An Outlet: Part 3

12 February, 2018 - Market Makers Finals

WE WON THE MARKET COMPETITIONNNNNN!!!!!! I AM SO HAPPPPYYYYYY!!!

*takes a deep breath*

Okay, let me start from the beginning. 

Today was the Market Makers' Finale.

Finally, the project/competition spanning over a couple of months ended today.

I was really really nervous since morning. My pre presentation jitters were quite high throughout the day. Gurtley, the third member and I went through the entire presentation multiple times to ensure that we knew our parts well and were able to explain it properly. Since we had a very small team compared to the others, we had to put in double the efforts to prepare for our presentation.

Finally the competition started. In the beginning, Gurtley was more nervous than I was but as our turn approached, I began shivering. Even Kristen (her group had also made it to the finals) noticed me and tried to calm me down. Finally, it was our turn and we decided to give it our all. We had prepared a skit and even though I knew that we would become a joke in the consecutive days because of it, I did not want to have any regrets. I acted to my best ability (which is not much but its the effort that counts, innit?) and together with Gurtley's amazing impersonation, we managed to create a good atmosphere and make the judges interested in our presentation. 

Since we had actually physically got our product made, we could show it to the judges and I think that gave them a better understanding of what our product is and why our marketing strategy makes sense. Because we had a physical product in hand, we were able to answer all questions that the judges asked. 

So during the finals, the other groups were also given a chance to question the presenting group. I think more than the judges' questions, it was the questions coming from these groups that were more difficult to tackle. This is a competition and the other teams are going to heavily stick to their viewpoints regardless of how logically the presenting team answers the question. 

We weren't an exception. There was one group who tried to load us with questions and we had an answer to all of them. This is when one not-so-good thing happened. Gurtley is very close to our program manager and we had also taken her advice while working on this project. But I think she got so attached to our group that at one point she stood up and started defending us. Even though it was our team that she was taking a stand for, I really don't think that should have happened. She cannot openly show her bias to any team in the middle of the frickin' finale! I think it was unprofessional on her part. Anyways, apart from that small incident, I think our presentation went quite well.

Slowly, all the groups finished presenting and it was finally time for the results and as you already know......

WE CAME FIRSTTTTTTT!!!! YAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!! They called out our name and then gave us the trophy and clicked photographs with us. The other groups (including the ones who questioned us) also came to congratulate us and it felt really good when they did so. We then took loads of pictures with the trophy because I have never received one in my entire life. Medal, yes. Certificates, yes. But never an actual award. And it felt great to finally hold one.

Honestly, I kind of had a feeling that we would win considering the reaction we got from the judges and the other groups (which mostly consisted of our friends) but I do not take this lightly at all. I know that I have put in a lot of effort in this project. We have spent days in college trying to better our work and it has all paid off. I will continue to work hard not (just) to get an award but to feel proud about myself and of course make my parents proud of their daughter and Alex proud of his sister. :)

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