#GetToKnow Rezza Dwi Brammadita -  A Hard Work That Pays Off

Hi everyone, the wait is over! After two pieces of our writing titled “EDC Untirta: A Brief History” and “EDC Board 2021 Profile”, we come back to you with our fresh, new article this time. We’re gonna introduce you to an inspiring figure that might be your next role model and give you a sense of motivation. Are you feeling a bit demotivated, stuck, or wanting to give up? Read more to find out why you are not alone and you can actually go through it! 

Who Is He

Meet one of our outstanding alumnus, Rezza Dwi Brammadita. He is gonna reveal what kind of life-changing journey he has been experiencing since he decided to join EDC until where he is now. Rezza graduated from the Political Science program in 2014. In 2012, he successfully had his journey as  the President of EDC Untirta. He currently works as PR & Media Coordinator at the National Olympic Committee of Indonesia and is looking forward to the upcoming projects, which are Tokyo Olympics and Sea Games 2021.

Deciding to Join EDC Untirta

When we were first joining an organization, we must have had a few considerations beforehand. The same thing also applied to Rezza. Initially, the reason why he decided to join EDC was because he saw that UKM EDC was outstanding and different from other UKM. Especially at the UKM Festival (an event during university orientation where all UKMs are promoting themselves), Rezza was paying attention to EDC presentations. He was mesmerized that the achievements of EDC were very admirable, not only from the region-scale competition but also some national and even international ones. 

The second reason was pretty much similar with most EDC members; to improve English skills and chase the opportunity to go abroad. However, it is always easy to set goals and dreams in the beginning, but little did we know sometimes the journey we are going to take is not as easy as it may seem. 

The Culture Shock

It’s very normal, isn’t it?

Having a culture shock whenever we are exposed to a new environment is normal and almost everyone generally experiences it at least once in their lifetime.

Rezza also experienced the same thing. When he was first joining EDC, the environment took him by surprise. He had seen that most of EDC members were mostly very competitive and ambitious. On top of that, he felt that his English skills were not very fluent and considered lacking comparatively to his other friends. We can imagine that the situation was not that easy for him at that time. 

Nonetheless, as time passed by, the reasons that encouraged Rezza when he first joined EDC no longer became his main priority. Turned out, he was instead more interested in the debate practice rather than worrying too much about his lack of English skill. Studying English or going abroad, he almost forgot it all and was more absorbed in debating practices. At EDC, he learned how to improve his critical thinking skills and different types of debate as well which he found very meaningful and enriching. However, this is an English debate after all, so he was still striving to enhance his English skill along the way.

From Being 97th Rank to Become Best Speaker in Oxford

One day, Rezza competed in the Indonesian Language Debate and ended up with a very decent speaker score. Seeing the potentials within him, some of EDC seniors always encouraged and coached him to be more enthusiastic and passionate about practicing even though Rezza's English skills were still lacking. After showing his determination in practices, Rezza finally had the chance to join a few debate competitions. His first competition was at ALSA UNPAD in 2010. At that time, out of 98 speakers, Rezza wrapped up the competition on 97th rank. Yes, it was top 2, but from the bottom.

Did he quit debating? No.

He was the embodiment of a saying that goes, “You will come back even stronger.”

When you meet failure, it is very humane to feel discouraged and sad. But what will set you apart from others is your next step; are you going to give up or are you willing to try again even harder? Rezza chose the latter. He practiced more diligently by joining up to 2 sessions of practices during the year. He was willing to join practices up until late at night because he wanted to progress. In 2011, Rezza had an increase in his speaker score and in early 2012, he snatched the Best Third Novice Speaker at the Asian English Olympics at Binus University. It takes time, but hard work never betrays us.

