Grace Citra Dewi, 34 years of age, once did not believe God exists. “I am an atheist, or to be precisely speaking, I doubt God’s existence.”
This Malang girl completed her high school in 2005. She continued to study Biochemistry in the University of California of Berkeley, di Amerika. In the middle of her education year, she applied to the laboratory of NASA as a researcher, and she got accepted! “My mom in Malang did ask, nek ditegep alien piye (what if you got abducted by alien)?”
At NASA, Grace researched on the changes of various cells after being sent to the outer space station. These various cells of bacteria were treated differently. The ones came from the outer space in a frozen form would be diluted, radiated in different dosages, cloned, and observed. The wide range of complexity shown had brought her into a conclusion: “The cells are too advanced to exist without a cause. So, God does exist.”
After getting her bachelor degree, Grace continued her master degree at the University of Tokyo in 2009. Her light shone brighter and she obtained her Ph.D. from Rutgers Business School Newark in 20017, “I was 32 years old that time.”⠀
Grace had a mountain high of experience working with prominent institutions, from BASF, Venture Capital in Silicon Valley to Lux Research in nanotechnology, “I worked with all the titans who demanded only the best results.”
One day, Grace met Mari Pangestu, former Minister in the SBY era, “Ibu Mari asked me to come home and contribute for my country.”
After spending a few months with CSIS, Grace then offered to join BRI to handle a visionary big data project.
It did not take long for the Presidential Staff Office (PSO) to contact and recruit her, “So, here I am, in the PSO, assisting in the digital economy, digital technology, and fin-tech.”
So, what is the difference between working with the titans, especially at NASA, and with PSO? “At NASA, everything is predictable, accordingly following the science theory. You have no worries, just check what does the science say. Here, amidst all the uncertain variables, we must pray a lot!”
More challenging? “Absolutely! In PSO we have to consider every aspect of society. At NASA, cells of bacteria need no empathy and no need to be humanized. Hahaha…”
Pic by @mlcko
#PuanIndonesia⠀
#CeritaPerempuan⠀
#WomenStory⠀
#Jakarta
