And I still don’t know what I would do next. I still don’t know how to become an adult. But I know for sure that my parents would be proud of me, proud of their three daughters, no matter what path we choose. And it doesn’t matter if we get lost or choose the wrong path, because what matters is choosing to get back up once again.

— Marcella Purnama

Grades are still important, but they are not the most important things. As clichéd as it is, the things you learn outside class is more important than the textbooks you blindly memorize in time for exams.

— Marcella Purnama

Grades are still important, buy they are not the most important things. As clichéd as it is, the things you learn outside class is more important than the textbooks you blindly memorize in time for exams.

— Marcella Purnama

I hated reunions. It made myself felt so little afterward. When I was there, I couldn’t help not to know. But after I knew things, I couldn’t stop comparing. I was congratulating people when they told me the good news, but deep inside I was wondering whether their good news was better than mine. Life wasn’t supposed to be a competition, but it really felt like one.

— Marcella Purnama

Luck, I believe, is where preparation meets opportunity.

— Marcella Purnama

One of the first lessons I learned in working life was that you don't need to like every one of your colleagues, and they don't need to like you either. You just have to respect them, and getting their respect in return.

— Marcella Purnama

Our Peter Pan generation is unhappy. All our lives, we want to grow up—to be treated like adults, to have freedom to choose. Then we get here and it turns out being an adult sucks. We pay the bills and taxes, watching others succeed while we are forever waiting for our turn. We believe we are special, but nothing special has come our way.

— Marcella Purnama

Social media is like reunion, but the catching up is done through the comfort of your own bed. Scrolling through photos and statuses are too easy to not be done. You know about their social life and where they’ve been last weekend. Then you wonder why they have such flawless hair and make up. How could they look so effortlessly awesome?

— Marcella Purnama

Success and accomplishments aren't the golden "good life" goals. Instead, having a good life is simple. For an old man to be happy, he just wants to watch the fireworks with his granddaughter on Chinese New Year's Eve.

— Marcella Purnama

The grass is greener on the other side, but often this is just an illusion. Most probably, everyone is as unhappy as you.

— Marcella Purnama