**Tags:** Bangkit Academy, Machine Learning, Python, Internship, Web Scraping, College Life

### 2021: The Peak Performance Year
Hi, it is Tama again. To be honest, this year has been pretty rough but incredibly rich in experiences—much more than I expected. So many things have happened since January, and I cannot wait to see what shows up in the next half. I originally drafted this article around June, and I am just continuing it now after so much more has happened. I truly feel 2021 is my peak performance year in college. I know I will miss this adrenaline rush at some point in the future, so I am writing it down here to make sure I never forget it. Let’s start!

### The Kampus Merdeka "Loophole"
This all started around mid-2020 while I was leading the Google Developer Student Club. I remembered hearing about a collaborative program between the Indonesian Ministry of Higher Education and tech giants like Google, Gojek, Tokopedia, and Traveloka. It was part of the *Kampus Merdeka* initiative (specifically the Independent Study program) initiated by Nadiem Makarim. The goal was to teach practical, industry-standard tech skills to prepare students for their careers. The previous iteration had 300 participants focusing on Machine Learning, and I knew I had to take my shot.

When registrations opened in October 2020 for the 2021 cohort, I immediately told my academic counselor, Mr. Aris. The new program offered three distinct learning paths: Machine Learning, Android Development, and Cloud Computing. The best part? It was an 18-week (6-month) program worth up to 20 university credits (equivalent to a full semester). 

Since this was a brand-new program and the campus hadn't established strict conversion rules yet, I decided to exploit this "loophole." My strategy was simple: register, get accepted, and let Mr. Aris handle the complex approval strategy later, hahaha! I chose the Machine Learning path because I had been focusing on it for the past couple of years, and it aligned perfectly with the credits I needed to convert. Strategy at its finest to legally skip campus classes!

### Speedrunning Coursera
By January 18, 2021, I received my official acceptance letter, and the onboarding started in February. 

Bangkit wasn't just about technical skills; it heavily incorporated business and soft skills. For the ML path, we relied heavily on Coursera. I was already familiar with the platform thanks to the *JuaraGCP* program (where I previously earned rewards for learning Google Cloud Platform). Normally, a Coursera specialization takes 4–6 months to complete. In Bangkit, we had to finish 4–5 of them in 3–4 months. As a cohort, our running joke was that we had to *"speedrun"* these courses!

On top of the self-paced learning, we had Instructor-Led Training (ILT) sessions 1–2 times a week. These were live, English-taught online classes led by industry experts covering both technical and soft skills. Bangkit really forced me to be independent and aggressively manage my time, focus, energy, and learning pace.

### The Juggling Act: Landing an Internship
Right in the middle of this Bangkit chaos, around March 2021, a fellow GDSC Lead named Timur approached me. His software house in Jogja was looking for a Python developer with experience scraping and extracting data from social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Thanks to a lecturer who had previously introduced me to the ropes of web scraping, I knew exactly how to do this. 

I updated my CV with my recent Bangkit lessons, listed my projects, and landed an interview. They asked me exactly how I would acquire the social media data. I replied: *"Are we doing this the official way or the unofficial way?"* They asked to hear both. 

I explained that the **official way** (using their official API) takes time to set up and requires strict compliance. You get the data safely, but the volume is limited unless you buy premium API services. The **unofficial way** (scraping via web traffic and cookies) allows you to extract as much data as you want, but you risk triggering bot-detection systems and getting your IP or account blocked. 

I got the job. I waited a week until the confirmation letter arrived before telling Mr. Aris. That was another calculated move—if I had told him beforehand, he might have told me to decline it since I was already juggling a heavy Bangkit workload. Thankfully, he believed I could manage both. 

### "Fail Fast" and the Capstone Reality Check
For the final 1.5 months of Bangkit, we had to build a capstone project and present it to a panel of judges, aided by industry Project Advisors. 

My team built **RoadQue**, a system designed to detect potholes and road cracks using a mobile phone. The architecture involved a machine learning model hosted on a server; a mobile app would take a photo of the road, send it to the server, and the model would return an assessment. We were given $200 USD in cloud credits.

Unfortunately, reality hit hard. One team member forgot to pause the testing server, draining our credits almost instantly. We also lacked sufficient data and resources to train the model properly. Furthermore, the team dynamics were chaotic: we had one Cloud Engineer, me as the sole ML Engineer, and two App Developers who only showed up in the final weeks. It was a mess, but I pushed to get as much done as possible. You can't always control the team, but you can control your output. *(Repo: [roadque-bangkit21](https://github.com/SokKanaTorajd/roadque-bangkit21))*

During one of the main presentations earlier in the program, Mas Yoza (a prominent figure we always saw on Discord and announcements) showed a slide with two words: **"Fail Fast."**

It started as an inside joke among the participants, but we quickly took it seriously because people were dropping out left and right. The point is, do not be afraid to try new things; if you must fail, fail as quickly as possible early in the process so you can immediately evaluate, learn, bounce back, and fix those mistakes before wasting a lot of time and money. 

