The End of The Road: Novo Hamburgo

Novo Hamburgo... I'll never forget whatever happened there...

Novo Hamburgo is a small suburb near the city of Porto Alegre. It's such a small city with barely anything except shoes; which is what the suburb is famous for.

Because I left early for a 3-day holiday in Rio de Janeiro, I only met up with Mr. Didi and Owen on the 16th of November in Porto Alegre's airport. They had a flight delay from Sao Paulo, so they only arrived in the evening. And it was already night time when we reached Green Park Hotel in Novo Hamburgo. After going out for dinner, we called it a day.

We spent the next day touring the city of Porto Alegre by hiring a driver that was available at the hotel. We went to several different places such as the building that was previously used for an electricity power source, the mall (which is a must for every traveller that wants to see everything), the science center, an art museum (which was really amazing, by the way), the church (to ask for guidance). That evening, we went to Carrefour to store up our daily needs, such as snacks—cause I get hungry often, water, and some other stuff. We had dinner after, and had a good night sleep.

When I woke up the next day, it was already the big day. It wasn't the competition day yet, but it sure was the preparation day. Bringing the huge roll of posters, we walked towards the venue (since it was near). It was weird seeing our "competition" for the first time. Honestly, I didn't think of them as a competition at all. I just felt lost in the sea of high-schoolers and what looked like college students. They all looked 20 plus, and being the only 14-year-old there alongside Owen definitely felt awkward.

Ignoring the fact, we concentrated on decorating our booth. It was a bit different from the guidelines that we saw from the Internet, and after asking a few questions here and there (with the help of some interpreters that Mostratec provided), we managed to get a board which was supposed to be the place for us to post our posters. With the effort of all five of us (Mr Didi, Owen, his dad, my mom and I), we managed to put up the posters neatly. Putting our energy into the display for a few hours, we arranged the booth: from the posters to the provided items to display. We arranged the cables' placing so that our booth looks as neat as possible.

By the time we were finished, it was late afternoon already, and we saw the other groups getting ready because they arrived later than us. In my honest opinion, our booth looked really cool and it sure stood out from the others. I'm not trying to brag, but I'm just saying that we put a whole lot of effort into the display; from designing the posters, making the powerpoint presentation look right until finding the right toys to use as our display (and we finally ended up using Lego).

Mr. Didi gave us a quick review about the physics concepts that we used for our project, and all of our hearts were filled with excitement; we couldn't wait for the actual showtime tomorrow.

Tuesday was the public visit, Wednesday to Thursday were the judging days, and Friday was another public visit day. That was our brief schedule, so we relaxed on Tuesday, wearing our activity shirts and jeans. We had a little trouble presenting, though, since most of the visitors didn't know how to speak English. It was only then that we found out the competition allowed three languages: English, Spanish, and Portuguese. It was confusing, so we just showed them a brief animation of how our project worked. We didn't expect that we'd get a personal interpreter to stay at our stand all day long.

Surprisingly, our stand was really crowded; we didn't even do anything over the top. I mean, all you have to do is smiling, greeting people, having short conversation with them with your “broken” Portuguese, but that's what kept them coming. Smile and greet. Simple stuff, really, but that made a really good impression on our booth.

During the times when the venue was quite deserted, we socialized and had some conversations either with our new friends across, beside, behind our booths, or talked to our interpreters and learned about the typical things in Brazil. We found out that Southern Brazil has a traditional drink called Chimarrão, that a president election was going to happen soon, that at that time, it was the end of spring, and yet it was still 20°C-23°C.

Following the rules that were explained during the first day, the booth was not to be empty. So we had to take turns having lunch, if not they would give us a strike. Four strikes, you would be disqualified. The rules were strict there, and it felt oddly good to be in such condition. It was different, and it was exciting at the same time.

The event didn't end at 9 P.M.—only the exhibition did. There was an opening event from 9 P.M. to 11 P.M., and Owen was the Indonesian representative. He wore his traditional clothes while bringing the Indonesian flag. It was quite a tiring day, and we had more days to come.

       

The "Environmental Management" section, which happened to be ours, had their judging day on Wednesday. The teachers nor the parents were allowed to be near us, and the hall was clear; only the contestants were there. When the judges came to our batik-dressed selves, we were pretty confident because they didn't ask a lot, and we had a peek at their copy of our project report; it all had the writings "OK!" on it. We were pretty happy with that reaction, but deep down, I kept asking to myself,: "That's it?" It just didn't make sense. It was an international competition where there are competitors from twenty-one different countries and that was all that happened. That was the climax, the part that everyone feared. And turns out what I worried about was true. That was it.

