Rifaldy Fajar, a student at YSU Undergraduate Mathematics Study Program, won the second prize of the National Mathematics Essay Competition held by the Mathematics Department Student Association at State University of Medan, North Sumatra. This essay competition was among other competitions in the fields of mathematics and education. Rifaldy’s winning essay was entitled “Mathematics, Realities of the Implementation of Mathematics Education in Students’ Character Building.

In the elimination stage, the committee announced 15 finalists of the essay competition. The participants came from a number of universities such as State University of Malang, Jember University, Islamic State University of Raden Fatah Palembang-South Sumatra, North Sumatra University, State University of Medan, and Medan Health Polytechnic. All finalists were invited to present their papers at State University of Medan.

“Thank God, this is a wonderful opportunity for me to participate in this competition and win the second prize. Most of the students are more senior than me. I always put a lot of efforts to prepare the presentation and learn effective presentation techniques. I also try to improve my essays and then I correct the mistakes. The results are worth it. The key is to keep learning and evaluating ourselves. I hope that I can achieve better results in the future,” said Rifaldy.

The first winner of the essay competition was Islamic State University of Palembang-South Sumatra delegate, and the third prize went to Bandung Institute of Technology delegate.