Youth Leadership Training 2007

Despite being held on a public holiday, the two-day Youth Leadership Training program was an exciting eye-opening experience to English teachers and students from 14 USP schools all around Indonesia. Not only did they gain new knowledge in leadership and communication, but they also had an unforgettable experience of meeting new friends.

In class, students and teachers alike stepped out of their comfort zones to engage in interactive learning activities such as giving impromptu speeches in English, preparing an effective speech, exchanging ideas and constructive criticisms, as well as fellow mentoring.

Conquering fear and speaking in the watchful eyes of others weren’t easy, but most participants were able to overcome their fear of public speaking. Kartika from SMAN 19 Surabaya, for example, was scared to speak English ever since Junior High School. On the first day of training, she was extremely uncomfortable to speak in front of others, and her speech only lasted for 20 seconds. She made a huge improvement and managed to speak twice longer on the second day of training. On the other hand, Ananta from SMAN 4 Denpasar managed to speak with confidence in front of Excellence Toasmasters members, and came out a winner for the table-topic session.

Kartika from SMAN 19 Surabaya

Ananta from SMAN 4 Denpasar

Teachers also did equally well. By the second day of training, the teachers were already communicating in English with their peers and members of Toastmasters. They shared ideas of what’s happening in their schools, exchanged views on education in Indonesia, and compared their plans on how to best establish a youth leadership club in their respective schools. The cohesiveness among teachers were strong. Ibu Lilik from SMAN 10 Malang was very enthusiastic to video-cam the proceedings of a Toastmaster meeting and volunteered to duplicate the video and mail it to all participants. “It’s for knowledge-sharing sake,” she said.

teacher-student interaction

Outside class, the students and teachers from various cultural backgrounds clicked instantly and forged a closer bonding among themselves. They gelled very well since the very day they met, expanding their horizons and learning a lot from each other. And together they experienced Jakarta. The teachers took their first Busway ride to Blok M; while the students were more interested in hanging out at Plaza Semanggi, enjoying their J.Co donuts and sight-seeing. Some of the students had culture shock upon seeing Plaza Semanggi. “The way the female visitors dress is so different from that of Aceh. Many wear short pants and do not wear veils like most women in Aceh do,” Samsuar from SMAN 1 Syamtalira Aron said.

Instant friends


Using cushion to warm up

Overall, the students and teachers were very satisfied with the training program. “Hopefully there will be another training like this next year,” Ananta (SMAN 4 Denpasar) and Ibu Esther (SMAN 2 Balikpapan) said. Other students couldn’t agree more. “We have never even dreamt of visiting Jakarta and being among people from various parts of Indonesia. This is definitely an unforgettable experience,” Fakhururrazi from SMAN 1 Tanah Luas said.