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augieatqa · 4 years

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Unconscious and hidden biases/stereotypes

I often see unconscious and hidden biases/stereotypes in my daily life. I am good at calculating some numbers. When I had dinners with my friends, I used to split the bill by just saying that without using a calculator. My friends then told me that I am a genius mathematician. I laughed after hearing that. At that moment, I remembered my lousy mathematics exam result (I got 50 over 100! LOL). Indeed I am good at calculating, but I am not a genius mathematician. A genius mathematician is a 'guy' with excellent rational thinking, can prove, and solve severe mathematical problems.

When writing this, I was unconsciously saying that a genius mathematician is a man. I (maybe you too) am the object and also the subject of the unconscious and hidden biases/stereotypes. It is because during my life I only saw male genius mathematicians like Pythagoras, Euler, Gauss, and many more. There were also female mathematical geniuses. The problem is, I only didn't know them.Our brain makes us think like that because we tend to associate things with other things, like "mathematician" and "men". This association is neither true nor false. The most important thing is that we should see the world with other perspectives to make our lives and society better.

#Global Leadership Project #Blog Entry 6

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augieatqa · 4 years

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New insights that I got from Dr. Minh Nguyen

Dr. Minh Nguyen, a Ph.D. graduate from Tokyo Tech, is currently working at Google Japan. On Friday, 12 June 2020, He joined our global leadership class online. He shared information about his working experience both in Japanese companies like Dentsu and international companies like Google. One of the most contrast thing that I saw is working in a Japanese company doesn't give you some freedom to be yourself. Also, there is a 'seniority' inside the company that perhaps slow down the innovation and the sustainability of the company.

Another insight that I got from Dr. Minh was the salary system in Japanese companies, where base salary is relatively low. If you want to make lots of money in a Japanese company, you must work overtime excessively (overtime wage is higher). The more you work overtime, the more money you get. In contrast, if you work in an international company like Google, your salary is based on your performance. Also, you can work remotely. What a fantastic work-life balance!

#Global Leadership Project #Blog Entry 5

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augieatqa · 4 years

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My Research Life during COVID-19

My daily routine as a graduate student is to do research. I am majoring in Applied Chemistry, currently developing ultra-small sub-nano catalysts. Due to the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19), Japan set the state of emergency, which resulted in a long work-from-home. This outbreak has revolutionized every aspect of our life, including our working style.

I usually conduct wet experiments, which requires me to go to the lab. Now I have to work from home, resulting in relatively slow progress on my research. I can indeed run some chemical simulations or writing reports at home, but I need to go to the lab desperately to do some experiments.

#Global Leadership Project #Blog Entry 4

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augieatqa · 4 years

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Technical Drawing Team

When I was an undergraduate student at Bandung Institute of Technology, there was one required course called "Technical Drawing." I learned about how to draw 'technically' like drawing parts of a machine. The final project of this course was to assemble drawings of a lathe. One set of lathe drawings required around 100 persons, each person must draw one. Consequently, one leader and ten sub-leaders were needed to make sure that the project runs smoothly.

At first, I was upset because I didn't know that some folks have already chosen the leader and sub-leaders. These positions were crucial for the evaluation of the course. Only a few people can get A for that course. Those were some who managed the team (leader and sub-leader). One thing that I could do is to maximize my work. Suddenly, the sub-leader of mine had to go for his scholarship interview many times so that he couldn't lead the project. My friends asked me to change his position to solve this problem, and the leader of this project approved it.

I then started to lead my team, focusing on task optimization and communication with other sub-leaders. In my small team, it was easy to manage and lead the work since the workload was not burdensome than the final step, assembling all parts into one drawing. There was one problem with the connection between parts of the machine. To solve that and minimize the time, I ask another sub-leader that manage that machine part to fix it. I think the best achievement was our collaboration so that we could tackle all problems and finish our project.

#Global Leadership Project #Blog Entry 3

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augieatqa · 4 years

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Leadership Experience as Chairman of the Indonesian Undergrad Organization (PMIJ)

Taking a leadership position is always challenging. I feel it too. When I was a third-year undergraduate student, I enjoyed my holiday in Indonesia at that time. There was a message from my senior. He told me that the Indonesian Undergrad Students Organization in Japan (PMIJ) needed a new leader. He said that I was the strongest candidate for that. When I heard that, the first thing that came up in my mind is my protocol of taking the leadership position. It is a question for me: "Are you currently have time and energy to spend on that?". That is a simple question, but I needed significant consideration to decide to lead it or not since I don't have extra time in my 24 hours per day.

After considering it, I decided to be a candidate for the chairman of PMIJ. The reason was I thought I needed to contribute more to society at that time. By doing so, I can further maintain the state of happiness in my life. The congress of PMIJ was held in July 2018. The result was the election of me as a chairman of it. For your information, the scale of this organization is nationwide (Japan), so basically, we communicate remotely using our gadget. There were many agendas, such as conducting orientations for new students who just come to Japan, events like Hanami, Momiji, etc. Also, we had a social responsibility plan, which is providing education and scholarship for kids in rural areas in Indonesia.

#Global Leadership Project #Blog Entry 2

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augieatqa · 4 years

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