The next few days passed on just like that: smiling, greeting, explaining. My voice was really hoarse on Wednesday night. There was a Cultural Exchange, but I didn't speak much. I didn't talk much that night either. My voice was never powerful enough to go through more than half a day of talking, and I just thanked God at that time because the judging already passed, so I had nothing more to fear.

Thankfully, Thursday morning, my voice came back. Well, kind of.

I met a lot of people, several different interpreters. It was really interesting to see different types of people all interested in science: from students who had to go around for their school assignment, to goth pairings going around the competition hall for a date, but they were all interested in science.

The simple conversation in Portuguese I had with the civilians were never different.

"Hey."

"Hey." After meeting several people, I found out that it was okay to greet people with a "Hey,".

"Do you speak English?"

"No. You speak Portuguese?"

"No," with a slight smile.

The conversation was that simple, and I had that exact same conversation with all different people. Believe me, that simple conversation was enough to get their attention to our booth for a few seconds, to pay attention to our project, and make our booth crowded. The simplicity of our project seemed to be one of our attraction points as well.

We had souvenirs: small bookmarks that had batik imprints on them. People seemed to like them a lot, and they kept praising the beauty of those bookmarks, the batiks on our shirts, and the traditional outfits that we wore. I couldn't help thinking, “If foreigners are so happy to see our culture, why aren't we?

Thursday night, my voice was even hoarser than the day before. I thought it'd be gone by Friday, so I didn't worry about anything.

I was wrong, though. Friday morning, my voice dropped into a lower pitch. It was really hoarse, and I just spent my whole day drinking water and running to the bathroom over and over. I didn't bother to greet every single person anymore; I was too worn out. I was too tired because of the previous days, and my voice didn't want to cooperate anymore. I was just really thankful that it was the last day, but it was kind of sad, too. I never liked goodbyes, and this was just one goodbye I had to pass. Being with the same people for five days, you get to know them more, you know? Most of us exchanged e-mails and Facebook names, and promised to keep in touch with each other. We still are.

Saturday came, and the awarding ceremony only started at 8 PM. To kill time, we hired a driver to tour a little 'city' called Gromado. It was basically a small German village with lots of cute stuff to see, and we enjoyed our tour. Before we knew it, it was 4 PM already; just enough time to get back and walk to the venue for dinner, and the awarding ceremony afterwards.

Wearing our navy blue and red activity shirts, we stepped into the awarding ceremony feeling extremely nervous. I had a happy and relaxed look on my face, but I was really tense inside. My emotional reactions always came late, and this was just one of those days.

After several speeches, the awarding ceremony finally started. I was really tense as they called the winners one by one, starting from the fourth places, and going up gradually to the firsts (four awards for each section).

When the time came to announce the firsts, I crossed my fingers. It was such a tense moment, since it was either first or nothing. Just then, I saw my friend, a group two booths from mine, who exchanged a cheek-to-cheek with me earlier, step up to claim first place. Being the naive person I was, I was happy for my friend, till Owen's Dad said this:

"Hey, that group is from our section, right?"

That was when it hit me. I started crying, just like that, endless. All the time I spent working on the project, all the things I sacrificed, all the things I missed, all the people who counted on us, all the people who supported me, who wished me good luck with their smiling faces... Everything flashed into my mind and it was like a huge pang of guilt that you couldn't fight back. Tears kept flowing down my face as I hid myself behind my mom's shoulder. Everything was a blur afterwards; I didn't know what was going on anymore. My mom just told me that when I was crying, Owen was silent, and Mr. Didi kept eyeing me with a helpless look on his face, slumping into his chair himself. We knew we were only junior high schoolers against all those high school and/or college people, but we did it once during the national competition, why not international?

I was mad, honestly. The judges didn't even bother to ask us thoroughly through our knowledge. They should know that we only understand to a certain point, but that doesn't mean we don't master what we understand. I was frustrated why we didn't get the same chance the other groups got. It was annoying, but we couldn't do anything about it.

