Raditya Evan, a 12th-grade student from MAN 1 Surakarta, Central Java, has won first place in the 2025 National History Olympiad (OSN). Competing against 45 participants from schools across Indonesia, Raditya emerged as the champion after a series of rigorous selection stages.
“I’m really happy, and honestly, I didn’t expect to win first place,” Raditya said with a wide smile after the announcement of winners last Saturday. He shared that the competition questions required analytical thinking rather than memorization. “The questions were quite challenging—neither too hard nor too easy. It was more about analyzing causes and effects and understanding the context of historical events,” he explained.
Raditya said he began preparing two weeks before the competition. “I studied history every day, trying to understand the flow and logic of history instead of just memorizing dates,” he added.
The road to victory was not easy. After passing the first elimination round and ranking among the top 20 participants, Raditya was invited to Semarang for the second stage. From there, five finalists were selected to advance to the final round, where the top three winners were ultimately determined.
Mukhamad Shokheh, Coordinator of the History Study Program at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, expressed his appreciation to all participants. “This event serves as a shared learning space to nurture critical thinking, a sense of nationalism, and sportsmanship. Let history be not only a lesson but also an awareness that shapes character and the nation’s future direction,” he said during the opening ceremony.
The annual competition is part of the National Heroes Month series of events organized by the History Student Association of FISIP UNNES. In addition to the Olympiad, several other competitions have been held, with the main event scheduled for November.
