Inspiring Story of Nadhirah, an IPC Student Who Won Second Place in the National English Debate Competition
Anyone can experience failure, but fighting back may require effort and strong conviction. Nadhirah Parsa Wijaya, a student of the International Programme in Communication (IPC) at the Universitas Islam Indonesia, has successfully proven this. The IPC student from the 2025 cohort successfully secured second place in the national English debate competition on 15 May 2026 at UIN Sunan Gunung Djati.
This year’s English Debate Annual Saeed National Competition marked her first experience competing at the national level previously, Nadhirah admitted she had only taken part in school-level competitions. In fact, Nadhirah had some relevant experience, having previously served as an English tutor at her former secondary school.
Armed with that experience, Nadhirah was determined to set a target: “One of my goals during university is to join an English debate competition,” she said.
Unfortunately, things did not go smoothly. She initially faced rejection when applying to join one of the university’s English debate clubs. Undeterred, she employed various strategies. One of these was collaborating with other peers.
“So I invited my friends whom I thought would make suitable debate partners: Naufal Rafi Pratama (Law) and Aisya Nurlaily (Islamic Economics). Alhamdulillah, despite our limited practice time and lack of a coach, we managed to achieve what we’d dreamed of in this debate competition,” she added.
Nadhirah explained that several strategies were key to the team’s success: besides team cohesion and fluent English, critical thinking, debating techniques, and sufficient literacy—particularly regarding the motion—were crucial.
Conflicting lecture timetables also posed a challenge. However, they managed to organise their schedules carefully to make time for joint practice. They even conducted virtual practice sessions.
“Actually, I was very nervous about taking part in this competition because it was my first experience at a national level,” she said again.
“By applying the debating skills I’d learnt and the critical thinking material I’d gained from the bridging programme classes, I felt motivated to give this competition a go. Although I was nervous at first, taking part has broadened my horizons even further,” she concluded.
That is the inspiring story of Nadhirah, an IPC student from the 2025 cohort who succeeded and rose from her failures. Not giving up easily and daring to seize opportunities will lead to success.
