The UGM Faculty of Psychology student team succeeded in achieving third place in the 2024 Psychology Village Debate Competition held by Pelita Harapan University on April 19-25, 2024.
The team consisting of Nadia Puti Dianesti (2021), Seravin Afra Secunda (2022), and Alya Nur Faiza (2022) took part in a series of competitions divided into three rounds before finally being crowned third place on Thursday (25/4).
“We won every preliminary round and qualified for the quarterfinals with the second highest score out of 12 teams,” explained Seravin Afra Secunda enthusiastically on Wednesday (22/5).
His team continued to advance to the semifinals after beating the UPH team in the quarterfinals, but unfortunately, when they faced Krida Wacana University in the semifinals, Seravin and his team had to give up victory.
“We entered the pre-final round against Sanata Dharma University. “We won the round and won third place,” he continued.
Seravin explained that Psychology Village 2024 is a competition for national-level students that is held every year. The 2024 Psychology Village Debate Competition brings together students from various universities in Indonesia to show their skills in presenting critical arguments against motions on the competition theme “Self-Exploration.”
“Psychological debate competitions are very helpful in improving knowledge and ability to reason and speak in public,” said Seravin.
The team, under the guidance of Ardian Rahman Afandi, S.Psi., M.Psi., Psychologist, admitted that they had made preparations two months before the competition was held, namely in February. Competition preparations include determining roles as first, second, and third speakers, as well as various discussions regarding motions that will arise related to the competition theme.
“From the motions collected, we practiced various strategies. Three weeks before the competition, the committee releases a prepared motion that will come out during the preliminary round. We focused on finding weighty arguments on both the pros and cons sides for the seven movements presented. “We also practice delivering our speeches to ensure that the duration does not exceed the specified time,” explained Seravin.
Before participating in Psychology Village 2024, this team had also won various other debate competitions such as the Widya Mandala Catholic University Psychology Fair (4-6 May 2023) and Padjajaran University Psyferia (1-8 October 2023).
After winning third place in Psychology Village 2024, the UGM Psychology debate team hopes to continue to excel in the field of psychology debate and other competitions. They are determined to develop themselves further and bring the good name of UGM Psychology to various competitions.
Author: Erna