Rezza was ready for new challenges to set himself up. He bravely decided to participate in the debate competition in Oxford, despite how difficult, exhausting and complicated the process was. This journey began when his debater friend whom he knew from a debate competition asked him to join this Oxford competition. At that time the system was an open debate, where he could team up with someone who went to a different university. After they registered and passed the slot, another challenge came. Rezza had to find a sponsor to support his funding by himself. But thankfully, he was getting help from a friend and finally was able to fly to Oxford, UK. The hard work paid off. Rezza’s team had to stop the journey at Semifinal but managed to be the 3rd breaking position. On top of that, he brought home the title of Top 9 best speakers.

He went home and looked back to his previous self. Never, even once, Rezza thought that he would be able to get those opportunities because he remembered his English skills which were still very basic when he joined EDC. But thanks to the hard work, intense debate practices, and his strong will to not give up easily, he was able to go beyond his limit and gain great achievements he never thought he could.

Does EDC Play Any Role? 

Rezza believes that EDC has helped him to discover his hidden potential. He found out that he was also able to speak English fluently like other EDC members he was previously insecured of. He found himself flying to the United Kingdom and brought home the Top Speaker title. Before that, he was only a typical student with a simple mind; he only wanted to go to college. He used to feel that his English skills could only be up to that basic level which was very difficult to improve. He used to believe that it was too late for it considering he also had never joined any English course before. But guess what? It’s never too late to learn. 

Rezza thought EDC was like a starting door that opened more valuable experience and opportunity. Not only the achievements, EDC also helped Rezza to broaden his network and make friends with other debaters from all across indonesia. In terms of careers, he also felt that EDC played a big role in that. Thanks to the established networking and developed soft and hard skills from debating, he could achieve his career goals. 

“Words to live by” from Rezza

“For all members of EDC and everyone, we must realize that we all have weaknesses and strengths. We have to be patient in improving ourselves because the starting line for people is different. We will eventually arrive in the finish line at the end of the day.” 

It’s very cliche, but life is like a rollercoaster indeed. We have seen how Rezza had his ups and downs especially the time when he had his journey in EDC. Besides constant and endless support from the seniors, Rezza holds a strong grip to his principles that keep him going and handle any shortcomings. Firstly, Rezza said that we always have to accept and admit our weaknesses which in his case was his lack of English proficiency. Secondly, we should look for the reasons why and how to fix them. Lastly, don't feel ashamed or insecure if other people are better than us, instead, we should feel motivated to be better than before. Debating-wise, Rezza would like to remind us to always try to enjoy practicing because it will help when our goals couldnt be achieved. Besides that, if you go to a competition, make sure to make friends and establish networks with other debaters. You may gain new information, insights, and knowledge you may not find in any other environment.

Speaking of shortcomings, EDC members probably can relate to what Rezza experienced in his early days joining EDC. But learning from him, we really cannot overlook how hardworking he was. Joining 2 sessions of debate practices everyday during a year while his other friends only joined 1 session really speaks volume. Not only that, he also tried all sorts of methods to improve his weakness, such as by watching series or movies with English subtitles or reading a lot of news to enrich his knowledge (which is VERY important in debating). 

His experience is very eye-opening because basically, he is just like us. Most EDC Members start from zero, with very minimum skills and knowledge of English, public speaking, and critical thinking. But what distinguishes him from some of us is that he didn’t stop in the middle just because he felt terribly insecure or not good enough to be in EDC. Rezza debunks the stereotypes or assumptions that only people who are born smart or people with exceptional English skills can excel in the debating circuit. 

You have come to the end of this article. We truly hope this piece can give you something to hold when you feel like “i cannot do this,” “I am so bad at this,” or “I won’t be able to progress and achieve my goals”. Don’t let negative thoughts consume you. You can always choose, whether you want to work hard or give up, but hard work pays off.

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All EDC members would like to show our special gratitude to kak Rezza for making time to share this wonderful and insightful experience! We look forward to having more conversations in the future.

Writer: Balqis Kazama Kinari

Editor: Alisatul Aini

Images: credit to @rezzabrammadita on instagram