After the mid-year conference, ETA Maria Isabel “Isa” Nieves Bosch spoke with her co-teachers, Bu Tri Ya and Pak Joko, to discuss the WORDS competition. They discussed to put banners on the school to advertise the event and motivate the students of SMKN 7 Surakarta to participate. On Wednesday, January 28, at 3 pm, Isa and Pak Joko held a meeting to formally present all the information to the students.

Isa made a lovely PowerPoint Presentation discussing the details of the competition and demonstrating a story arc.

She also distributed the rubrics that judges will use to evaluate at the competition and gave the students a worksheet to help them brainstorm for a story. Pak Joko helped translate, answered questions, and motivated the students by telling them to try no matter how scary it may seem. Many students registered to compete, and Isa thought it was a successful meeting.

She had been worrying about not having enough students. The next two days, however, more students reached out and told her they also wanted to participate.

Isa and Bu Tri Ya met with students on Thursday and Friday at the library after school. In these meetings, Isa noticed hesitation from the students. They were too scared to register. This reminded her of when she was at school and when she was also insecure. Moreover, this reminded her of when she applied for the ETA program in Indonesia and thought she would never get the grant. Isa told her students that she was afraid, but she tried anyway. Everyone has a better chance of winning if they try rather than not trying at all. Finally, all the students registered to compete and Isa learned a new word that week: “berani.”

Maria Isabel “Isa” Nieves is currently teaching at SMKN 7 Surakarta, Central Java.