After a while, I started to calm down, and I went to the bathroom to wash my face. Lucky for me, my eyes weren't that swollen, so it was safe for me to come back into the ceremony room with a slight smile on my face.

Only five minutes after sitting down, our project name was called. Not knowing what it was for (the whole ceremony was conducted in Portuguese), we went up anyway. Clueless, I expected it was the 'best project from each country' award, as it was mentioned in the information book. My assumption was right; we won that award, Best Project from Indonesia. Well, we beat some high school students (the other Indonesian contestants). It was like winning ISPO (Indonesian Science Project Olympiad; the national competition that allowed us to be the Indonesian representative to Brazil) all the way in Brazil, but whatever.

After the ceremony, there was a party, where a DJ was there to play music for everyone to dance. Honestly, I was really looking forward to the party, to just release all that tension with my new friends, but I was too tired. I walked quietly back to the hotel with the others.

Sunday morning, we were all ready to head to Sao Paulo to spend our last day in Brazil. Sao Paulo is basically like Singapore, but it's a Portuguese version. It was nice touring the city, but all I wanted was to go home. Lucky for us, we left that night. Well, the next morning, to be exact. 1 AM on the 25th of October, Brazilian time (GMT - 2). Boarding the 22-hour-flight plane (with 3 hours of transit in between), I was ready to head back to my own country, hoping to get back to my normal life with some extra experience.

Felicia Rebecca Isjwara [Indonesia]

Becky and her research partner Owen Yunaputra Kosman represented Indonesia in the 2010 MOSTRATEC Competition in Novo Hamburgo, Brazil.

Maximum Excitement = Lumos Maxima!

It's amazing, really, what a group of kids can do when they come together. Even more so, when the results exceed all expectations. This year in 2011, Santa Laurensia came out again to host it's bi-annual event, the LAURENSIA CUP!

I feel slightly well, really guilty cuz I feel like I didn't contribute much to this cup, even though I had so much free time and wanted to help out, I just couldn't figure out how. I signed to be part of the public relations (Humas) division. My job is to announce the details of Laurensia Cup to other schools and hand out proposals for anyone willing to participate. It was a little touch and go at first, but we managed to at least fill up the minimum quota for the games.

What really sucked was that my tasks were focused up until Laurensia Cup started. Once it did, I became a mere spectator, even though I was given a "Crew" member shirt. It was like I was trying to find something to do, but everyone was already assigned to do this and that, and my offer fell on deaf ears. It also felt like I was imposing.

Enough of the ranting. Let's get on with the showcase!

The concept for this year's Laurensia Cup is pretty unique. We took on a outerspace galactic theme, naming it LUMOS MAXIMA! It stands for "Laurensians Unites in Diversity through Sports with Maximum Excitement". I love how every single detail is authentic and original. This really showed how damn creative Laurensia kids can be :)

The opening started on 5 Nov 2011, a Saturday. And I have to say, it was a bigger turn out than I expected. My dear mates, Kenny and Karina were MCs for the ceremony, and I'm proud to say they did a great job. There was a ceremonial cutting of a bouquet of balloons: red, yellow and blue floating up into the sky, a beautiful array of colors, all of them imprinted with the Lumos Maxima logo. We also saw the cheerleaders do their thang and even our local Tiger mascot shuffle :D

The match was a thrill to watch. Especially the girls' mini soccer! The Laurensia uniforms, I absolutely adoreee. Cute and spunky with it's combo of dark grey and pink, it stands out! They also played well, and ended up with first place! Basketball, was intense. Girls managed to get second, falling just a little by Pahoa, another school. A lot of people say that it's the girls golden age. The boy's were unable to grab victory this time around, but hey, that's okay! All in the spirit of sportmanship!

VOLLEYBALL! That was the most amazing sports to watch. So much on-the-edge-of-your-seat action. Only the high-schoolers had volleyball, and unfortunately the junior high didn't, mainly because we couldn't form a team in time. Like, I've said before, VOLLEY is something that is lighting my heart's fire, and hopefully I'll get better as I pursue this sport.

The bazaar and food available this time around, I think was more ranged. There was Chatime, Kebabs, a takoyaki stand, Hop Hop (those bubble drinks) and even Crepes. The merchandise the bazaar team came up was amazing, too. All the Lumos Maxima cups, Hand-clappers to cheer the teams, keychains and shirts were all well-designed.

