Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) has been named champion of the National Debate Competition. Three UMM students won second place in a National Debate Competition entitled “Harmoni Cinta Guru” Universitas Negeri Jakarta (UNJ) in the first week of September. In the competition, Ferdy Aprizal and Mohammad Rakan Putra Zazli Agus, the Psychology students; and Hamim Faqih, an International Relations student competed against 20 other teams from various universities in Indonesia.
Ferdi mentioned his team had prepared for the competition a week before the day. Besides mental preparation, their rhetoric and material mastery are important. They regularly practiced and reviewed debate videos on social media. “We prepared the competition to strengthen our rhetoric skills when delivering argumentation in the competition,” he said.
He also expressed his gratitude because UMM constantly encouraged and provided access to elevating their competency, especially the autonomous semi-organization (LSO) at the faculty level. Besides LSO, there are various Student Activity Units (UKM) at the university level. Therefore, all students can follow the LSO or UKM according to their talent and passion. It also can support the students to pursue varied achievements in every competition.
The student from Tarakan continued that in the elimination round, his team was in last place. Not only once, but they were repeatedly in the last position. However, due to their solid mentality, they managed to beat other competitors and gave the best performance, until they entered the final round.
Interestingly, his team recently won in the other national debate competition, including the Rhetoric Festival of Universitas Negeri Malang (UM) last July. According to Ferdi, the key to their success was trying not to underestimate others and giving the best performance.
“We don’t want to be the ones who are passionate about competing. I invite all students to find their talent, potencies, and interest. Then, it should be managed and developed, so it can contribute to our success. Also, it will maintain the good name of White Campus, UMM, at local, national, and international levels,” he hoped.
