In mid-August, Indonesian students won achievements at the 16thInternational Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) which was held offline on 10-20 August 2023 in Chorzów, Poland. The Indonesian team managed to win one silver medal, four bronze medals and two Best International Team awards which are equivalent to gold medals.
Silver winner, Dzaky Rafiansyah, Semesta High School student, Semarang, Central Java, won silver for the second time at the same event, previously in 2022. “I want to take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way so I won’t regret it later if I don’t take the chance. “said Dzaky via short message, September 3 2023.
Dzaky admitted that he liked astronomy since grade 3 of junior high school. According to him, this field does not only study theory, but studies other beautiful things such as stars. “Constellations, nebulae, planets, star clusters and other astronomical objects are very beautiful,” he explained. This is what made him interested in taking part in this astronomy olympiad.
However, regarding the Olympics, he admitted that he had been following it since elementary school. “The school chose me to represent the school in the OSN event ,” he recalled, remembering the first Olympics. The passage of time made him like the world of the Olympics even more and became more interested in exploring it until high school. As for the medal, he first got it in grade 10.
Not only schools support, but also parents. He explained the role of parents who often help, such as registering for competitions or training to prepare material. Apart from that, at school he joined an organization at the school specifically for Olympic children. If that wasn’t enough, outside of school he also often took part in Olympic organizations so he could meet many other friends who had similar interests and talents as him.
Polish Olympics
According to Dzaky, during the Olympics in Poland, the competition was divided into several rounds, namely theory, data analysis, observation and Team Competition. “In my opinion, the theory round is the most difficult round and requires the most preparation compared to the other rounds,” he explained.
While the data analysis round is the most tiring round because a lot of data will be provided to be processed. The Observation Round is the most tense round because the typical questions in this round only have a small amount of time to work on. This round is also the one that requires the most movement compared to other rounds that just sit and do the questions.
Lastly, the Team Competition Round is a round where one team works on questions, which is a round that requires teamwork. This round is the most fun because we can work on questions together with other friends.
Even though with astronomy he competed at the international level and won, it turned out that Dzaky’s next choice of study was not in that field. “Because of the possible prospects, I want to find a job with promising prospects,” said Dzaky.
Computer Science
With his favorite subjects being mathematics and physics, Dzaky anchored his choice to computer science at Gajah Mada University. According to him, the Department of Computer Science is interesting, because he doesn’t like traditional learning. “Studying computer science suits me,” he explained.
If some of his fellow medal winners chose to study abroad, Dzaky chose to remain in Indonesia while developing several programs for the Olympics at @scuola_id. He plans to study abroad when he masters later.
Meanwhile for another job. “I am interested in becoming an entrepreneur,” he said, referring to his chosen field. Apart from the world of technology, the world of business also attracts his attention because according to him it is very exciting to think of ideas for business that influence the results of our business.
