English Debate Society (EDS) Universitas Gadjah Mada snatched another brilliant achievement in a debate competition, national and international levels. This time, EDS UGM have won championships in two different competitions. First, they won first place in the Asian English Olympics (AEO) at Bina Nusantara from 16 to 20 February. Secondly, they won first place in the Asian Law Student Association (ALSA) at Padjadjaran University from 26 to 28 February.
Aryanda Putra Tony, EDS UGM team member, said that along with Aldila Irsyad (Faculty of Law), they represented UGM in the AEO which was followed by 60 teams from various universities in the Asian region, such as Malayasia, South Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam.
“In the final round, we were dealing with two teams from the University of Indonesia and a team from Bina Nusantara. At that time, we were on the cons team with motion of Philosophy, Moral Dilemma. In the final round, we made it to the first place,” he said, Thursday (3/3), at Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM.
In ALSA competition at Padjadjaran University, UGM EDS team also won the first place. In these competitions, Aryanda Putra Tony, Aldila Irsyad, and Noel Hasintongan Simatupang (Faculty of Social and Political Sciences) beat 43 other teams from several universities in Indonesia. In the final round EDS UGM team faced Bina Nusantara team. Their final motion was related to international law.
“In the national competition, UGM actually sent two teams and one of the teams, our team, made it to the final round,” said Aryanda.
Aryanda added, in the AEO he also received an award as fifth best speaker and Aldila Irsyad as the tenth best speaker. While in the ALSA, he was named the first best speaker, while Noel Hasintongan was second best speaker, and Aldila Irsyad the fourth best speaker. Meanwhile, other UGM EDS team member, Arinta Pratiwi (Faculty of Law) secured the sixth place for best speaker in ALSA.
“(We were) Happy and proud to have won the title of champion in the two championships at once. Hopefully, this achievement can be maintained and followed by other UGM students,” he concluded.