UNAIR NEWS – Commitment to making achievements never fade in the minds of Airlangga Knights. Two UNAIR students, Wendy Belinda Tiantini from FIB and Avim Dwi Wiranata from FISIP won Third place in the 2023 I&T Open Debate Competition on Sunday, Dec 3, 2023.
The I&T Open Debate Competition is a debate competition organized by the Indonesian and Taiwanese debate community (I&T) and the Indonesian Student Association in Taiwan (PPI Taiwan). This competition lasted for two days with four competition stages, from the preliminary round, pre-semifinals, semifinals, to the final.
Wendy as the team representative said that she and her colleague were very happy and proud because they were able to win an international debate competition. This win was a valuable experience for both of them to continue practicing to become better debaters. Moreover, the assessment standards of international debate judges are different from the standards of national debate judges, so they had to learn many things.
“On the other hand, we also felt nervous because this debate competition was very fierce and competitive considering it is international in scope and open to the public. But, we have also prepared for it by continuing to practice and always being there for each other. We also carry out continuous evaluations in each round so that we know where our weaknesses are and can immediately overcome them,” she explained.
Diversity of debate motions
Furthermore, the Literary and Cultural Studies student said that various motions were being debated in the competition, from technology, politics, feminism, young people, to disabilities. According to her, the issue of disability is the most interesting and quite challenging.
“We faced one motion that discussed students with disabilities in Taiwan. Even though it is quite difficult, this motion is very good because it discusses equality in the field of education without separating students with disabilities. Apart from that, it can also be a platform for regular students to learn more about students with disabilities and eliminate stereotypes that exist in society,” said Wendy.
Provide tips
In the end, Wendy advised students who wanted to take part in debate competitions to try. She admitted that before deciding to take part in the competition, she and her team were reluctant because the participants in this competition were mostly experienced debaters. However, they remained positive and tried to do their best.
“Trust with teammates is very influential because Avim and I have different styles when building cases. So, we just trust each other that we will do our best,” she said. (*)
Author: Rafli Noer Khairam
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
