Materialistis

Sejak saya menjadi dosen, banyak yang bertanya kepada saya: "Yakin mau jadi dosen? Gajinya bukannya tidak seberapa?" Juga: "Yakin mau jadi dosen? Memang cukup buat hidup?" Dan pertanyaan-pertanyaan sejenis.

Saya pikir jadi dosen itu kan profesi yang mulia ya. Kenapa ya profesi yang mulia ini masih sering perlu dibarengi dengan "komitmen" untuk "hidup susah" atau "pas-pasan".

Kenapa bisa, profesi yang seharusnya merupakan profesi yang terhormat, profesi yang akan bisa mencetak CEO masa depan sebuah perusahaan, penemu teknologi baru, pengusaha sukses, pembangun bangsa dan negara Indonesia di masa depan ini, harus menghadapi pilihan yang sangat sulit: mau jadi dosen (atau tenaga pengajar lainnya) ATAU mau hidup enak dan punya materi berlimpah.

Faktanya pendapatan menjadi seorang dosen memang tidak setinggi jika seseorang mengejar karir di korporat. Kenapa bisa begitu? Sejujurnya saya juga tidak tahu. Hanya saja saya tidak ingin mencari siapa yang salah.

Yang tidak pas, menurut saya, adalah anggapan semua pihak bahwa menjadi dosen itu adalah sebuah pilihan karier yang perlu dijalani dengan "keikhlasan". Sehingga membuat seorang dosen merasa "berdosa" jika dirinya ingin mendapatkan imbalan materi, melebihi imbalan lainnya (penghargaan, rasa hormat),  sebagai timbal balik atas pekerjaan yang dilakukannya.

Kenapa jika seorang manajer di sebuah perusahaan mendapat kenaikan gaji atau bonus karena mencapai target penjualan, atau karena performanya baik,  maka manajer tersebut dikatakan sebagai manajer yang hebat, bahwa hal itu sudah sepantasnya terjadi, dan berbagai cap positif lainnya akan dialamatkan kepada manajer tersebut.

Namun, jika seorang dosen, atau tenaga pendidik manapun, di institusi pendidikan manapun, memiliki performa yang baik, dan mengharapkan imbalan apapun selain ucapan terima kasih dan penghargaan non-materi lainnya (misalnya saja: mendapatkan bonus berupa uang karena karya penelitiannya dipublish di jurnal internasional, mampu mendampingi mahasiswa lomba dan berhasil menjadi juara pertama, mendapatkan kenaikan gaji karena performanya yang baik dalam mengajar) maka sudah pasti dosen itu akan dicap sebagai dosen yang materialistis.

Mengapa anggapan seperti itu yang muncul? Bukan hanya dari masyarakat umum, bahkan dari lingkungan tenaga pendidik sendiri juga merasa malu jika mereka menginginkan untuk mendapatkan pendapatan yang lebih baik. Membicarakan soal termin kenaikan gaji, soal pendapatan atau bonus yang akan didapat, adalah hal yang tabu dibicarakan antar "karyawan" (dosen) di "perusahaan" (universitas).

Saya setuju bahwa institusi pendidikan tidak harus disamakan dengan korporasi. Saya hanya tidak mengerti mengapa adalah hal yang buruk bagi tenaga pendidik untuk mengharapkan imbalan berupa materi? Toh ini adalah pekerjaan kami satu-satunya, profesi kami, kami makan dari pekerjaan ini.

Jika diharuskan untuk mengajar dengan sepenuh hati, berkomitmen dan tidak melakukan pekerjaan lain di luar pekerjaan utama sebagai pengajar, lalu kenapa seolah-olah masyarakat memberikan stigma buruk terhadap tenaga pengajar yang mengharapkan imbalan materiil dari kerja kerasnya?

Tidakkah menjadi ironi yang amat sangat, jika seorang dosen di kemudian hari bisa sampai kesulitan menyekolahkan anaknya, karena tidak memiliki cukup uang?

The Answer?

I copy this post from the web www.blog.edwardsuhadi.com.
The title of the post is : Stepping Up.



Stepping Up

by Edward Suhadi





I just finished watching Step Up Revolution.



It was breath-taking and mind-blowing. I just wanted to shout all along the movie and shake my tushy off.




The dance and cinematography gimmicks are cool, but what’s really touch me deep is the dancers.



You see, I’m always close to the the dancing world. I think it is mainly because I dated a dancer for seven years in my younger years, so I can see their world up close and know what is really happening.



Dancers are one of the most passionate, determined and idealistic people. Their profession basically summed up what passion is.



I admire them. I really do.



