UNAIR NEWS – A remarkable achievement comes from a student of Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR). Raihanah Nabilla Firsty Rahman, has just won a social project competition, the Innovator’s Race 2024.
The competition was held for a week from Monday to Saturday, Jan 22-27, 2024 in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. This national-level competition was organized by the Leadership Exploration and Advancement Program (LEAP) Jakarta Leadership House. In the competition, Raihanah collaborated with three students from the University of Indonesia (UI). They are Yaneva Azzahra, M Hafidh Taqiyyudin, and Kedah Khairunnisa.
Unique and challenging competition
Raihanah stated that the competition she participated in was unique and challenging. Initially, each potential delegate had to fill out a registration form and write a motivation letter. After that, the organizers would announce the delegates who qualified and were eligible to go to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“The organizers will divide the delegates into several groups consisting of 4-5 people. The organizers will give four challenges to each group to solve puzzles while in Kuala Lumpur,” she explained.
For example, she continued, the organizers would provide clues about a place and ask the delegates to think about how to get to that place. Then, they also give clues about specific items in a place and ask participants to find them within a certain time. The group that can accurately and quickly solve each puzzle will be the winner.
“For us, this is a unique experience because we are forced to activate our street-smart mode. We have to learn the transportation system in Malaysia quickly for mobilization from one place to another efficiently. We also have to understand how to navigate in the tallest mall in Kuala Lumpur, SkyAvenue,” she explained.
Raihanah admitted that the competition was different from the academic competitions she had participated in. The competition provided a valuable lesson: don’t be afraid to ask. In the process, she and her team asked many questions to strangers in Kuala Lumpur about directions and other things. It was crucial for her and the team because asking would open up many insights and information to help them get closer to their goal.
The importance of scientific collaboration
Furthermore, Raihanah and the team admitted that once they were not confident whether they were heading in the right direction and could reach the target location. However, she and the team tried to stay calm and rational. Even when they got lost in a foreign country and had to wander around the same place.
For Raihanah, a week of working with a team with different scientific backgrounds has given her lessons. She realized that scientific collaboration was essential to solve a problem. She and the team could see the gaps in something by using different perspectives. This way, they have a holistic view of something.
“If you want to go far, go together,” said the student from Bondowoso. (*)
Author: Rafli Noer Khairam
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
