The Nigerian student succeeded in achieving 2nd place in the short essay competition with his essay titled “Learning Foreign Languages while Preserving My Mother Tongue”. According to Musbahu, what enabled his essay to win 2nd place was its originality, effort, and enthusiasm. “I think the originality of your writing will help. Also, writing according to the criteria given by the organizers, the most important thing is your effort or enthusiasm for the event. You can’t play a significant role if you’re not interested. I sat for 9 hours for this writing,” Musbahu said.

Reflecting on his experience in the event, Musbahu expressed happiness for achieving 2nd place in the competition. “Alhamdulillah, I followed the announcement of the winners via Zoom on Thursday, February 24th. I am very happy because I became the 2nd place winner in the speech competition in 2021, and now I am also the 2nd place winner twice in the essay competition. Hopefully, I have sufficient competence in the Indonesian language. This has been my dream for ten years or more.”

When asked if he had predicted that he would win the competition, Musbahu answered that he did not predict to win; he participated in the competition solely to practice writing in Indonesian. “Previously, I wasn’t sure if I would win or not. Honestly, I didn’t dream of becoming 2nd place, let alone 3rd, because I wrote the essay on the last day of registration. I told myself, ‘You don’t have to be a champion, practicing writing in Indonesian is enough,'” Musbahu said.

Lastly, Musbahu expressed his gratitude to UNAIR and all his lecturers, feeling proud of UNAIR. “I want to thank UNAIR and all my lecturers. I am very proud of all of them,” Musbahu concluded.

Author: Jasmine Dwiajeng

Editor: Qurrota A’yuni