BBICC 2016
Student Ambassadors' diaries
December 7, 2016 | Nina Živković: Day 1
The alarm clock goes off. It’s 4 am and I have slept for only two hours, but the excitement of the day that is in front of me beats it all. Today, BBICC officially starts. Last night was so much fun, and I met most of my team from Maastricht University, but today two more guys are coming and the fun is about to start.
Bozo, from the international affairs team just called me to check if everything is ok, and if Djole, the guy who is supposed to drive me to the airport, is on time. Like always, I assure him that everything is fine, grab my stuff and take off. The whole ride to the airport, I am both nervous and excited. Even though I’ve already done all of this three times, when picking up Chakana, Peter and Margus. Me and Djole stand in the airport and wait and then Marajin comes in. We finally met in person, and now it’s time to go back to the hotel and join the others.
Since we didn’t have anything planned until the evening, I organized for us to go to the city centre and have a little tour. We took a cab to Terazije and from there went through Knez Mihailova street, up to the Kalemegdan fortress. I have never before been a tour guide, but always a tourist.
It made me so happy to see people from other parts of the world so interested in our culture, so interested in the city that I was born and raised in and proud to call home. Of course I can’t even try to count the number of selfies and other pictures we took.
Since the guys were supposed to go to the Dutch Embassy we wrapped up our little tour and grabbed a taxi back to the hotel. I must say they were very fond of the politeness of our taxi driver. After leaving them at the hotel I raced back home, to eat something and get ready for the opening cocktail and the party that we were supposed to go to after the cocktail.
But, before all of that there was one more member of the team that I had to go pick up at the airport, Steve. Just like the rest of them he was very nice right from the beginning. I can already say that I think that my team is the best one at BBICC, for sure! Go team Maastricht!
Back at the hotel the cocktail was about to start. I showed Steve to his room and waited for him, with the rest of the team, to get ready. And then, the magic began. So many people, from all over the world, right there in one place. In Belgrade. The feeling can’t be described. I was now a part of this purple family. The speeches were on, the drinks were flowing and we were getting to know each other. It is such an honour to meet the best of the best when it comes to business schools and share thoughts with them. After the formal cocktail it was time to party, and even though we were still basically strangers, everyone was so excited.
Let’s be real, put 90 people in their twenties in a bar, with good music and drinks, how can it not be great?
After the party was over we all came back to the hotel, to make sure all of the competitors were fine and didn’t need anything else for the night. As I was going home I thought about how the next five days were gonna look like.. Oh how I couldn’t even imagine that it was going to be one of the best weeks of my life…
Author: Nina Živković
December 7, 2016 | Nevena Peković: The amazing race
This day was definitely the busiest day of competition, so we needed to prepare ourselves for long walks, and a lot of fun.
All the teams were excited about the grand opening of competition at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, especially about meeting our prime minister. After the opening, it was time for T-Shirt Exchange. Every team brought a T-Shirt from their University, and they could swap it for another T-Shirt that they liked.
Two buses were in front of the Faculty, and we headed to Saint Sava Temple. Everyone got a paper with the name of the superhero, and an ambassador who had a picture of that superhero was their guide. This was a chance for all teams to mix and to meet others.
This part of the day deserved a lot of selfies and photos, but the best part of the day was still waiting!
My team, Wolverine, was amazing and our first place was Slavija, where guys from Singapore and Hong Kong were really shocked about how it functions. Every team got a different route, and we were exploring Belgrade together for three hours. This experience of seeing your city through their eyes is really unique.
Meeting point-Kalemegdan fortress! ‘Exhausted, but happy’ was the sentence which described us all.
We headed to the hotel, since the night was reserved for dinner at Palace hotel. How to describe a Palace hotel? Rooftop, sunset with a view, laughter, traditional food, drinks, photos, hugs… I didn’t want it to end. But, tomorrow was the big day, small case day, so we definitely needed some rest.
I already knew that this week will be the best in my life…
Author: Nevena Peković
December 7, 2016 | Ana Džagić: First Phase Mini Case
Dear Diary,
It is around midnight and I have just arrived home. Last two nights we had late parties so this is extraordinarily early.
