Winning a competition is not an easy thing for anyone, there will be struggle and sacrifice in each competition that we are going through. Surely, hese challenges are also felt by Efan Muhammad Rassya, Ilham Subandoro, Rafif Fakhrizal Amri, Michael Wijaya, and Falih Zuhdi Rizqullah on Shanghai International Invention and Innovation Exhibition 2021. Coming out together as a 2nd winner, Efan, Ilham, Rafif, Michael, and Falih surely have gone through a long journey from the national level against tons of groups, to the international level against 15 countries all over the world, in the midst of a pandemic. So, how can they attain their glory in the International competition? Let’s check these out!
Set good intentions
“As long as you have good intentions, good things will come, Inshaallah,” said Falih Zuhdi. Falih believes as long as you start with a good intention, for example, to make your parents proud or to get Indonesia’s name on the international league, every single step that we are making will feel easier and lighter.
Come as a learner
Fun fact, this is the first international competition that Michael Wijaya enrolled in. Who knows, this is the first international competition that Michael won, too! Despite his 100% success rate in the international scaled competition, Michael has experienced many failures in his other competition. He believes that as long as we keep in mind that we are there to learn, failure will feel better and even motivate us to be better in the next competition.
Take advantage of the situation
Surely, it is a different feeling for anyone to do everything throughout the virtual platform since the pandemic. There is no traveling abroad for the competition, looking straight on the judge’s face, or networking with the other team. Though, Ilham as a team leader has told us that this also can be seen as an opportunity if we look at it from the bright side. There will be less heart palpitating, and we also can communicate with our team through the other platform! Other than that, Ilham also gives us tips that during the online presentation, we can always put a presentation note wherever we feel comfortable.
Diligent
Michael realized that most of the time, people don’t join the competition because they don’t know about it more than they are afraid to do it. Thus, Ilham, as someone who has joined various national and international competitions, has told us that it is important to be diligent and keep up to date with current information by checking out websites such as the education ministry of other countries and accounts that are specially made for competition regularly. Ilham believes there are no boundaries left in this globalized world, especially during the pandemic. It is easy for us to surf the internet, search for information.
Find the right teammates
It can’t be denied that most success comes from a group effort, thus it will always be the most important thing to choose the right people to work with. “It all started from me as a shy person, thus I chose my closest one to be my teammates in this competition. Turns out, that was the best decision of mine to choose my teammates based on whom I get comfortable with!” said Ilham as the team leader. Ilham told us that working with his close friends to get home more comfortable in discussion leads to even more productive execution as everyone will feel free to give in and ask for help.
So, after all the tips our winners have taught us, would you like to try and give a chance to an international competition too? To know more about their interesting journey as a runner-up of Shanghai International Invention & Innovation Exhibition 2021, check it out on SBM ITB Talks Episode 39!