Representing Indonesia, Sofya Dewi Simanjuntak Competes at the Cultural Mission Festival in Thailand

By Adi Permana

Editor Adi Permana

BANDUNG, itb.ac.id – Sofya Dewi Simanjuntak, an ITB Industrial Engineering study program student, was reigned as 2022's Miss Art of Indonesia at the Putera-Puteri Kesenian Indonesia in November 2022. Thanks to her victory, she was chosen as Indonesia's representative at the Cultural Mission Festival in Thailand, which will be held in late 2023.

The Putera-Puteri Kesenian Indonesia is an annual competition organized by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture to preserve the national art through the creativity of younger generations. Its focus is to inspire the creation of new, innovative, and sustainable art with high aesthetic value.

Aspiring to develop her talent and skills in the arts and modeling, Sofya believes that her participation will attract more attention to her work, which promotes the preservation of Indonesian culture.

Sofya admitted that going through the competition is not an easy journey. During the registration phase, it was difficult for her to cover the required large sum of funds. She also needed help in finding a sponsor to fund her journey. Ultimately, she had no choice but to use her internship salary to participate in the competition.

"The challenges I faced were mainly related to finance. However, I managed to solve the issue with my savings," Sofya explained during her interview with the ITB Directorate of Student Affairs on Thursday (19/01/2023).

Sofya believed that she won this award because of her confidence in herself. "No matter how much the challenges are, humans will always find the opportunities to succeed if we have a burning conviction in our hearts," she stated. "Everyone can succeed if genuinely confident in themselves."

Reporter: Nur Rama Adamas (Teknik Sipil, 2020)
Translator: Favian Aldilla R (Civil Engineering, 2019)