faith, Action, Love and Character

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This is the four things that shaped our life as a Christian. We simply aren’t someone who is worthy of God unless we are keeping this four in our mind, our attitude and what we do everyday. Today, we learned a lot from a centurion, whom has an admirable faith in God.

The Faith of the Centurion

 5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6“Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

 7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

 8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

What is inspiring about the Centurion is that he is someone who came from a nation which ruled the Jews back then and yet he came through, forgetting all the status, to his enemy to ask for help. Not for him, or anyone from his family if that matters, but for his servant. How many of us would go to church and lie under His cross and pray for our servant or maid? A very few people. Imagine the difference in status back then.

Jesus offered to come to his house, which is an honor, yet the Centurion felt unworthy of Him. He believed in God so much that he only hoped to hear His words, and only after that his servant will be healed. Even Jesus felt amazed by his faith and even said that no one in Israel has faith as huge as him, and he will have a feast, in one table, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, imagine that!

We must have faith in God, put love out there into our action which will instills that in our character. God bless us!

I Love February

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This month is suppose to be the month of love. Well, although I’m single, I do feel the warmth of love by seeing my family and of course, God as He opens up more and more opportunities for me in this month.

  • The Startup Asia Singapore 2012 was a success.  Yes, there was a glitch of course, there is no perfect event but we did quite great for our first event!
  • Celebrated Valentine by surprising my sister for her birthday (yes, her birthday is on Valentine which is why her name is Michele Valencia)
  • Covered Angry Birds Facebook launch in Jakarta
  • Met with Nadiem Makarim, the co-founder of Gojek Indonesia, a Harvard Business School graduate, honored that he is able to meet me and spend his precious time answering my questions. (We arranged quite a few meetings but the schedule was never matched)
  • B2ST Beautiful Show in Jakarta was announced and I bought my Ticket at Tiket.com and had a review over at Penn Olson. Looking forward to March 17! (I’m accompanying my friends who are girls!)
  • Had quite a brawl regarding my post of Makemac acquisition by Apps Foundry which resulted in a post here.
  • Got rejected by U.S. Embassy regarding the Stanford scholarship then I posted this on my blog. Resulted in two meetings and yes, I will be going to Stanford pending the Visa approval!
  • Spent the second half of the month doing ground work for a huge upcoming event, exciting! Will talk more about it when I can.

 

Although the list is maybe shorter than January, I believe that February is a fun lovely month and March is going to be important leading to a probably best month of the year which is April. (yeah, it’s my birthday month!)