The week went by in a flash. All of those preparations, and cutting classes in the afternoon to supervise the Cup and being given free time to watch the games. It was paradise, a whole week of going to school with minimum studying and maximum FUN! It was a little bittersweet to seeing it come to an end.

It's 12-11-11. A Saturday, a full week since the beginning of Lumos Maxima. There's this sense of things coming around full circle. The final rounds were played that morning, the winners made clear. And soon, 5.30 pm came, and the gym was starting to fill up with an eager audience. The decorations for the closing, were SUPERB. They gym was completely transformed into a out-of-this-world space ship. Outside of the entrace were a few food stands, and once you handed in your ticket and got a Lumos Maxima stamp on your hands, you went into this tunnel, that branched out to both sides.

If you followed the tunnel left, you would step inside the interior of a silver-lined spaceship. To you're right, you meet the brown-rocky terrain of a planet unknown. It was cool inside, the blast of the air-conditioners they put up on full-power. The walls of the gym inside were lined with dark cloth, representing the blackness of space. In the dance room over head, the windows overlooking the gym were covered with boards, lined with little lights that were shaped to form the writing 'Lumos Maxima'. Life-size models of the mascots, Terra, Myu, Kevin, etc. Screens were displayed on both sides, projections of images throughout the show to be seen by everyone.

The show started, and the curtains to the gym stage opened. A model of MAXIMUS, the Superior One, the top mascot hung from the ceiling, next to an astronaut and some twinkling stars. The back of the stage was covered in reflecting tin-foil, giving off a real futuristic vibe. The use of smoke machines, just blanketing the stage made me think we really were on another planet.

Most of the performances were from our own school. The cheerleaders were great, doing a much more daring routine than the opening (TIGERS! GO, FIGHT, WIN!), than the bands performing top hits. From "Do Re Mi", "Stereo Love", "Jetlag", "Mistletoe", "Pumped Up Kicks" to a medley of "Sunday Morning/Chasing Pavements", the musicians got the audience on their feet, grooving, jumping and singing along. The dance numbers were well-choreographed too.

My favorite performance was SPADE <3 From costumes, to the mixed-song, the choreography was on-point and just bursting with energy. Hope I'll get to see them peform again!

After the winner's announcement, then came the main event: WHITE SHOES AND THE COUPLES COMPANY! I did hear a few of their songs before I heard they were performing at Laurensia Cup, and they are amazing! Though I did notice that weren't well-known since their music sort of requires an acquired taste.

The night was drawing to a close. The MC asked the audience to step outside to the parking lot and look up. A series of crackling (slighty ear-splitting) fireworks flew up into the sky.

And just like that, a legendary night was over.

Even though Lumos Maxima is over, the excitement lives on!

Huge thanks and kudos to everyone who helped make this all come true.

Karin Novelia [Indonesia]

Preacing What I Practice

I sat in front of the laptop that December night watching the live webcast of the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen. As I watched, I asked myself “What do you think Josh* is doing there?” I lost the writing competition to my best friend, making the difference between experiencing the atmosphere of the talks live on the scene in Copenhagen and having it flat on the laptop. I followed his blog posts on the conference very closely and it was through his writings that I learnt a priceless lesson.

I had flashbacks of the time I wrote my competition entry. Through the research I did, I learnt that I could do more to save the earth. Surely, I turn off the lights when I’m not in the room and I carpool to school. However, being in my youth, creativity and knowledge was my greatest asset. Doing research on climate change and innovating more environmentally-friendly products could not only help me in my quest to save the planet but also the efforts of the rest of the world!

I met up with Josh the following month. It was a good chance to ask him what he had learnt from Copenhagen. Knowing me for the past six years, he knew that I was all crazy about Youth Empowerment. With a hidden intention, he asked me “How old will you be in 2050?” That simple question is the name of a youth movement to combat climate change. The question reminds us that it is us, the youth of the world, and not the older generation that will be alive in 2050 when climate change takes its toll on the earth. He shared with me how huge the campaign was and how it all started with a student who was only 13. After that conversation, I realized something that had never crossed my mind.

Saving the earth, sure it starts from me, the little things I do to save a few watts of electricity and a few drops of fuel. But the question seldom asked it “Once I start, where does it go and where does it end?”