A lot of us don’t realize this, but for every three minute dance performance we see, there are people that come to the studio for weeks just to practice and practice and get it right.



I know first hand on what it feels like coming to practice three times a week, going through traffic, amidst office deadlines, amidst exhaustion, choreographing, memorizing, working out the details, doing it over and over and over and saying “five, six, seven, eight” over and over and over and over and over and over… Just for a three minute performance.



I sometimes think, up until now, “Are you people crazy? All these? For three minutes? Some of the audience is barely looking.”



Can you imagine how many sweaty exhausting hours of practice they gave just for being that little dot in the frame corner for two seconds? But they love it, they don’t care. I know, I’ve been there. Once the music is on, they just. dont. care.

And they definately don’t do it for the money. There’s no money in dancing. Even in a society where dancing is much more appriciated, it is quite hard to make a decent life based on dancing alone.



But they keep doing it. They keep dancing.



Because they love it. And that’s enough.



It doesn’t pay as much as the office job or the usual carreer path their friends are taking or their parents are approving, but they keep on dancing. Against what is established. Following their heart. Pursuing the dream. Not many people are like that nowadays. Not many.



I feel related to them, seeing these dancers jumping around like rabbits from my dark theater seat.



My company too have lost sales and clients based on some idealistic terms and ideas that we have in place starting this year, but that’s okay, since we are now building the clientele with the right fit for our company. It might be not popular, yet, but we keep on going, we keep on ‘dancing’.



I feel like saying to the dancers on the screen, “I feel you man. I feel you.”



But of course to create great, idealistic mind-blowing projects, ‘the dancers’ have to learn how to sell it, how to make a sustainable carreer around these things that they love.



I love this expression ‘Passion and Profit’: It won’t be profitable if it wasn’t passionate, but without profit, it won’t last very long. The two have to exist together.



The passionate people have to learn how to bring the business side to their craft, and the businessmen have to learn to take risks by supporting these people.



Heck, all the genre-defining greats started out like that. Nobody wanted to touch Harry Potter, The Matrix, The Lord of The Rings. Too idealistic. Nobody has done this before. But somewhere along the way, there were producers and publishers that stepped up to take the risk. Passionate projects backed by good money. Bada-boom. Big bada-boom.



That’s why I always whisper a silent prayer if I saw a passion project/business, while also trying to support them the way I can. They need to know that there are people that still believe that dreams come true :)



If we don’t dream, what are we?



So here’s to all the dancers that I know: Francy, Evy, Suhanti, Aline, Cialing, Wiwiek, Santi, Yosandi, Aman, Leo, Suzan, Mona, Rita, Tisen, Vijay, Sandy, Cynthia, Yen Yen, Sella, Dada, Felice, Meimei and all of you out there who continue to come to the studio even if the world doesn’t know and the world doesn’t care: all of you have inspired me. To keep on going. To keep on doing what you love. Despite. Eventhough.



Here’s to the dancers:



Thank you.



* * * * *



A request: If you ever watch a dance performance, in the mall, in the church, on the stage, after they finish, come up to them and just say, “Hey, you did a great job there. Thank you.” It will mean the world to them :)



The writings above was taken from http://blog.edwardsuhadi.com/2012/08/18/stepping-up/

The Gambler

"That's the issue everyone's facing in life isn't it? We all have ideals. We all need money."
-Arem Duplessis-

It just punch me in the face. Reality.
I didn't realize until recently that there is a time limit for chasing dreams.
I just watched this movie, and I don't know why but movies always have it's own way of delivering it's message for me, stronger than any other media.

The main character is a dancer who believe that he can live and earn money by becoming a professional dancer one day. But one day everything is starting to fall apart and it seems like he has to give up his dream of becoming a dancer, and started to work at a company as a regular office worker.

It just hit me that when you grow up, you have less options. You cannot do whatever it is that you wish to do, because you are no longer living for yourself.

Even though you like it. Even though it is your passion. Even though you think you're really good at it. Even though your're believing that you can earn a living from it. When you grow older, you have to prove all that. Or else, you have to leave it. Simply said, when you get older, you'll need to start earning money.

When you grow older, you need money.

And that's why there is a time limit for dreaming.

You need to make it work. If you want to choose dancing as your career, than by a certain age you need to prove that you can earn enough money from dancing. If you want to be a painter, an artist, a musician, a sound engineer, a firefighter, a soldier, or any other profession that you wanted to be, at some time you need to start making money. Or else, you need to find something else to do, that makes money.
I just realize that. (where have I been, right?)

So I'll place my bet. I've set my time limit. I'll take the leap of faith.
Godspeed.