Medina Warda Aulia, a Master’s student of Administrative Sciences Program at Faculty of Administrative Sciences, Universitas Indonesia Indonesia (FIA UI) won a gold medal for Indonesia in the rapid chess sport at 2021 SEA Games. Medina and her partner were declared the winners after outdoing the Tie Break (TB) 2 calculation from the host Vietnam.
“So, when it comes to chess, we have to make a strategy in every step. This is similar to public policy where there must be a strategy to formulate public policies,” said Medina who is currently also pursuing her Masters in Public Policy at FIA UI.
This victory is the second time Medina has donated a gold medal for Indonesia. Previously, Medina made the same achievement at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines. She admitted that she could be selected as an athlete representing Indonesia in the 2021 Sea Games thanks to the prayers, hard work, and support of all parties to obtain the title of Grandmaster Putri Indonesia. That title made her automatically selected without selection to become Indonesia’s representative in the 2021 Sea Games.
Medina shared her journey to this victory. “The biggest challenge is that yesterday I was physically not okay because of allergies and diarrhea. But, Praise be to God, I can still focus because I have a dream to realize,” she said.
He added that another challenge is time management as an athlete and as a student. “In S2, I have more freedom to practice and manage my schedule, unlike in S1. I usually adjust to the competition schedule within the next month. I also often do assignments in my spare time and after that I can focus on training to prepare for the match,” Medina said, explaining time management amidst her busy routine.
Medina hopes that after completing her master’s degree at FIA UI, she can improve the quality of sports in Indonesia, especially in the field of sports policy. In addition, Medina also has a dream to become a female world champion in chess.
According to her, if someone has a dream, they must pursue that dream. “Do the efforts with prayer. If you have tried and prayed, I am sure that the dream will be given by Allah,” said Medina.
Dean of FIA UI Prof. Dr. Chandra Wijaya, M.Sc., MM. said that all superiors and the big family of FIA UI congratulate and are proud of Medina’s achievements. “Dreams are created from hard work and achievements, not a coincidence. Medina’s actions are certainly a great pride for FIA UI. Once again, I thank you very much.”
Prof. Chandra hoped that Medina’s achievements can be a motivation for all FIA UI students to be more active in developing talents and making Indonesia and FIA UI proud.
