Yogyakarta, January 28th 2021 – The busy ones become quiet, the noisy ones become quiet, the fast ones become so slow. A pandemic may force us to stay at home. But apparently it can’t stop us from working, studying, hoping and doing many other good things. Needs that must be met, problems that must be resolved, time that continues to pass, and a universe that continues to work are unavoidable realities. The same is felt by Ibnu Andy Wicaksana, a student of the Department of Politics and Government who recently won a championship in the Online Distancing Model United Nation Competition (ODMUN) 2.0. He feels that the pandemic period provides lessons about adjustment. This student who is familiarly called Andy said that the pandemic had a lot of influence on MUN, so that activities were transferred online. However, the unpredictable condition of the pandemic has forced Andy to adapt. “Because the substance of MUN is still the same, online or offline is just a platform,” he explained. This student who is also entrusted as President of the UGM MUN Community has just won 3rd place in the ODMUN 2.0. In his statement, the competition was one of the pioneers of online MUN in Indonesia which was also recognized by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.With the theme ‘Preserve Liberty, Advance Prosperity’ Andy took a topic that became the main subject of the council’s historical crisis, the Afghan Soviet War in 1980. There was both a burden and an advantage to Andy on this topic. On the one hand, the topics he took on made him the center of discussion. However, on the other hand, it also made him dominant. During the competition process, Andy admitted that he enjoyed it because he could meet many people. “Because it was fun from the start to debate and negotiate, so the award was just a personal bonus for me,” he said.Not only Andy, but Fernando Galang Rahmadana, a final year student at the Department of Sociology of UGM, also managed to close the 2020 perfectly. He won 1st place in the Nature Conservation Jamboree Essay Competition which was held by Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS). Based on the theme, “The Interaction between Humans and the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park Area”, Nando sent an essay entitled “Young People as Indigenous People of Social Media in the Development of the TNBTS Area”. According to him, the title was a form of simplification of digital native theory which was also conveyed by the committee during the briefing. This is because the organizing committee hopes that the work written by the participants does not need to use complicated language so that it can be understood by the public in general. “The message is kind of a real slap for me as an academic, why should we write in complicated language if there is no meaning for the benefit of society,” Nando said.
Previously, this student who is currently undergoing a thesis was quite involved in social activities. In campus, Nando was active in the Student Activity Unit (UKM) at the faculty and university level, namely the Jamaah Muslim Fisipol and and the UKM Peduli Difabel. In addition, he also admitted that he spent more time off campus, from part-time work to volunteer activities. These activities include part-time work at the Library of FISIPOL (2018-2020); Lombok earthquake volunteers (2018); flash flood volunteers in Lebak Banten (2020); volunteer at the Jogja Food Solidarity (2020); and DERU UGM volunteers (2020). He did a series of activities before he focused on doing his thesis. “Since October until now I’ve worked part time at the Directorate of Community Service (DPKM) while doing my thesis,” he continued.
Behind the myriad of experiences, it turns out that there is a long process in the world of writing that he also enjoys. Nando said that the competition he won was his first writing competition. Previously, he lacked confidence in publishing his writings to the public. This originated from the KKN activity which required him to make a policy brief program. “I don’t know why do I really dare to spread it to everyone because I feel it’s useless if I write good writing but no one reads it, it’s useless,” he added. After that, he began to dare to write and publish articles on several platforms and media. From there emerged the courage to publish his writings to many people.
The culmination of his courage was participating in a competition held by TNBTS. Nando was very optimistic to be able to win this competition. This optimism made him desperate enough to use his tuition fee savings to buy holiday tickets to Bali before the announcement of the competition. “Yes, if I win, it will help to pay my ticket to Bali, if I lose, I only have a few weeks to look for money to pay my tuition fee this semester,” Nando said while remembering his recklessness at that time. However, his optimism was not an unreasonable thing. Previously, Nando went and looked for data for his thesis in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. So, Nando felt that he had sufficient data to write about. Apart from that, he also had the chance to help a junior in work on a thesis proposal with the theme of youth studies. “I realized, this pandemic actually returned me to what I wanted, given various tests, full of taking risks that I thought were crazy, but I was still strong through it until it was over.” he said.