the case of inspiration
It's been 5 days since the successful conclusion of case competition.. it's been 5 days since I met my inspiration...I remember deciding to join the competition, getting into the final 12 and then getting worried about winning.. (which is absolutely weird coz u're supposed to be joining a competition to win) but for once it was the experience that I wanted.. and I would not forget the 24 hours during which everyone worked so hard, hoping not to win but just not to embarrass ourselves in front of the judges.. I recall asking myself whether I was insane to take it all up in the first place, adding more burden to the current heavy workload I had when i knew that the most I could get out of it was probably only a cert and a souvenier.. Yet once again I did not regret my decision...
It was more than just him, though he was my main inspiration.. It was the whole idea that at long last there was someone or some group of pple I could learn from, there are some aspects in academics that I could improve on, there was someone whom I could look up to and be impressed.. It's been a while in school and perhaps the lack of this feeling seemed to depress me a lot. Pple see me as I see him, which is scary because I feel grossly overestimated and I know the time will come when I become so arrogrant that I forget the importance of humility in learning.. For once I felt good.. I felt that I made the right choice in coming to bizad..
I heard his name mentioned as the number 1 powerhouse to lookout for.. once ending up in the same group as his team, we could forget about winning in the group.. and then I vaguely remembered spotting his name on the dean's list before.. and realised he maintain a cap of 4.9 for the past 5 sems. Much was mentioned about him, his name brought up in our conversations about case competition. He sounded like legend..
Almost everyone I knew braved their exhaustion and stayed on to catch a glimpse of this legendary figure and hear him present his ideas for the case. I recall the anticipation all of us had.. as his group, with him leading the way, walked down the LT corridor to the front. With some pointing to identify him, we quickly quietened down as we wanted to listen in full concentration. As he motioned for the front lights to be dimmed, the group looked almost too professional to be students as all of them wore suits and stood with poise, exuding immense confidence..
I thought I saw him composing himself, then he commenced.. With just the few words he started off with, I knew I was totally impressed. He spoke with the conviction required to convince, he spoke with the passion for his ideas, he spoke with the assurance that he was right.. with the powerpoint slides as intriguing, I watched in awe as all the rest did, and we knew all the talk about him was no exaggeration.. It was by no luck or accident they were there and we were not..
I don't know what actually kept me staying on till the end considering that i only slept 3 hours the night before.. perhaps it was the results that held me back.. or perhaps an opportunity.. As I walked out of the LT, I met with my legal lecturer last sem as she was one of the judges and surprsingly she recognised me by name and face.. it was surprising considering I never spoke up in her class before, unless of course to say I don't know when I was so unluckily called. But it definitely deserves this special mention because I applaud my lecturer for her fantastic memory and her encouraging words of advice..
I didn't deliberately look out for him at all at refreshments.. he was just like a celebrity to me, come and gone on stage.. but as we speak of him once again in our conversation, he was brought over to our group. I can still recall the adrenaline rush in me, a familiar sensation when I see a famous person or a person of higher authority.. I tried to calm my nerves as we did some introduction and exchanged friendly handshakes and namecards.. he fumbled in his bag for his name card after realising he had none with him.. and for once I was so upset with myself for not bringing some along! We then engaged in a rather long conversation, and it was even more inspiring to notice his humbleness in his words and actions, and his respect for all of us even though we were juniors.. and I truly admired him for that.. I did manage to ask a couple of intelligent questions and got him to look my way while he answered them.. haha.. but I did say silly things which I never say normally.. and once again I was upset with myself for that..
Grateful to my friend who brought a camera whom I guess was as excited as I was to stay close to a legend to suggest for a photo taken, it was the evidence of this memory.. (though subsequently i hoped to be able to crop my friends' faces out haha) As he later ended off a conversation with my senior, he smiled a goodbye smile to me as he left me pleasantly surprised..
I hate myself for being infatuated with one at such an alarming rate that it goes unnoticed by myself.. but I assured myself that things would not go that way, although frankly my thoughts did stray the first couple of days.. haha.. He will always stay as my inspiration, one I can look up to and aspire to be.. I wish him the best of luck for the upcoming Copenhagen Case Competition.. =)
[My Group! Suhao, Peggy, me, Yong Ann]
[it's pretty obvious actually.. esp for bizaders.. now i'm a little shy abt this..]
rebec inspired @ 12:19 AM
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