Good news comes from the UGM Faculty of Psychology Debate Team, led by Nadia Puti Dianesti (2021), with members Seravin Afra Secunda (2022) and Sinta Damayanti (2021), who successfully won first place in the Psyferia 2023 Debate Competition at Universitas Padjadjaran on Sunday (8/10). Not only that, the UGM Psychology Faculty team also received awards as the 3rd Best Speaker by Seravin and the 8th Best Speaker by Nadia out of more than 60 debate participants. This national psychology debate competition was participated by representatives from various universities in Indonesia, including Diponegoro University, University of Indonesia, and Sanata Dharma University.
Before becoming the champion, the team, under the guidance of Smita Dinakaramani, S.Psi., M.Psi., Psychologist, went through four rounds of competition. The preliminary and quarter-final rounds were conducted online via Zoom on Sunday (1/10), while the semi-final and final rounds were held on Sunday (8/10) at Universitas Padjadjaran.
“Our team excelled in the first preliminary round, but we experienced defeat in the second preliminary round. However, that did not dampen our spirits because we still had one more chance to advance to the quarter-finals. With good teamwork and trust among each other, we achieved victory in the third preliminary round,” explained Nadia enthusiastically.
This is the second time that Nadia, Seravin, and Sinta’s team has achieved success in psychology debate competitions. Previously, the team won second place in the Debate Competition Psychology Fair at Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University in May.
The team also shared the moments of victory they went through during the competition. “We debated against Sanata Dharma University as the pro team with the motion ‘This Council Supports the Increase of Psychological Treatment (medical, therapy) as the Primary Choice for Individual Mental Health.’ As a result, we won the debate competition and became the 1st place winner.”
Nadia admitted that the team had been preparing for this debate competition since August. Despite their busy schedule with internships, coursework, and participating in the Student Creativity Program (PKM), Nadia, Seravin, and Sinta managed to find time to practice.
“We also sparred with other teams from Gadjah Mada and practiced speeches with motions related to the theme. When the motions were released, we focused on preparing arguments for both the pro and con sides,” explained Nadia.
The strong desire to continuously improve and bring honor to the UGM Faculty of Psychology in national competitions, as well as the motivation to establish relationships with various universities in Indonesia, encouraged the team to participate in the competition.
“We hope to bring a good reputation to UGM Psychology in debate competitions and other branches of competitions, and we will not stop striving for achievements,” Nadia expressed when asked about the team’s future plans.
Author: Erna