A week in the life of a 15-year-old high school student in Indonesia
Kalyla shares her self-care routine and tips for girls in school on managing work-life balance. (Courtesy of Dafrina Kalyla)
Kalyla shares her self-care routine and tips for girls in school on managing work-life balance.
Saturday, 19 February
As soon as I wake up, I start my usual daily morning routine. Around 4:50 a.m., I did my morning prayers. I didn’t do much after that, other than laying on my bed scrolling around social media. At 6:40 a.m. I made a song playlist and then showered before I started working. At around 8 a.m., I had to attend online class just to do my school’s online midterms simulation since I’ll be starting my midterms on Monday. The simulation was like usual — it didn’t take that long. I’m glad that my school’s LMS (learning management system) is working well so I’ll be able to do my midterms this week. In the midst of the pandemic, I’m grateful enough to be in a school that still tries to maintain its students’ discipline as much as they can, although we have much freedom at home.
I’m currently in the 10th grade, and I’ve been learning remotely for about two and a half years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the benefits of learning remotely is that everything is flexible, teachers can assign tasks, answer questions or even open extra review sessions anytime and everywhere. So my school tries to utilise that, and help any struggling students at home with extra classes. Even if we missed the session, we are allowed to record the classes — we can ask our friends or teachers to give the recorded session in case we missed it.
“I’ve been learning remotely for about two and a half years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.” (Courtesy of Dafrina Kalyla)
After the simulation, I had extra maths classes to prepare for my maths midterm next Monday. The preparation took so much time, I even fell asleep in between the sessions. I was always very insecure with my maths abilities because I often panic during maths tests. As I grow, I’ve grown a bit of confidence but of course, there is always that little doubt in myself I still have to overcome. So I always try to tell myself, “Do your best and let God do the rest.” Around 1:00 p.m., I studied for my religion midterm with my tutor and it was very comforting and insightful. I learnt about the meanings of love, fear, hope and manifestation through the lens of my religion. After my religion midterm preparation, I went straight to study maths (again) with my maths tutor. We practised a lot of challenging questions and she helped me a lot. I have to give kudos to all of my tutors and teachers today because they’ve always been so dedicated and patient in teaching and listening to me — thanks to teachers in general. I’m so grateful to all of them.
After long hours of learning, I gave myself a nice self-care-of-the-day break which is reading online comics. I’m back again, jumping into the bandwagon of reading comics after years of not reading them. I read 12 episodes of a romance comic and I can’t wait to finish all of them! After my short self-care break, I went ahead to do practice questions for a student exchange programme. I practised for an hour and since I haven’t done any practice questions for this occasion before, I’m glad that my result was a good start. Not long after that, I ate dinner with my dad and my sister — we had Korean BBQ, yum! Before I ended my day, I wrote my recall practice notes for my religion midterm and I did my usual night routine: wash my teeth, pray and set my alarm.
Sunday, 20 February
I woke up a bit late today since I slept a bit too late last night. To start my day, I did my usual morning routine and then proceeded to read a few online comics. I slept for a while and then I quickly recalled all of the materials from my religion notes. At 10 a.m., I practised maths with my tutor for about three hours, and then I had a small break — reading online comics and playing with my cousin. I wanted to paint something today, but I didn’t think I had time to do it since I had to finish my maths homework as well.
I paint maybe at least once a month, depending on how busy my schedule is. I paint whatever I want at the moment but dominantly I like painting skies, abstract paintings and sometimes still lifes. I’ve always loved art from when I was in kindergarten. Any art activity, especially painting, is always something that I associate with my younger self. So painting is a way for me to express myself and reconnect with my expressive and fearless younger self. Plus, I just love to move my hands, appreciate colours and observe what is around me.
So, after practising with my maths tutor, I did my maths homework. I rested again after I finished my homework and continued studying maths with my tutor for 45 minutes. I know that today seems a bit bland. My eyes are tired and I really wanted to hit snooze on my alarm every time I took a nap. Although it is tiring to sit at my desk for most of the day, I am OK with it. I just hope that my efforts pay off, now or later.
Monday, 21 February
It was my first day of midterms and I was exhausted. I got mixed feelings after I finished the examination. I am happy that I did my religion exam smoothly, but for maths … I had no problem with the questions. The problem was that I spent too much time calculating the answer that I wasn’t able to answer the problems on time. If only the exam lasted a bit longer, I would’ve been able to answer all of them. I guess it wasn’t my luck this time. I have to pat myself on the back for trying and going through it all. In the end, I survived and did the best I could. After finishing today’s midterms, I read a few episodes of the online comic I was reading and then rested my eyes by taking a nap.
Tomorrow’s midterms are sociology and English. I spent time studying sociology first by recalling the materials and doing some practice questions. I even made some online flashcards to help me recall as well. The same goes for how I study for my English exam.
During my break studying for my English exam preparation, I found these songs by LANY — “you!” and “what i wish just one person would say to me.” Those two songs are good to remind you of how precious you are and to look through all the footsteps you’ve created. The progress you’ve made — all of them are worth it. Although it might not give the results you wanted, someday your effort will pay off. You just have to keep going. So, give those songs a good listen if you are curious!
Tuesday, 22 February
It’s the second day of midterms! Gladly, the test went smoothly this time. I was quite surprised about the questions on my English exam. But again, kudos to myself for trying my best. After the exam, as usual, I took a long nap to rest my eyes.
