Author: Satrio Alif
On Thursday (28/10), Universitas Indonesia (UI) held a public discussion to commemorate Youth Pledge Day. In this seminar, many inspiring young figures were invited as speakers, one of which was Barijani Mahesa Putra. He was an athlete at the XX National Sports Week who won gold in the sport of roller skating. Mahesa, who is also a Communication Science student at the Vocational Education Program of UI, said that his inspiration to become a roller skater was his parents, who used to work as roller skaters too. He said that when he was a child, his parents often gave him their roller skating videos.
The proud moment that he remembers the most is when he won 5 gold, silver, and bronze medals from 5 competitions in the New York State Marathon in 2018. He said that in achieving this achievement, the role of his parents was very significant. He said that in achieving this achievement, the role of his parents was very significant. Parental support is the key to Mahesa’s encouragement in dealing with his very busy activities, both as an athlete and as a student. Mahesa did not only experience a tight schedule when he was a student. Mahesa had faced a hectic routine since he started his career as an athlete when he was a child. Over time, Mahesa got used to managing his time and thoughts in the midst of a busy schedule, armed with the discipline pattern he got while training to become an athlete.
“I have always been used to a busy schedule as an athlete. There, I learned about discipline and priority issues. When at one time there was a clashing class schedule and practice schedule, I looked at which schedule I needed to prioritize. If at that time it was more important to attend the class, I would catch up with my practice after the class ended and vice versa,” said Mahesa. Mahesa’s tight schedule as an athlete is also supported by the campus.
For example, when he was about to apply for leave this semester because he wanted to focus on preparing for the National Sports Week (PON), UI party advised him to only take full leave when the PON was in progress because that would be more efficient in terms of his academic schedule. This indicates that UI facilitates all of its students to achieve in the fields they are interested in. Being a UI student gives him challenges to be able to excel academically.
“It is hoped that young people will also have this determination to explore new things. Exploration of these new things has become very easy in today’s times through information that is very easy to obtain with very rapid technological developments. This determination can also be carried out by joining various organizations by holding various activities as a form of Indonesian Youth contribution in nation development,” said Mahesa. It is hoped that Mahesa’s inspirational story will provide motivation for young people who wish to become professional athletes and produce achievements. According to Mahesa, achievement and innovation are ways to realize the nation’s revival.
The younger generation can contribute to the country through achievements and learn to improve themselves as best they can. Apart from Mahesa, the second session of the public discussion invited several speakers from various fields, namely Kusuma Ida Anjani as the Director of Business Development and Innovation at Mustika Ratu, Alissa Qotrunnada Munawaroh Wahid as the National Director of Gusdurian Network, and Selwas Taborat as Diplomat of the Republic of Indonesia.
