The talents of Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) students every year always show proud achievements. Various competitions and other such activities always receive attention and enthusiasm from students. Not surprisingly, from these competitions, USU students often won the title of champion at the national and international levels. The fields contested also vary, ranging from science, social, scientific applications, and sports to art.

Most recently, one of the Information Technology students of the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FasilkomTI) USU made USU proud nationally. Rasyid Hafiz won the 1ST Winner Adobe Certified Professional National Championship held by Adobe Certified Professional with My Edu Solve. Unmitigated, this achievement made Rasyid -a familiar name - become Indonesia's sole representative at a similar international competition in Florida, United States.

Rasyid became a champion among 212 participants from 87 schools and universities throughout Indonesia. After passing the final 30 rounds, the jury determined Rasyid's work as the best. His work was considered to meet the criteria set in the event with the theme Explore Potential, Expose Greatness. The competition lasted one week and went through several stages: certification, submission, competition, and final.

According to him, the concept of the competition that applies client-based is a challenge in a design competition. This concept requires all participants to create a poster following the requests and criteria set by the client. Turun Tangan, a forum for young people to channel their talents and interests in the political and social fields, became a client whose challenges had to be answered by all participants.

Rasyid cleared the Turun Tangan challenge by creating a profoundly meaningful poster. With the poster theme 'Think Big, Start Small, Act Now,' Rasyid conveyed a call for young people to move and contribute to the nation and state. The jury considered the poster to be able to give the message effectively to consumers. The combination of yellow, red, and white colors by Rasyid is supported by the layout, hierarchy, and typeface used.

He wrapped the poster with the accompanying description, 'To be a good leader; we must be a good civilian." Turun Tangan aims to produce quality leaders by conducting social and political activities and opening up discussion spaces for the community. Turun Tangan believes that young people should contribute more to politics, become leaders, and have the same leadership qualities as the older generation.

Representing Indonesia in the United States is a big responsibility for him. He expected to take advantage of this opportunity. Previously he had felt insecure during the final assessment when his presentation queue number was in the last position. Rasyid watched other participants present their work. But slowly he found his confidence again by strengthening himself to focus on giving his best. Moreover, the time given was only 3 minutes for the presentation, which required high concentration.

Previously, Rasyid had just returned from Austria as an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility (ICM) Awardee to Austria. In addition, he also won 2nd Winner UX Challenge At 4c Virtuality National Competition, Ministry of Education and Culture PKM-KC Funding, University Best Idea Erasmus+ Inspire Competition, and Leading Innovation Award By World Innovation Competition And Exhibition.

The student from Pangkalan Brandan, Langkat Regency, said he was familiar with the world of design. He calls himself his family’s designer. His father's activities in society often utilized Rasyid's skills for posters, banners, and billboards. This continued when he was in college, where he always got the design part for the activities carried out. The design world seemed to continue to envelop him, so he was already known as "Kang Desain" (Design Man) among his friends.

Rasyid said he did not expect such great support and attention from various parties for this achievement. The information he obtained from the activity organizers mentioned that they needed to accommodate him to participate in the international-level competition. This confused him in finding a sponsor to cover his accommodation in Uncle Sam's country. As a result, USU took on the role of the main sponsor after he communicated with the issued faculty.

The info on the absence of the sponsor turned out to have been buried for almost a month since the winner's announcement. Rasyid admits that he has an anxiety disorder that makes him anxious and easily worried. The mental health issue also made Rasyid often feel alone and that no one cared about him. However, that assumption changed when he saw how the campus supported his struggle. It was a valuable lesson for him that communication is the key to every problem faced.

He also emphasized this lesson to other USU students to always communicate openly with the campus for all activities that are followed to get support. He invited USU students not to be discouraged from achieving dreams and struggling. According to him, being a student is the best moment to realize existence and develop self-potential. This experience is a provision to prepare themselves to face the world after graduation, likewise Rasyid. This achievement makes him more confident to pursue further education at one of the leading universities in the field of interaction design in Finland. (RR)

Author: Bambang Riyanto - Humas

Interviewee: - - -

Photographer: Amri Simatupang - Humas