From Classroom Sketch to Lasting Legacy

I attended JIS during my family’s stay in Jakarta for several years in the early to mid-1980s. I graduated in 1985, along with one of my sisters. We both left Jakarta that year to continue our studies back in Canada. My parents and younger sister (also a JIS student) stayed on in Jakarta for a few more years.

Some people may recall the busy cartoon poster I created titled “Jakarta: A World of its Own”. It was a kind of caricature of the city’s chaotic, bustling street life. I’d been drawing it in my spare time after school with no specific purpose in mind, and one day, I took the large and detailed pencil sketch to school to show the art teacher, Mr. Carré. He immediately saw the potential in it and allowed me to work on it in class as an independent project while everybody else had to do the regular coursework.

When it was nearing completion, he took me to see Mr. Bear, who taught a course on journalism and was organizing the design and compilation of the yearbook. Mr. Bear made me a proposal: He wanted me to create a similar panoramic cartoon scene of the school, which he could then publish in the yearbook along with the Jakarta poster. And in exchange, he would provide the funding to print a large batch of both posters, which I could then sell. The revenue from the poster helped pay for my undergraduate university tuition at McGill University in Montreal, where I graduated in 1992, specializing in geography. I would go on to do a Master's of Environmental Studies at York University in
Toronto, graduating in 1995.

My advice to current students: Your time at this incredible school will ultimately be fleeting, so make a special point of savoring every moment. In time, you will look back on these formative years with fondness, pride, gratitude, and longing.