In a fast-paced environment like Bangkit, this became our coping mechanism for the deadlines, the coding errors, and the relentless exams. 

### Graduation, Merch, and Certifications
After the capstone project wrapped up, the waiting game began. I received my graduation confirmation around June 25, 2021, and we officially graduated on July 15, 2021.

One of the best perks of joining Bangkit was definitely the merchandise! Throughout the program, students earned points for class participation, attendance, and task completions. I racked up enough points to claim a light jacket, a mug, and some stickers. 

Another massive perk was a voucher to take a professional certification exam (distributed on a first-come, first-served basis). The Cloud Computing cohort could take the Associate Cloud Engineer exam, the Android cohort got the Associate Android Developer exam, and for the Machine Learning cohort, we were offered the **TensorFlow Developer Certificate**. I obviously claimed the TensorFlow voucher and immediately started preparing on the Dicoding platform.

### Looking Ahead
Now it is August, about a month since I graduated from that "hell training ground," and I actually miss all the memes we shared. 

As for the internship? After Bangkit ended, my initial 3-month contract (which was supposed to end in July) was extended. My superiors wanted me to stay on the project team and dive even deeper into that complex API integration. But that technical deep-dive is a story for another article. 

Keep going!


Double Duty: Surviving Bangkit Academy & Landing My First Tech Internship

**Tags:** Community, GDSC, Leadership, Tech Education, University Life

### The Pandemic Pivot
The COVID-19 pandemic hit Indonesia around March 2020, and by September, everything had changed. Normal college days were over. We transitioned entirely to online learning, meaning no physical clubs, no campus activities, and a whole lot of screen fatigue. The isolation was starting to cause some real stress. 

But amidst the chaos of studying from home, I received some incredible news: I was officially accepted as the Google Developer Student Club (GDSC) Lead to represent my university, Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani Yogyakarta. 

### The Spark: A Random Banner
I had actually been waiting almost a year for this opportunity. It started back in 2019 when I attended an AWS community event at Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (UNY). While there, I noticed a standing banner that said "Supported by Developer Student Clubs and powered by Google Developers." 

That caught my attention. I Googled it immediately after the event, only to find that the registrations for that year had already closed. I noted the eligibility requirements—specifically that you needed to be an active university student with at least one year left before graduation—and discussed it with my close friend, Riyan. We agreed: next year, we had to try.

Fast forward to April 2020. The registration window for the APAC region finally opened. I submitted my detailed information, answered the essay questions, and recorded the mandatory YouTube introduction video explaining why I should be chosen as a GDSC Lead. 

### Surviving the Interview
The next phase was the interview. I booked my time slot, prepared my notes, and jumped on the call with the DSC team. Then, the unexpected happened: my internet connection completely destabilized. Despite testing it beforehand, the connection dropped, and I had to awkwardly reschedule the call. 

For the second attempt, I made absolutely sure my network was bulletproof. I opted to do the 30-minute interview in English. We covered my background, my previous experience handling events, and how I planned to gather support for a completely voluntary community. But the most important part of the interview was explaining my "Why." 

I gave the interviewers three specific reasons why my campus desperately needed this program:
1. **Uncapped Potential:** I observed that the students in my faculty were smart and eager to learn, but there was no dedicated space to channel their ideas or share technical knowledge. Existing student unions focused heavily on organizational politics but lacked the practical, technical skill-building needed to actually land a job in tech.
2. **Overcoming the Inferiority Complex:** Our campus was relatively new and had just rebranded as a university. Because of this, there was a lingering sense of inferiority among the students compared to older, more established state universities. I wanted to build a community that proved we could improve ourselves and compete on our own merits.
3. **Beyond the Surface:** One of my lecturers once told me, *"University classes only teach you the surface materials. You have to learn the rest on your own outside the class. As a lecturer, I only facilitate and guide you."* This club would be the vehicle for that outside learning.

### Getting to Work
Last month, I finally received the official confirmation letter. 

Behind the scenes, I had already been laying the groundwork. I spoke with my academic counselor (who is also the head of the department) to secure his support as our Faculty Advisor, which is a core requirement from Google. We also made a highly strategic decision: we are running this as an independent community, *not* as an official Student Activity Unit (UKM). Because we operate under Google's selection period rather than the university's UKM timeline, staying independent saves us from drowning in endless formal campus bureaucracy—something I definitely wanted to avoid!

A massive thank you to Mr. Aris for providing the support and giving us this opportunity. I have already started pulling together my core team from the brightest people I know. 

The campus might be closed, but the work is just beginning. Let’s get to work!



Taking the Lead: Bringing Google Developer Student Clubs to Campus

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**Tags:** Personal Growth, Information Systems, Education, Technology

### The Spark: Internet Cafes and Cheat Codes
If I had to give you the short version of how I ended up majoring in Information Systems, I would say it was simply the best option presented to me. But the real story is a bit more complicated—and it starts back in elementary school.

