The Champion Mentality: Conquering Fear and Building Discipline

A legend is born from a long struggle. Muhammad Ali once talked about people who became famous because of boxing. But did Ali become famous because of boxing? According to him, he was the one who made boxing famous. This was a very bold statement, and he never changed it. Do you know why? Because he trained very hard, but his will was stronger than his training. He was also not afraid of going to prison when he and most Americans opposed the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He never gave up on what he believed in.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame placed Muhammad Ali’s name as the only one displayed on the wall, not on the floor like other great world figures. The name ‘Muhammad’ on Muhammad Ali is an honor, and no one should step on it. It represents self-esteem, principles, and honor achieved through a strong attitude.

The fun learning days at Rumah Belajar Bersama (RBB) Tanete have been running normally. Now, it is the time to upgrade their learning quality. Lessons on changing tenses are being deepened by Fajar Hamzah (Mr. Ancha). With bright faces and confident looks, the students are becoming braver to mention tenses from memory using a ‘blank box’ method, just to know which tense they will present during a live broadcast on social media. They break through their fear of speaking and deliver sentences with the correct structure.

Their seriousness in learning increases even more after Mr. Agung Pratama Salassa arrived at class to give a written test—in the previous meeting, they also took a written test. The goal is to make tests, which are often considered scary, feel normal to them. Moreover, the target score is more than 90 percent correct so that their English can be useful in the academic world.

So, do not be surprised if students who are good at speaking and answer written questions correctly can still get a score of zero just because they put a comma, question mark, or period in the wrong place. This is mental training. Mr. Agung knows that the habit of not using capital letters at the beginning of a sentence comes from lack of discipline when writing in Indonesian, which then affects their English. Therefore, if the correct writing in English becomes a habit, it will definitely have a good effect on their Indonesian, because both languages use the Latin alphabet and have many similarities in using punctuation marks.

With the implementation of this strict rule, Miss Fathy Cayadi said, “With a fairly large and varied number of questions, many students are nervous. But it does not mean they give up, because they think they should be able to get a good score after succeeding in the oral practice.” This contradiction inside the students is like an effort to build a champion’s mindset like Muhammad Ali: high discipline, strong will, and the courage to face challenges.

In line with that, B. J. Habibie said, “You must always be consistent in pursuing a discipline of science that you learn. Because with consistency, you can be like me.” Andi Widya Maulidyah, an alumna of RBB Bulukumba and now a student at Universitas Negeri Makassar (UNM), achieved 1st place in the Grammar Hacks Competition at English Fair, 2026. This is because she has been learning English since elementary school. During middle and high school, she never won. She realized her quality was very good and only needed time to fight in the right place. She kept fighting until she became the only one who defeated all the senior students competing in the university, the best of the best.

Students can follow the footsteps of those successful people by learning from the journeys of their lives. As long as RBB Tanete students also walk the path of those great champions, one day they will surely prove something great too.

Zulkarnain Patwa
Bulukumba, September 13, 2026