Shelly Andari (SMAN 1 Pandaan) and Rulita Ocsy Fanny (SMAN 4 Denpasar) won the W.O.R.D.S national creative writing competition organized by American Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF) and Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (ETA).

W.O.R.D.S. was an English writing competition held for 10th and 11th grade students from 29 schools all across Indonesia where Fulbright ETAs were placed. The competition served as a platform for students to express their views on what it means to be an Indonesian, through poem, story, monologue, or narrative.

From a pool of 900 written works submitted, 29 finalists from Sumatera, Java, Bali, Kalimantan and Sulawesi were chosen to present their work on stage for a spoken competition in Jakarta.

Shelly and Rulita respectively won first and second prize for their written work and outstanding performance at the final competition in Jakarta on 12th April 2008.

Shelly’s piece, ‘A little Indonesian’ was touching to many readers and listeners. Her piece was about an umbrella girl feeling grateful to be an Indonesian because she could earn a living by renting her umbrella.

Meanwhile, Rulita’s piece was a well-written poem entitled ‘Broken Indonesia’. With clear voice articulation, Rulita vividly underlined the prevailing social dilemma of today’s Indonesian society.

For their achievements, Shelly received a 1,5 million Rupiah scholarship , while Rulita received a 1 million Rupiah scholarship. All finalists were also given a chance to attend creative writing workshops conducted by Fulbright ETAs in partnership with Education USA and the Jakarta Post.