AndrewCharmaine Mtongwizo
SITTING in the auditorium at Prince Edward High School, our hands weresweating and hearts were pounding with anxiety. This was it!
The moment we all had been waiting for.
The results of the National Business Case Competition (NBCC) were about to be announced. Our school had won the competition the previous year. We could not afford to lose. But, by the looks of it, our greatest nightmare was about to become reality. Although it happened on Tuesday July 19, I still remember like it happened yesterday. NBCC is an annual schools’ competition which is sponsored by Emergination Africa.
The competition starts at provincial level with each school team consisting of five students who come up with a business proposal project. This project has to solve a particular problem being faced by local communities.
In Harare we were competing against 10 other schools and the process involved being grilled by judges on the components of the project. The competition was scheduled to start at 9 am. To arrive at the venue on time, we had to leave school 30 minutes earlier.
However, at 8 am we were still not yet ready.
We arrived at Prince Edward High School with a few minutes to spare. We used that time to polish up our presentation and to tame our racing hearts before the competition started.
Although I was really nervous, I had faith in our team’s proposal. We had come up with an idea of creating a generator which produces electricity from sound.
It could be the breakthrough to reducing power shortages in Zimbabwe.
Each member was assigned a role to perform in the group and I was in charge of making the PowerPoint presentation which was supposed to win us the competition.
I was far from completing the task and time was quickly passing right before my eyes. Within a blink of an eye, it was already time to leave and I still did not know how I was going to deliver my presentation.
Our idea was really good but after listening to other proposals from other participating schools I could not help but have doubts about our chances creeping in my mind.
Perhaps our idea was not good enough. I was wondering if we could really win or we were being unrealistic to entertain thoughts of winning? These thoughts were swirling in my mind after listening to presentations from other schools.
When all schools made their presentations, we went for a lunch break during which the judges were deliberating on the winners. During lunch we had the honour of meeting different entrepreneurs who were previous winners of the competition.
They were now successfully running their companies and had received capital to turn their ideas into reality. We also interacted with other teams from various schools discussing their innovative proposals.
My school certainly had a great competition. All too soon, lunch break was over and it was time for the results to be announced. We went back into the auditorium and sat on our designated seats.
We were anxious. Like me, my four team mates wore similar expression. But, one thing was certain, no matter the outcome, we were proud of the idea we presented and the results of the competition would in no way stop us from moving forward and chasing our dreams.
That moment I barely remembered the team which won third place because I was too occupied to focus. Westridge High had claimed that spot. But all too soon I heard my school being called out. I could not comprehend what was happening. We had claimed second place to Nyatsime High.
I was stuck in a daze as I walked from my seat up to the stage. It was like a scene from a fairy tale. We had done it. We had won the 2022 edition of the NBCC.
Soon we will be participating in the National Competition and we can barely wait for that moment. A dream does not become reality through magic, it takes sweat.
Our hard work surely paid off and we are grateful to Emergination Africa for providing us a platform where we can achieve our dreams.
Online Reporter