This month is May, a few months until the next academic year start. As an Indonesian and as a student, I already know what will happen in a few months.
The student orientation, or in Indonesian is OSPEK, is a well-known event to welcoming all new students to the campus. Once, as an Indonesian and as a student, I never support this event. This event, sadly, always become a ‘competition’ for the seniors. A competition where all the new students will go to the campus with fear.
The committee is usually the seniors that are join a council called Student Executive Board (BEM) for university and Student Council (OSIS) for high school. With the ‘goal’ of introducing the new campus, they already fail miserably.
The ‘culture’ of seniority still exist inside and outside the student orientation itself. They will yelling at the juniors, force them to wear silly attributes to the school or campus, and the juniors need to get through some unnecessary activities.
They believe that the juniors are weaker than the seniors and they need to be stronger because they are now in university. The sad thing is that instead of encouraging their juniors that they called ‘younger brothers and sisters’ proudly, they mentally break them down. Yelling at them with slurs and even, sometimes, physically hurt them. The teachers and lecturers know about this, but they just trying to ignore it.
Stop this ‘seniority’ and ‘student orientation’ thing. The juniors are not your slave nor someone that have to be scared of you. Student orientation is an event to introduce the student to the school, not an event to make them scared of you. Stop act like you are stronger than them, have more respect than them. ‘Respect’ and ‘strength’ is not based on how old you are, but how mature you are.
I was a senior and a junior for a few times growing up and never, in my entire life, I want to act like I am ‘holier than thou’ to my own juniors. Don’t all of you remember the death of several students, because of their seniors’ actions, from Islamic University of Indonesia (UII) and Indonesian Merchant Marine Academy (STIP)? Don’t you remember how much complaints you want to tell the school board because of your seniors’ act towards you in the student orientation? So, my one and only question is:
Why you still do the same thing all over again?
‘Seniority’ and horrible student orientation is not something that we, as educated Indonesians, should be proud of. If your seniors act horrible towards you and/or your friends, tell somebody about it. Speak up. Do not just complaints from their back and do nothing about it. This ‘event’ already caused death and people need to change their mind about this.