“Since she was young, [my 2-year-old cousin] has always been curious about what I do on my desk.” (Courtesy of Dafrina Kalyla)
Tomorrow is the last day of the midterms exam. The materials are physics and informatics. I’m a bit surprised that there is even an informatics exam this mid-semester, since informatics is mostly about practising how to code, make algorithms and make flowcharts. So it is kind of strange since my school midterms and finals are multiple choice questions exams and not practical exams. Hence, it is quite tricky to study for something that is usually practised rather than studied like textbook materials. I practised physics with my tutor for around three hours and after that, I continued to study on my own.
During my practice session with my tutor, my lovely 2-year-old cousin interrupted me. Since she was young, she has always been curious about what I do on my desk. But I’m OK with it because she is so cute and I want to be a good example for her.
Wednesday, 23 February
Finally it’s the last day of the midterm exams. I honestly don’t want to think about how good I did on the exams today. I’m just glad that I did my best and made the efforts to study the materials.
“I looked up some origami tutorials on YouTube and Pinterest and made lavenders, lilies and more tulips.” (Courtesy of Dafrina Kalyla)
As usual, I rest by taking a two hour sleep and then eat some desserts. To reward myself for trying and sacrificing my time, I let myself spend the entire day making paper flowers! I bought this really cute transparent planter or vase but I don’t know what to fill it with. So, I thought, “why not paper flowers?” I have already made a few of them last week, but I wanted to fill my vase with more variations. I looked up some origami tutorials on YouTube and Pinterest and made lavenders, lilies and more tulips. I also added a few small butterflies and then stuck them around the vase. I’m very satisfied with the outcome and had a pleasant time rewarding myself.
Thursday, 24 February
Today I have to attend online school back to my usual routine. We didn’t do much in class other than to complete all of the assignments and to hear my friends’ presentations. Since I finished all of my religion class assignments, it’s free time for me, yay! During my free time, I made a design for my friend’s youth organisation, Inside the Wardrobe. It debunks current fashion trends and educates teenagers regarding the fashion industry. The design was for an Instagram post discussing fashion as a way of storytelling and symbolism in movies. I made only the draft design, because there’s a lot more stuff that I want to add. Also, I had to ask my friends for revisions.
In my Indonesian class, we watched the group video assignments on the topic of negotiation. My assignment group made a video about the implementation of negotiation in going out with friends. It was fun to make the dialogue and to discuss with my friends because everyone is so cooperative and fun. Although it was kind of awkward to see our actions through the Zoom share screen, I’m glad that my teacher liked the video. I hope she gave us a good grade.
The last class for today was biology. For the whole class, we just listened to my friends teaching and presenting the materials. My teacher assigned students in groups to teach the materials, make the presentations, moderate and also do icebreakers by playing games. So it was quite nice to listen to my friends explain and also to join the discussion as well.
“During my free time, I made a design for my friend’s youth organisation, Inside the Wardrobe.” (Courtesy of Dafrina Kalyla)
After school, I prayed and took a nap until something unfortunate happened. My sister woke me up because my mom called. I was shocked to hear what my mom had told me — my close friend died. He was sick three days ago and was diagnosed with chronic cancer. It is so heartbreaking that I can’t even cry. Because I was too shocked, I didn’t even believe my mom when I first heard it. I told my friends about the news and everyone was shocked as well. He was such a nice friend to me and also my friends. He is everyone’s friend, so it was really hard to accept his loss. My parents accompanied me to go visit his house and throughout the entire ride, I cried. I wished him a good rest and I said goodbye, hoping we’ll see each other again someday.
Friday, 25 February
I started my morning early today. As usual, I did my morning routine and then scrolled through social media for a while.
Today I had to attend my friend’s funeral which was around 8 a.m. I’ve accepted his death because I’m happy that he is no longer in pain and is in a better place now. My mom and I left early and after we arrived, we waited 10 minutes for the ambulance to arrive at the funeral. As the ambulance arrived, a crowd full of people started to follow it from behind. There are a lot of his relatives and also my schoolmates there, and we’re all grieving together. We reminisced about all the good times and all the good deeds that he had done. Though it is sad to lose such a beautiful soul, we must let him go. After his funeral, my friends and I had a little chit chat to catch up with life since we hadn’t met in person due to the lockdown. It is such a relief to know that my friends are also on the same page as me during the midterms exam — we’re all struggling.
When I arrived home, I went straight to the bathroom to clean myself. I then ate mie kuah (noodle soup) and texted my friend after. I honestly lost all my motivation after the midterms exam, plus my friend’s death. So I spent the rest of the day resting and doing the things that I wanted to do, which is to just lay in bed and play with my phone. I know it sounds very unproductive — I had a few maths homework that I needed to do. But these few days took a lot of my energy away. So I really need time to process by literally doing nothing. With social media, I see how many studygrams (Instagram accounts dedicated to academic productivity, study notes and other things related) emphasise and promote productivity in a very toxic way, which contributes to the promotion of hustle culture and toxic productivity. I did some research about this topic and made an article for my Asian Student Exchange Program 2021 SDG-4 Quality Education Action Plan, which you can check out here!
I hope that you’re able to prevent, heal and deal with toxic productivity if you have experienced it before. Remember that taking care of yourself should be a priority and remember that you matter so much!
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