Hi everyone, I'm Sraavani! I'm a highschool attending, academically overachieving, music loving writer with a huge interest in the sciences. I'm also a HUGE fan of Shakespeare and One Direction, and would love to rant for hours about either. Hit me up with a text! I'm always happy to chat 🙂

‘BOOM!' They dropped the first bomb. As quickly as a flash, the sky was red, then orange, then black. The smoke, though still far away, was clearly visible and the sound, deafening! So Izumy ran. He rushed to the woods near the mountains where, long ago, his mother had shown him a secret hiding spot - a hole inside this big, round hollowed out oak tree that had been for decades standing tall and proud. ‘Almost there, almost there' was all that crossed his mind at that moment, between breaths of fear and despair. Indeed, he was getting close to the hideout, he knew the drill by heart, but would that be enough? Izumy's mom had always protected him. No matter what the situation was or how much she had to fight and even lose for him, she would do it. Thus, all his understandable and constant scared thoughts mid-war used to disappear quite quickly for he knew she was there. Barely had he become a teenager, though, he faced the most sorrowful of his days: looking her in the eyes for the last time. That was when the Americans first attempted to invade their county, and a group of murderous-looking soldiers caught them running away. The sound of the leaves all over the place being trodden into the muddy path turned them in. ‘Take me, leave the boy! He's just a child! Leave the boy!' she screamed over and over until they actually released Izumy, who heard his mother's next words already fading way, ‘Promise me you'll be safe, go to the tree', and found himself left alone in the dark. Now, with the bomb there and no parent – or friend, or anyone – the brave little boy, as his mama used to call him, would have to prove once more to be worthy of that name. He had a promise to keep, but he was scared. Every inch of his tense body felt the adrenaline coursing through, so much that it seemed like his legs alone weighed a thousand pounds. The cold rain that had just started to pour down made it even harder to distinguish the right way. ‘Ouch!' he couldn't help but shout when he stepped on a false clump of grass that got his foot stuck in a deep narrow snake hole. Immediately covering his mouth with both hands as to stop himself from saying anything else, he struggles to get out of there. It hurts, but he has to move – and promptly! Two airplanes were flying over the surroundings nearby just waiting for the storm clouds to disperse. Finally, after a few scratches, Izumy was free to continue to flee, not as fast as before but hopefully the rain would keep him undercover until he found the tree. A few more miles he goes, his eyes fixed on the weird-shaped rock after the woods where he should turn left, when suddenly he hears this very familiar sound: it was them – again! The soldiers had either found him already or were about to, for that terrifying lethal noise of heavy war boots was too close-by. With strength born of pure panic, Izumy sprinted to the rock and then to where the tree was. He would've made it, he would have – had the tree been there. That was the place, he was sure! But for some reason it was gone. ‘Stop right there, whoever you are!', he is threatened by the also unknown American man. The brave boy does stop, his heart beating frenetically, his mind analyzing every possible escape route. ‘Should I surrender? Run? Fight?' Deep down, he just wanted to cry and desperately wished mom were there – ‘She would know exactly what to do'. At that instant, the troop leader raises his gun high up and all soldiers freeze, even the rain seems to obey him, gradually ceasing as he approaches Izumy. That heavy weapon pointing to the ground, but very well positioned so as to be pulled out at any second, was the same one that had escorted his mother away at a time that felt like years ago. The man stared at Izumy for a minute, serious yet thoughtful. ‘You are that boy, aren't you?', he mumbles. Silence. ‘Are you not? The boy whose mother we recklessly… I mean… who died here'. Izumy almost unnoticeably nods, not even looking up to the invaders, but able to see a hand moving towards him. He quickly darts back and hides his poor terrified face, ‘Please, no!'. The soldier, though, only gently touches his shoulder and whispers ‘I am sorry, kid. We needn't have done that', and retreats into the forest with his fellows. Izumy, still petrified, hardly believes what had just happened. Slowly breathing at a normal pace again, he gazes around and finds no one but himself once more on that path. Tears of grief and relief running down his cheek - ‘Thank you, mommy', he says out loud. The brave boy understood, then, for sure that the tree would always keep him safe, just like his mother. Even though he couldn't see it nor her, they were his guardians and, for the first time since the war started, he knew that, one way or another, he would be fine.

Life is a choice, whether you intend to be beneficial or not. Having the potential to make the world a better place doesn't make you a better person, but your choice does. Many people want a beautiful world but less do the actions to create one. To serve in making the world a better place is my choice. I've found the authentic value of life and happiness in helping others and I believe, the humanity will never embrace the ultimate harmony if we keep on glorifying words over actions. One should start and empower others. One should take a small step then move forward to the big one. This is the story of my experience in moving to 'the big step' of my life! It all began when I was in freshman year of college. I joined my first charity activity in freshman year and at that point, I realized that actually I can do little things that might create some changes. Growing up in the center of metropolitan city, Tangerang, made me witness a huge distortion and undesirable truth of people's low education and life quality in my hometown, Pontianak, once I moved back there. Henceforth, I dedicate myself to some volunteering activities, concerning in education, which consequently create my awareness of the problems and potential in the community. Language is bound with culture. Indonesia, as a country full of diversities, has approximately 724 languages and most of the people, especially in rural area, growing up speaking their local language before learning Indonesian Language . Hence, to people in rural area, having skill to be able to communicate in English is quite difficult to achieve while on the other hand English is really useful to broaden the horizon. I was thoroughly disappointed knowing there is no club for students in my university to develop English with their peers. Their willingness to learn English is slowly vanished. The problem prevailing in my university acted as a stumbling block for youths to grow and create progress which subsequently led me to create a difference.I've dedicated myself to teach English voluntarily and it's a great pleasure for me but I know this small step I took is narrow and never sufficient. Therefore, I and my friends from Joint Untan Organization developed an idea to create Tanjungpura University Model United Nations (MUN) Club so the students can improve their English and sharpen their critical thinking towards international issues at once. We managed to create this club from zero. We acted dauntlessly by joining the biggest MUN Conference in Indonesia, iMUN, which made us sacrifice a lot of effort since our university didn't give much financial support. We did fund risingall by ourselves and I even took a part time job. The reasons why I wanted to join iMUN conference, because I realize I'd gain a lot of knowledge and exeperience gained from the best national MUN Conference, know precisely how MUN works and build relations with other participants so they can share their experience and support the new Untan MUN Club. Our goals were successfully achieved! A month after iMUN we opened Untan MUN Club enrollment, our friends from iMUN Conference help to promote Untan MUN Club through instagram so we get recognized by other MUN Clubs. I was chosen as the (Secretary-General) and we've managed the weekly meeting and daily discussion in our Untan MUN Club online group. I've accomplished the little step to make betterment. From my experience in developing MUN Club, I've learnt that I'm a person who can develop new ideas, do tremendous effort for myself and others, able to bring back the experience and apply it to my community immediately. Serving needs a graceful heart and soul. We can serve people even through simple things like smiling however, we'll serve better if we do it with heart and high self-quality because our actions will subsequently affect others' future. Teaching English and Buliding the MUN Club in my University were some smalls step that I took to help making this world better, at least in the community around me. I never thought those things would help making the biggest change in my life that I've exeprienced so far.Those small steps led me to become a grantee of one of the most prestigious fully funded exchange scholarship, UGRAD Exchange Program, that enabled me to spend one semester in the US. It was one of the things in my bucket list that I thought I'd never achieve. It was a big step that I took which not only changed my life but also people around me. For my experience wouldn't be mine solely. Zoroaster was right "Doing good to others is not a duty, is a joy, for it increases our own health and happiness."