It might sound awkward yet after years of hiatus I decided to write again. So … heya, folks!

In this particular moment I would like to tell a bit of myself. I was quite unsure what I need to convey here as there are so many things which build the characters of Risqika Edni Doni Achsan. Thus I guess I would like to interview myself here; a Doni-to-Doni conversation as it feels very natural to write like this.

That sounds completely creepy – but, it worked just fine.

So, tell me about yourself?

Hmmm … tough question. Not that it is hard to answer, but it is too universal to be chunked into one focus topic. I believe people would know me instantly once they see my obsolete CV in LinkedIn or such. I will just describe myself using a motto of my life:

I was an exchange student to US for a year (you may look deeper into my blogs to read my stories). It was a life changing experience that has transformed me into the one I am today. I learned that I need to open my tiny little box, get out of it and see the vast horizon of life. I started to walk quite a bit and realized that things are not scarier that what I have thought. That my journey of thousand miles was truly a magnificent one.

However, the journey would never even started if did not make that first step of getting out my box. My exchange year has taught me that achieving something is the long forward impact of doing, starting, something. To smoothen the journey I only need to focus and have perseverance.

I was once speech disabled. I could not speak clearly – my communication skill was obstructed to a “demise” level. During my high school year I urged myself to join English Debate. That very first step of improving my communication skill has led me to a long journey of speaking in front of debate podium to international conference podiums.

I love art. I started drawing in my kindergarten years to find myself becoming the 1st place champion in US-level art contest in 2012. Yes, I won a national level art competition and I did it in a land thousands of miles away from home.

Those two stories are only a glimpse of how that proverb has become my main way of life. I am that person who loves to initiate something – to invest in myself – as I know that things I harvest would make me prevail in life.

Oh, I am also an ENTJ – and that would explain so many things about me. 

What makes you different from any other?

There are two kinds of people in the world; specialists and generalists. Specialists focus on one or few skills to master. They are very proficient in what they do and would be quite inflexible working outside their comfort zone. Generalists are unfocused. They love and able to do many things yet they can never be in the same level like what specialist can do. 

So what the world actually prefers? Well, there is fair share of things that generalists and specialists can acquire. However, companies and institutions now want people with generalists’ mindset yet having the skills in the same level as specialists. I call myself and others with the same condition as multipotentialites (there is even a TED video talking about this!).

A generalist with skills of specialists (aka multipotentialites) conveys who Doni Achsan (aka me) is. There are epitomes on how I demonstrated this multipotentialites traits. I see myself as a jack of all trades. I love and able to do many things ranging from art, English, mathematics, to many others. However those traits are not in an ordinary, generalist level. They are above average and even better than some specialists I met in life.

For exsamples, my art portfolios ranged from local trophies to big exhibition in Green Bay’s Lambeau Field. My English skill, though very thick in oral accent, achieved ITP score around 620-ish which is almost equivalent to native speaker. My logical thinking and processing skills have always brought me to the top of the class. I can still maintain my cum-laude GPA even though I have so many activities to attend (in so called engineering major that people believe will be challenging to face compared to social studies). Moreover I can even compete in many competitions – harvesting gold medals awarded by Ministry of Research and Technology in national level to acknowledgement by UNESCO and Airbus for one of my project. Frankly speaking, I am also very fond of traditional dance. Despite my big stature and rigid body movements, I performed Baladewa Dance in two international events representing Indonesia. Compared to my high school friends whom I was very captivated by their skill in dancing, I proved more remarkable milestones than what I used to believe. 

What do I aspire in the future?

Well, I do not have the motivation to start a company or initiate projects like many startups out there. My innovation and breakthrough reasoning are more suited in companies – any kind of companies as I am quite flexible in many fields (I very consider how much my skills and capabilities will be rewarded to be honest). However, I dreamed and aspired to walk up the ladder quicker than any other. If Allah permits then I want to see myself in C-level before reaching my 40s. I mean, hey! I was the Chief Marketing Officer of XL Axiata last November. In my fifth semester of college I experienced working C-level in a big multinational with more than three thousand employees. Though XL Board of Directors Challenge only last for a week, I believe that in the future I can secure that position in a feasible and fast way - for a long duration of time. 

It may surprise many people, but I actually want to create an art studio for kids (Sanggar Lukis Anak). Art is beautiful and healing. During the lowest points of my life I can see my oil pastels saved me by urging me to swim in an ocean full of creativity and fantasy. I do want many other kids to experience the same by sharing my capabilities with them. I will encourage them to join competitions, give them recognition every month, and invite them to trips where they can bring their art supplies to draw outside. It may sound very cheesy yet it satisfies me the most when this dream of mine can be acquired during my 40s or 50s.