Teman-teman angkatan LPDP saya itu semua istimewa. Banyak hal yang bisa digali dari masing-masing orang. Contoh sederhananya, ada Imam yang punya ide untuk membangun perpustakaan bagi anak-anak, ada Esty yang dulu penerima beasiswa USAID dan sekarang LPDP, ada Ivan yang membuat startup di bidang hukum.
Tiga nama itu hanya segelintir dari keseluruhan PK-53. Tak heran kalau saya kemudian tergerak untuk pedekate dengan satu per satu secara personal untuk kemudian dituliskan di web angkatan tercinta. Saya menelusuri kehidupan mereka dulu melalui akun Facebook, lalu kemudian membuat list pertanyaan. Setelah mereka menjawab, baru deh saya tulis ceritanya.
Suatu hari, tiba-tiba saja ada seorang teman yang bilang di Telegram bahwa ia akan menulis tentang saya. Dia bilang bahwa biasanya penulis ngga ada yang nulisin, so he decided to write something about me. Respon saya dalam hati “Aduh, aku mah apa atuh. Cuma remah-remah rempeyek.” dan saya berkomentar bahwa saya bukanlah orang yang suka tampil ke depan. Saya hanya sosok di belakang layar.
Si teman bersikeras untuk tetap menuliskan, yang pada akhirnya disambung dengan tanya jawab di Telegram. Dua hari kemudian, tiba-tiba dia mengirimkan hasil tulisannya yang bikin saya mindeeeer. Asli gaya bahasanya bagus n enak dibaca. Mengalir begitu saja. Mengingatkan saya bahwa saya belakangan ini tidak berlatih menulis dalam bahasa Inggris lagi.
Thanks ya, Dit untuk mengingatkan saya lebih banyak lagi membaca supaya bisa menghasilkan tulisan yang lebih enak dibaca. Ini dia hasil tulisannya:
Write Like No One Is Reading
Some people love to perform on stage, under the spotlight, and to receive attention. Whilst others take a less lively approach, they enjoy working behind the scene, listening, observing, and perhaps making a piece of writing out of it. Putri Utaminingtyas is one of the later. Indeed, behind an inspiring story there is an inspiring writer. The University of Melbourne Master’s candidate is the chef who cooks some of all the quality ingredients inside the kitchen of PK 53—ready to be served in ganesha-bianglala.org. As we spoke, most probably, another piece of article is in progress, adding just the already long list of interesting stories telling the experience of each of the LPDP scholarship awardee under the rainbow of Ganesha Bianglala. So here is a short interview with Putri.
When did you start writing?
I began writing in junior high as a hobby. The first media to publish my work was Femina, which covered my travel experience in Arizona. Afterward, I managed to get my writing featured in Kompas Klass and several magazines such as MyTrip, Chic, Kartini, Female, and GoGirl.
What do you write?
I write short articles, including travel articles and others. I also write short stories.
How did you end up writing?
I never won any writing competition, I never became part of journalist club at school, and I never had any writing course or journalism training. In fact I often had my work refused by medias back then. What I remember was my father noticed my interest in writing and he was very supportive about it and bought me a typewriter. I continued writing when I entered high school, mostly in the form of daily journal. When Internet was made available, I was introduced with blog. I created my own blog, wrote several posts, and read others’ blogs as well. Some of my favorite blogs come from my fellows American bloggers. I noticed they write systematically, and rich in terms of vocabulary and ideas, and are able to connect to readers’ emotion.
Why do you write?
I find writing relieves stress. In fact, I get more productive with my writing when I am under pressure.
Have you ever thought to write a book?
I aspire to write a book someday. My biggest dream is to write novel. But I find myself lacking of imagination. I find it easier to write something serious and present it in a more laid back manner. I really need to work on my imagination to be able to write fictions.
What is the most interesting experience you get from writing?
I do feel happy when others find my blog informative. Some readers testified they were able to go through particular procedures easier because they obtained the information from my blog. Several found my writing about a destination helpful for their traveling. But most importantly, I am not writing intending to attract a lot of followers or to receive comments on my blog. I don’t please people. My purpose in writing is to share my thoughts or as I said before, as means to relieve stress I get from work.
I can tell you read a lot. What are you currently reading?
I am currently reading Why Nations Fail by James Robinson and Daron Acemoglu. I am not usually into this kind of book, but the writers present it in a thought-provoking way so even someone who is not into politics like me find it interesting. Some of my favorite books are We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, a novel with twisted story, and nonfiction Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely.
So you are going to The University of Melbourne, what motivates you to pursue Master’s degree?
I will be pursuing Master of Information Systems. They offer courses that correspond with my nine years working experience in information system in banking industry. I will be specializing in big data and entrepreneurship in IT. I look forward to be able to manage projects that involve big data analysis. For instance, one of the business lines of the organization that I am currently working at is microfinance and small medium enterprise (SME), so being able to utilize big data means knowing exactly which type of loan is best offered for merchants or if a particular type of credit is appropriate for small convection business. This gets more complex when we include customer engagement. I expect to see economic growth as more SMEs can take part in economic activities.
What advice can you give for others who want to write?
Write like no one’s reading. That’s what I do.
I am so gonna take that advise 
Penulis: Made Adityanandana
n1ngtyas' blog 