That conversation with Josh answered it all. It all starts with me, continues on with other people and it will never end. It’s about doing the little things that save the environment and inspiring others to do the same. They say that there are so many things that you can do to save the earth, but really, unless you invent some magical carbon-absorbing sponge or something like that, there are only so-many measures you can take. However, are you ever limited to the number of people you can motivate to do what you do? All it takes is to pass the message around that together, as a family of 5 billion people, in fact, 30 million species, do the little things that make a difference, like people are afraid of death because they want to live longer, there will be more generations to come.

You live your life to the fullest only if you make the world a better place. When we say “Saving the earth starts from me,” it means more than just the things we do ourselves. It refers to inspiring others to do the same, to have one common goal. It’s all about preaching what you practice and changing the world.

Yudhi Bunjamin [Indonesia]

*Names have been changed to maintain privacy

Music for the Youthful Soul

Music for the Youthful Soul

Music is a universal language that everyone around the world can relate too. Even in it's different varieties and genres, we can all agree that there's something about the way our brain interprets all these soundwaves. Music can make us put aside our differences. It can even help us unite.

It can be psychologically and emotionally nourishing. When the world collapses in around you, music can turn out to be the only friend there for you, the only thing that can make you feel better.

And in this movement called 'Youth Empowerment' bumps are expected to be hit in the road. So, music, in any definition and form, is a great outlet. Not only to release our orginality and creativity, but also our stress and anxieties. Listening to a song can be empowering!

So here are a few of our favorite picks -- and the reason why their part of the perfect, Youth Empowerment playlist!

1. Jonas Brother's "Kids of the Future"

Featured in the animated movie, Disney's "Meet the Robinson", this Jo-Bro tune is a catchy song that completely captures the essence of what the Youth Empowerment movement is all about: the Youths of today being 'the Kids of the Future'. The generation of now, stepping up and shaping a better tomorrow.

2. Ryan Star's "So Ordinary"

A slightly mellow, piano-oriented song, the lyrics of 'So Ordinary' convey a strong message relatable to the modern present. We Youths need to break out. Break out of 'this modern day belief of not to try' and stop being 'so ordinary', in this apathic world.

3. John Lennon's "Blackbird"

I guess in a sense, we're all blackbirds. Small, just beginning to spread our wings. We're singing, but in the dead of night when no one can hear us, waiting. Waiting for the moment to arise, when we Youths can finally fly free.

4. Katy Perry's "Firework"

Upbeat, catchy and the perfect 'love-yourself' anthem, "Firework" sung by this California Gurl reminds us that we Youths have a spark in each and everyone of us. We're all individuals. We just need to ignite our light and shine! :)

5. Journey's "Don't Stop Believing"

Written by one of the most famous rock bands, the title is uplifting on its own. Being the 'signature song' of the hit series Glee!, a show that embraces 'different' and the spirit of the underdog, it'll have you keep your hopes up in living Youth Empowered!

6. Lady Gaga's "Born This Way"

Say hello to the "Queen of Self-Acceptance"! Lady Gaga who is known for being out there, different and well, her quirky, extravagantly dressed self, has once said that she wrote 'Born This Way' for her fans! So embrace it Youths! You were "Born This Way" and without a doubt, you're on the right track, baby! :)

7. Johnny Rzeznik's "I'm Still Here"

Being the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls, Johnny Rzeznik delivers a soft rock number with his raw, well-ranged voice. Featured in the Disney animation of "Treasure Planet" it captures the coming-of-age story of a young man's struggle to prove himself. And even if we Youths get knocked around, this song will leave you thinking, 'I'm still here'!

8. Wicked's “:Defying Gravity”

When we're young, it's easy to feel constricted. Caged, even, like our feet are always being pulled to the ground whenever we feel like flying. This song composed for the phenomenal Broadway musical, Wicked, is all about breaking barriers and taking chances, because we Youths are very capable of 'defying gravity'.

9. YOG's "Everyone"

In 2010, a historic, Youthful event happened. The first ever Youth Olympic Games was held in Singapore. To commemorate such and event, a theme song was written for YOG. Sung by different artists representing different continents of the world (Sean Kingston, Tabitha Nauser, Jody Williams, Jessica Mauboy, and Steve Appleton), this song reminds us that we Youths, plural, are in this together, trying to make this world a better place for everyone.

So there you have it. 9 amazing songs you can add to your iPod/MP3 player, listen to, and start the day feeling empowered! Enjoy!

Karin Novelia [Indonesia]