Back then, computers and the internet were fancy, expensive luxuries. My father introduced me to the internet on a small laptop he used for work. While I was mostly interested in PC games, he taught me the basics of the digital world: how to create an email address and how to set up a Facebook account (even though I was far from seventeen, I just set my birth year to the 1990s and went with it). 

At school, we had a computer lab with maybe a dozen or twenty Intel Pentium-powered PCs. My favorite activity was playing *Plants vs. Zombies* with my friends, and occasionally even with my teacher. By the 6th grade, my curiosity had expanded. Outside of visiting the local library, I started spending my time at the local internet cafes, or it is called as *warnet*. I would spend hours Googling, playing Facebook games, and—most importantly—hunting for cheat codes with my friends. That thrill of figuring out how a system worked and how to manipulate it was my first real introduction to IT.

### The First Heartbreak: A Change of Plans
By the time I was in the 3rd grade of junior high, I knew I wanted to leave my hometown for high school. My sights were set on SMK Telkom Malang to major in IT. I was so determined that I even sacrificed my final year study tour, saving the trip money just so I could afford to travel and take their entrance exams.

The testing involved both academic and health assessments. I was confident in my academics, but the health test included a color blindness check. Before I left for Malang, I Googled what this test looked like, downloaded a PDF of a color blindness test book, and printed it out to test my sisters. Looking at the pages myself, I had a sinking feeling: I couldn't see the correct numbers even not seeing it at all. 

When I finally took the official health test in Malang, my fears were confirmed. I failed. The doctor diagnosed me with partial color blindness. My mom didn't believe it at first and took me to a hospital for a second opinion, but the result was the same. Because it is genetic, there was no cure. My dream of going to that specific IT school ended right there.

### The Detour: Oil, Gas, and Thermodynamics
I was frustrated, but I still wanted to study outside my hometown. During a family gathering, an uncle suggested I try SMK Migas Cepu, an oil and gas school in Blora. I took the entrance exam—which strangely also included a color blind test that I somehow passed—and I was accepted. 

I ended up majoring in Refinery Engineering. Instead of coding and computers, I spent the next three years learning the physics and chemistry of fluids, petrochemicals, heat transfers, thermodynamics, and distillation processes. To be honest, it was incredibly difficult, but also surprisingly fun. 

As graduation approached, I tried to map out my future. I took a scholarship test for President University via Ruangguru and actually passed, securing an 80% tuition discount. Unfortunately, due to my own lack of reading the terms and conditions carefully, I hadn't realized there were options that offered a 100% scholarship. My parents couldn't cover the remaining 20% of the expensive tuition, so I had to let it go. I tried testing for public universities and failed. I tried looking for a job in the refinery field, but it was incredibly difficult for a fresh graduate—especially one with partial color blindness.

### The Scam That Wasn't
Then, one morning, I received a random message stating I had been selected to register at Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani Yogyakarta, and that they had scholarship slots available.

Since most public and private university registrations were already closed, I immediately thought it was a scam. I checked Google Maps, and it only showed a university in Cimahi, West Java. My suspicion peaked. But after a bit more Googling, I discovered they had recently merged and rebranded into a university (previously STMIK and STIKES A.Yani Yogyakarta). It was real. 

Determined not to repeat my previous mistake of ignoring the fine print, I interrogated the contact person. I asked how they got my number, what the exact scholarship slots were, and what faculties were available. The options came down to the Engineering and Information Technology faculty. Specifically, I had three choices: Information Systems (Bachelor's), Information Systems (Diploma), or Information Technology (Bachelor's).

### Choosing Information Systems
To make the right choice, I took a personality and talent test on a platform called YouthManual (now rencanamu.id). The results showed I was well-suited for both IS and IT. 

I dug into the curriculum differences. I learned that Information Technology was heavily focused on networking and security, while Information Systems was how to utilize technology for business. That unique point hooked me. I chose Information Systems. After running the numbers on potential costs, I opted for the 4-year Bachelor's degree over the 3-year Diploma, because why not?

### The Takeaway: Nothing is in Vain
Today, as I sit in my university classes learning about digital architectures, I often reflect on my time studying Refinery Engineering in high school. 

I used to study physical things—fluids I could see, feel, and smell. Now, I study things that are entirely digital; things that have no physical shape and vanish the second the electricity is cut. But the truth is, those three years of learning complex engineering systems weren't wasted. 

The biggest lesson I have learned so far is that knowledge is never in vain. The core concepts of understanding a process, optimizing a system, and mapping an architecture are exactly the same, whether you are distilling crude oil or processing digital data. You just have to know when to use the tools you've been given. No regrets!
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Blog

Double Duty: Surviving Bangkit Academy & Landing My First Tech Internship

Taking the Lead: Bringing Google Developer Student Clubs to Campus

Hello World: Why I Chose Information Systems