“Home, however far away it is, will always be the place we long to go back to.”

Titian Foundation (Titian) is like second home to the scholarship recipients, also known as Titianers. For three years, Titianers are being groomed by Titian. Frantic, that’s for sure. Being a Titianer means becoming someone who is different from regular high school students. A Titianer should be able to manage his/her time for school and additional activities at Titian as well possibly choosing to get involved in their school or community organization. During this jam-packed period, a Titianer obviously will become closer with other Titianers and Titian itself.

After three years had passed, the moment comes when Titianers take off their student and active scholarship recipient titles and become an alumni. There is no agreement in place, but deep inside each alumni feels they are still tied with other fellow alumni and with Titian. Therefore, some alumni came up with an idea to create a group for alumni. IKATIFO, is the acronym chosen for this group, which is short for the Titian Foundation Alumni Association.

IKATIFO is now entering its seventh year. Seven Generations of alumni are spread across the archipelago or abroad – to continue their study, work or set up their own ventures. The IKATIFO Committee usually consists of two most recent high school graduate Generations. Its work scope is to help organize several activities, such as periodical bi-monthly meetings based on regions, workshops/seminars, social projects, and its prominent agenda, organizing the Hari Raya gathering (Halal Bi Halal).

Under the coordination of IKATIFO Public Relations, alumni are divided into eight regions: Klaten, Yogyakarta, Solo, Semarang, Greater Jakarta, East Java, outside Java and overseas. Periodical meetings are usually carried out by regions and each region has regional coordinator. Periodical meetings can be in the form of a get-together and sharing session, watching movies, eating together, etc.

To develop the alumni’s soft skills, the IKATIFO Committee also helps organizing training sessions such as entrepreneurship workshops and seminars on how to cope with job interviews. The alumni can also make good use of social project activities to share their experiences with active Titianers.

The highlight of IKATIFO annual event is the Halal Bi Halal. Like the initial pull-quote above, Titian has become one place to call home, regardless where the alumni go on their adventures, they will return to Titian again to stay in touch. Held during the Hari Raya holiday, IKATIFO Halal Bi Halal is a gathering time for alumni across Generations to see each other again and get to know others from different Generations. The alumni hope that IKATIFO would not only benefit the alumni per se, but be able to spread goodness to others too. (SSD)