thinkJAZZ.

you see the world in black & white

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09 July 2011

Ah right. I realised it’s really common now that I only blog once or twice a month, since most of my life is recorded by status changes, facebook wall updates and tweets… But, right now, I’m still feeling so ecstastic, I decided this was worth noting down in full prose.

This week has got to be the happiest week of my life.

Frankly speaking, Blocks weren’t all that great, due to my lack of time to study. Some part of me wished that I hadn’t signed up for the Stanford EPGY program for Quantum Mechanics, but then again, I wouldn’t have been enlightened about Quantum Cryptography and stuff. I have to say though, it was an amazing course, I definitely benefitted from it, but I probably could have benefitted more if I paid attention to Bra and Ket vectors. Hah. So, had to miss band trip ): and sacrificed studying time. Yep, but I think I’m quite contented about GP and math, at least, cause I was really at my best. Right, maybe not math… If I had started earlier, I could have pwned the paper with like 80 or 85 and gotten away with it… but right now, let’s just stick to 71 XD

So, back to the happiest week of my life. Well actually, got back Math, got A, Top 5 in class ^^ Physics was not good. MCQ was like 21/40. Lol. Well, at least I managed to pass! But there were alot of careless mistakes here and there ): Quantum saved me I guess :P Topped the class for Chem MCQ with like 19/30! LOLOLOL. I MEAN, SERIOUSLY NOW. When Rudy called my name first (cause he arranged it in nicely) I THOUGHT I GOT LOWEST IN CLASS. TURNS OUT I GOT HIGHEST WTF RIGHT?! So, yay happy!

“and now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for… The winner of BBI 2011 is… GOTRADE”

I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW HAPPY AND GLAD I AM TO HEAR THOSE WORDS. OH MY GOD.

It all started about 5 months ago, when we first formed, and I was invited into the group because, well, I was labelled the “dreamer”. In a sense that, I had really creative ideas (okay I didn’t know that my ideas were THAT creative, so thanks) And it all started with a simple idea of trading everyone’s unwanted items that others may want. This concept slowly evolved into something really intricate, a sophisticated service that was so well-thought out in almost all aspects. We constantly improved our original Business Plan during our Elevator Pitch round, and right up to the Finals, it was close to perfection. And When we presented it, we presented the concept we’ve grown to love so much throughout the past five months, with such an astounding passion… and I’m proud to say that each and everyone of us left the stage with no regrets.

What, really irritates me though, is how some of the other groups just copied our presentation styles. They basically ripped off our “next big thing” line which we featured so widely in our Pitch. Then as one of the big shots (judges) had pointed out, “ideas get copied because they are good”, and if we got ripped off… it just goes to show something. Now I’m not being complacent here, I’m just applying the facts of life to a situation. But the thing is, they have improved (even if it is by ripping off us), and so have we. If during the PItch, when we haven’t even reached our pinnacle, and we were already so good, you could’ve imagined what we could hold in store for the judges during our Presentation in the Finals. The judges basically commended us on how amazing it was to see the time and effort we had spent realizing our dream of making GoTrade a reality, and also on our tagline “revolutionizing the way people consume, one trade at a time” (kudos to the CEO!) The Q&A, I felt, we tackled quite well. There were alot of questions we had never thought of, mostly with our OCRC and stuff, but I felt, we impromptu-ed quite well. That’s what you get when you know your service so well, you can present it to anyone without having to refer to facts and such. Well, when they came up to give general comments, I kind of expected that we would win this, since out of all 3 finalists, it appeared to me that we have the least negative comments, but I wasn’t about to get my hopes up, and let it fall into the darkness of the abyss.

When the moment finally came, we linked hands and hoped, with all our hearts. I was basically dizzy with anxiety, and felt like throwing up. When I heard the hard start of a G, and not a V, which was followed instantaneously with our team name, I jumped out of my seat with such joy and excitement I was amazed at it myself. Even now, this still feels so surreal. This was followed by Reception with the judges and mentors. OH MY GOD. It was like we were mingling with future investors and business partners (which, we are. LOL) They commended us on our amazing presentation, told us that we were SO GOOD. We also discussed with some of them like, oh how we could improve on them. Some were ideas that we have thought of, and rejected, but most were rather insightful. About how we should look at current models, and improve on it so much, such that we have an advantage. And so many came to commend me on our design!! OH MY GOD. They thought I like designed games?! but I was like “no, mostly print ads, and webpages haha” They even asked what Program I used to make our powerpoint! I was like “oh MS powerpoint 2010” Then the lady went “oh, so it’s all default in the program?” Then I said I used Photoshop to customise some stuff! Speaking about powerpoints, I accidentally stole the clicker cause I slipped it into my pocket and forgot all about it until I was off the stage. LOL. AND I PANICKED XD I’m really happy now. I really feel like there are people who actually get me. I think my designs tend to appeal to a more mature age group, and when I design for students, I may tend to forget about that they could be looking for less sophisticated and more raw, crude and vulgar concepts. Okay, I should totally write an article about targeting age groups in designs, publish it on design sites and get money. There were also some comments that the standard this year was alot better than last year. I figured it was because we set a really high standard during the PItch and everyone had to achieve it if they wanted a shot and winning this. During the Finals, we improved even more, and brought that standard even higher.

I’ve really been so inspired during this entire competition. Firstly, to do marketing in Uni, and next, that I could actually do design and get away with it. This experience was such a fulfilling one, I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy doing another team project as much as I have accomplished this. Our team, is truly amazing. We’re all similar, yet different at the same time. We gain so many insights, not only by coming up with different ideas, but also through criticizing, and refining these raw bursts of inspiration in the process. ‘Twas heavenly. BBI is something that I will remember for the rest of my life as Cryizzle.

Still, I can’t believe we actually won this. Time to cut out all those vouchers from 17 and use them when I get to California ^^ or something. Now, I just want to do really well for A levels, and really have a ball of a time at Silicon Valley with the team mates whom I love so much <3

But for now, I’m looking forward to High Tea, Trumpets JTS <3 and H3 Physics test that’s to follow

Oh my god. I feel like the luckiest girl in the whole wide world.