Thursina Student Association Holds the First Thursina Grand Festival of 2023
The Thursina Student Association (TSA) recently organized the Grand Festival (TGF) 2023 on Sunday, May 28. This national-level event took place at the male campus of Thursina International Islamic Boarding School (IIBS) and brought together participants from elementary and junior high schools all over the country.
This first ever external event of the Boys TSA featured two competition categories: the Education Competition (EDCO) and the Islamic Competition (ISCO). EDCO was an olympiad competition for students of elementary school levels. Meanwhile, ISCO offered three branches of competitions: MHQ, MTQ, and Da’i for students of junior high school levels. In addition to competitions, the event also included a food bazaar to support local businesses.
The event commenced at 8 AM in the TICH Hall on the male campus of Thursina IIBS. Following the opening, the agenda was then proceeded with the EDCO and ISCO competitions, which took place in various designated areas. The highlight of the event was the EDCO final, featuring a quiz round. At the end of the TGF 2023 festivities wrapped up with the announcement of the winners and the awards ceremony.
Ustadz Syihabuddin Al Anshori, the advisor of the TSA, noted that this event, which was the TSA’s first event involving external participants, served as a way to hone the skills of Thursina IIBS students in the field of event organizing. “Prior to this, all of the events organized by TSA only involved the school’s internal community. So, we tried to upgrade it to an external ove through this TGF,” he explained.
The 2023 TGF planning had been in the works since the beginning of the 2022/2023 TSA administration. However, the actual preparation had only started before Ramadan, around a month prior to the event date. Members of TSA thoroughly and meticulously prepared the event from putting together the day’s agenda,seeking sponsorships, and publicizing the event by distributing pamphlets both online and offline to various schools.
One of the main obstacles in preparing for TGF 2023 was estimating the activities, as it was the TSA's first event of this kind. However, they overcame this issue by assessing the students' experiences participating in competitions outside of school. Ustadz Syihab also expressed his admiration for TSA Putra for the success of this initiative.
"Initially, I was a little pessimistic because these students had never been trained to organize external activities before. Alhamdulillah, as the preparation progressed, it turned out to be possible. The results were very positive, beyond expectations," he emphasized.
As an educator, Ustadz Syihab has high hopes for his students. He expects this experience to be used as a lesson and a foundation for reflection to help organize larger events in the future.
“There’s no exact theory to organization, it requires sweat and headaches,” he stressed. “I hope students can use this experience as a foundation not only while they are here but also after they graduate.”