National English Competition 2025: VOLARE – Fantasy Literature: Myth, Magic, Modernity

National English Competition, known as NEC, is a national-based English competition that is annually organized by Himpunan Mahasiswa Sastra Inggris (HIMSI). This competition offers opportunities for English enthusiasts who want to demonstrate their skills through several competition categories. 

The selected categories for NEC 2025 are: 

• Essay Writing (University level): Participants are to write an in-depth literary analysis of contemporary art.
• Poetry Writing and Reading: Participants are to write a 30-200 word poem based on one of the given themes and record themselves reading the poem. The selected finalists will then perform their poem live. 
• Podcast: Participants are to create a 7-10 minute podcast in a group of 2-4 people based on one of the given themes. 
• Storytelling (High School level): Participants are to summarize and retell one of the given media (story/film) using their own style. 

In this competition, participants were judged by lecturers from the BINUS English Department. 

The National English Competition (NEC) 2025 began with open registrations on 8th October – 7th November 2025. After registrations closed, a technical meeting was held via Zoom on 8th of November, 2025 to welcome registered participants and to elaborate the competition technicalities, highlighting the submission requirements and deadline. The NEC committee then proceeded with a Q&A session, where participants were provided on-the-spot answers to their inquiries. To close the technical meeting, the committee held a documentation session. Following the technical meeting, the event proceeded to the submission period, which ended on the 2nd of December, 2025. Once the submissions were closed,  the judging period commenced on the 5th of December until 10th of December, 2025. During this period, judges for each category assessed all uploaded entries to determine the winners for the Essay Writing and Podcast competition, as well as the finalists for the Storytelling and Poetry Writing and Reading competition. 

On the 13th of December, the final round for National English Competition (NEC) 2025 was set in motion. Not only did this segment include the final performances, but also the Awarding Ceremony for participants who won each competition category. Judges of each competition category were invited to provide feedback on the finalists and winners’ work. 

The final round day began with opening remarks from Salma Nur Paramitha as the Head Event of National English Competition (NEC) 2025, Yuliana L, as the President of HIMSI, and Mrs. Criscentia Jessica Setiadi as the Deputy Head of the BINUS English Department.

The MCs (Masters of Ceremony), Nafeeza Lucindya Rifai and Nathanael Tanadrosa, hosted the event from beginning to the end. After the speeches, participants were divided into designated rooms for the live performances of the Storytelling and Poetry Writing and Reading competition finalists. Following the performances, there was a two-hour break while the judges evaluated the results. 

The event concluded with an Awarding Ceremony–where prizes, certificates, and trophies were distributed to the winners. This year’s NEC was then concluded with closing remarks from Miss Criscentia Jessica Setiadi, closing prayers, and a documentation session.

The National English Competition (NEC) 2025 would not have been possible without the support of our sponsor and media partners. Hence, we extend our utmost gratitude to I CAN READ, and our media partners: HIMCOMSCI BINUS ONLINE, HIMDI BINUS, HOME BINUS, and Information System Student Association (HIMSI) UIN Jakarta.