UNS — Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta students achieved diverse achievements in academic and non-academic fields. Arfemisantya Yoana Ramadhani, Diploma Program (D-4) in Demography and Civil Registration (DPS) student Vocational School (SV) UNS has bright achievement as Mbak Sukowati (Miss Sukowati) of Sragen District, Mbak Jawa Tengah (Miss Central Java) in 2018, and the Best 5 Indonesia Tourism Ambassador in the same year.
On this occasion, uns.ac.id has an opportunity to chat with Arfemisantya or Femy, who explained that she was an archery athlete in Sragen District before entering the beauty pageant world. Femy often represented Sragen in various competitions at the provincial level. This information is exciting since most people would find difficulties adjusting from the athlete’s life into beauty pageant stages.
Archery Athlete: The Beginning
The student born in 2020 started her archery career at the end of 2014. She learned the bow and arrows sport from her father and later decided to delve deeper into the sport. She stated that the sport was initially her way of finding learning and life balance after graduating from the accelerated system at the Junior High School, limiting her from the number of non-academic activities.
“I tried to follow my father’s suggestion to participate in archery. At first, it was just a small community, then KONI Sragen took an interest in me; they gave me trainer, training, and tools,” she explained.
Femy very first competition was the Provincial Competition U-15 category in Semarang, which did not bring success for her. However, the young athlete soon achieved various achievements in the following competitions, such as 2nd place in Women’s Round National POPDA 2016, 2nd place Women’s U16 30m PORKAB Sragen, 2nd place Women’s U16 40m PORKAB Sragen, and 2nd place Women’s U16 50m PORKAB Sragen.
Femy shared that she had exciting experiences as an athlete. However, the most remarkable experience she has is during the Kejurprov 2015 in Semarang, when the weather started very hot but turned into heavy rain midday. The championship could not be postponed, so she was shooting under heavy rainfall.
“It was postponed for half an hour, but the rain did not stop, while the championship needs to go through. From morning we got hot from sunshine when the rain started, we took cover for a while. Then for 2 hours, from 1 to 3 pm, we shoot under the rain because it could not be postponed any longer. From 3 to 4 pm rain stopped and it was hot again. So, our body went through hot, rain, wet, then hot again. It did not feel good at all; when I came home from that, I fell sick,” Femy remembered.
Tourism Ambassador Journey
Femy was interested in starting a tourism ambassador journey after seeing an ambassador on their duty during PORKAB Sragen. Femy is also motivated by her aunt’s experience as the first Sragen Tourism Ambassador in 1990.
“(I think) it was fun to see the tourism ambassadors; they could participate in district’s events, they are beautiful and handsome. They have more experience than other people; why don’t I try that,” she remembered.
After graduating from Senior High School and starting college, Femy collected the courage to participate in Sragen District Tourism Ambassadors 2018. “At first, it was hard, from archery athlete to gamble and entered ambassador’s field. Moreover, I was uncertain if I could, if a tomboy girl could participate in this kind of event,” she said.
From Athlete to Tourism Ambassador
To start her journey, a great adjustment should be made by Femy. From two different images, an athlete who stays under the sun, to an ambassador who takes care of their image and to be interesting to watch. “Then (I thought) how I could change it. Then, I participated in modeling class because from (my) tomboy persona; it is impossible to switch that easily,” Femy said.
Starting from zero, Femy learned many things to achieve what she has now. From a girl who did not have a skirt aside from her school uniform, to learn catwalk, how to sit properly, how to be interesting to watch, public speaking, and other related materials. “Those things should be learned to be an ambassador,” she explained.
Wandering in an uncharted region for her, Femi fully understands that in the competition, she will meet many great people from all over Sragen. Thus, her preparation was like ammunition in war. “Do we want to go to war without ammunition? Do we want to ‘die’ in ‘war’? So we need to take the best preparation,” the seventh-semester student stated.
Insecurity was there. For a 17 years old girl who just moved from archery into the ambassadorial world and to meet great finalists with a myriad of achievements, some already work, some in universities, the inferiority feeling once also creep into Femy. “There was insecurity, inferiority. But we need to believe; insecurity occurs when we focus on our drawbacks. What is it for? Because everyone has their strength, so show your strength, not your insecurity, that makes people lose belief in you. How will people believe if we do not believe in ourselves?” she said.
With all of her hard works and efforts, Femy won the Mbak Sukowati title in 2018 and represented her district at the provincial level with her counterpart, Ridho Sutan Prayoga.
Underestimated
Femy’s struggle from athlete to Tourism Ambassador was not all bright and glitters. Even after winning the competition and starting her duty the next day, negative words flew around, saying that she won because her father works for the district government. This accusation from other finalists got its way to Femy and made her down. But she tried to prove that the accusation was an empty word and that her achievement was the fruit of her efforts and hard works.
“I need to prove myself; I could not stop them; I only have two hands to cover my ears. But with only covering ears, people will still say the same. That’s why I need to prove myself in Mas Mbak Jateng. By winning in Mas Mbak Jateng, I proved that they have empty words and was just sheer envy,” she said.
All processes, efforts, and tears brought great results. Femy stated that we need to take the process, even to continue during the lowest, because no result betrays the effort. “Moreover, when you win and see your parents smile to see their children achieved something, it was a, extraordinary moment,” she added.
Femy concluded the interview by stating that her parent’s support is the most significant source of energy for her. “Alhamdulillah, I have family that 100% supported whatever I fight for, as long as what I do is positive, do not harm school and academics. Parents always support, even accompany me wherever I went somewhere for my duty or when I need something; my parents always said, let’s go, we will help you,” she said. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
