This story is inspired by personal experience. All of the characters are covered with fake names but the places are real.
DECEMBER 2018
A notebook, accompanied by a pen, rests elegantly on my lap. An empty glass that once held packaged coffee stands quietly beside my laptop. A portable speaker gently plays my favorite music. Here… alone… I reflect on the journey of my life so far. Sometimes solitude can indeed be a sudden source of inspiration.
Suddenly, a feeling of melancholy seeps in along with the sad song that plays automatically. My longing for those times is undeniable even now. I am still a journalist. But the pride I once felt has slowly faded into the earth. Perhaps soon, that feeling will disappear without a trace.
August 2016
“Congratulations, Luna!” Ria, one of my office colleagues, suddenly patted my shoulder from behind. I turned around in surprise.
“Huh? Congratulations for what? My birthday is still far off.”
“Eww, not that!!! Congratulations because you’re being assigned to Tanah Airku! You’re perfect for that program. It matches your hobby of hiking. Tanah Airku covers remote areas and such.” I was left dumbfounded.
“You’re joking. There’s no way I’m going to that program. That’s one of the flagship programs in news. What am I compared to that?”
“Yee, don’t believe it? Look over there at the board. There’s a new rolling notice posted.”
I quickly looked at the board, which was filled with various notices. Just as Ria said, my name was clearly displayed under the Tanah Airku program. Immediately, my emotions were mixed—happy, proud, sad, and fearful. That day, almost all my friends congratulated me. They thought I deserved to be on the Tanah Airku program. I agreed. But my inner self couldn’t lie. I felt completely unworthy of being trusted with such a significant program.
My heart burned at the words coming from my superior, Rian. But, as usual, subordinates must comply. I nodded in agreement.
“Do you know why you were assigned here? We really need a tough female reporter. Dion recommended you. He said, from your Instagram, you like hiking. But an Instagram feed could just be for show. Still, we’ll give it a try. Next week, you’ll be covering a story in East Lombok with Tari and Josi. Starting today, you need to research for one episode’s coverage. My advice: don’t let me and Dion down. Actually, many people opposed your assignment here because you’re still a newcomer. But Dion and I convinced the others. Now that you’re here, it’s up to you to prove them wrong. Show that you deserve to be on the Tanah Airku program.”
Yes… even though Rian’s words annoyed me, there was some truth in them. I tried to use them as motivation. That day, I made an effort to research the coverage material according to the Tanah Airku program’s segmentation.
Researching material for Tanah Airku was completely different from researching for my previous program, which focused on culinary topics and unique occurrences in urban society. Google didn’t have access to remote areas. Most of these areas had no signal and were rarely visited by millennials. After consulting with seniors, I found a region that had potential for coverage.
My first pitching (meeting to present and discuss research findings) came up. With a bit of hesitation, I presented the material I had gathered. When everyone agreed, I breathed a sigh of relief and hoped everything would go smoothly in the field.
>>> to be continued