This day was very exciting because we can finally say that the real competition has started. Today was the day of Mini Case, as we call it. In the morning, we had a long brief with Bozo and Kristina because it was very important to understand every part of the day and there was no place for any mistakes. After that we had some time to prepare all the necessary materials for the teams and when the clock ticked 8:45 it was time to visit my team and give them their first assignment. When I entered their room, I don’t know why but I was very nervous and I expected them to be nervous too. The atmosphere inside was very different. They seemed relaxed, they were chatting and laughing while preparing their computers. I gave them the case, wished them all the luck in the world and my 5 hour shift in front of their room began. I thought that those would be long and lonely 5 hours, but then all the ambassadors started writing jokes and sending memes in our WhatsApp group so we had an amazing time together even though we were separated on 8 different floors.
Mini Case was over and it was time for us to put on formal clothes and our famous purple bow ties.
I watched my team presenting their solution and I was so amazed by how much they accomplished in so little time.
After all presentations and after hearing feedback for their solutions we all went to the cocktail. I was watching the teams and I realised how great it is that even though they all came here for the competition you couldn’t feel any pressure or competitiveness in the air.
They were all so friendly and in a good mood despite that they worked so hard and travelled great distances to come here. I am so glad I met all of them!
I better go and get some rest now, Long Case and new adventures are waiting for me tomorrow.
Author: Ana Džagić
December 7, 2016 | Kristina Rakulj: 24H Shift
The big case day. For ambassadors it was the day that carried the most responsibility. Everything had to work out fine. It was the reason why all those amazing people came. We gathered in front of the room where cases were waiting for us. When the clock said it was time, we took cases and spread through the hotel to pass them. I was waiting in front of my team’s room, anticipating like it was me that it’s going to solve it for the next 24 hours. After I gave them the case at noon, I didn’t want to leave them. But the rules are the rules, so I was outside, not leaving them. My shift was from 4 am till noon, but I wanted to be there all the time. I wanted to support them through those doors. So I decided to stay in front and accompany my friend ambassador who was in charge of the first shift. Hours were passing by and I wasn’t aware that we’d been sitting in that hallway and talking for 4 hours. I thought that those shifts were going to be boring, but in that moment I realized that something about them was cool and adventurous. That ambassador is one of my best friends now and I’m sure that hallway atmosphere contributed a lot. Then I decided it was time to go home and get some sleep, cause my night shift is about to come.
After a few hours of sleep and a good shower, it was 10 pm. I couldn’t wait till 4 am because I knew that in Radisson were my friends, some of them sitting in front of rooms, some of them circulating through the hotel.
At midnight, the hotel was wide awake, full of my friends who were like my family that week.
Although the organisation was perfect, we had two obstacles. First was that elevators could be used only with special cards and all ambassadors had to share two of them. The next one was that even ambassadors are humans that had to go to the bathroom or to eat. Sounds like a challenge? Not for us. We had multiple WhatsApp groups that were made to coordinate our activities because of those elevator cards, but most of them were used to spam and laugh during those hours of shift. So, because I came in the middle of the second shift I was the “elevator key” woman. I was rolling through the hotel, messing around and riding my friends whenever they needed to use the elevator. Not sure what was better: that I could go and visit whoever I wanted or to go outside with contestants who wanted to take a walk or cigarette.
The point is, even though the hotel was so quiet, it was alive more than ever.
The second shift was over and I had to leave my role of the ghost who was sneaking through the hotel. I was sitting in front of my team’s room thinking how they were doing and crossing their fingers for them. And right when I was about to fall asleep, they opened the door. You can’t imagine Anthony’s face when he saw me. They thought that I was not allowed to be there so he wasn’t expecting me. He yelled my name and hugged me and the rest of the team went out when they heard my name. They said that they missed me and were so happy to see me. In the team was a girl, Kristin, and she told me that they missed me so much that the guys started to call her Kristina.
At that moment, I knew that I did my job as an ambassador well. I knew that was the moment and emotion that I’m going to remember and cherish forever.
In that moment, I was aware that they became something special to me and BBICC was the reason I felt like that. For me, this is BBICC, fun, new friends and tons of emotions and memories for life.
Author: Kristina Rakulj
December 7, 2016 | Marko Trifković: The Final Presentations
So, here it was. Presentation day. It’s amazing how far we’ve all come for such a little time. I’ve met these people some few months ago and still feel like they are family. After a long sleepless night of being appointed as the sentry for my team it is now the time to wrap it all up and put them to one final test. You are watching after so many things, thinking how you must show yourself as responsible, yet not come up as too stiff, how you need to be there for your team and help them but must not break any rule that might get them disqualified. In all that rumble you hope that nothing goes wrong. And as funny as it seems, it always does.
My team, the Singaporean masterminds, had some trouble saving their presentation. Watching them in those final few moments made me realize how amazing those people are: so much effort was put into the case solving yet they did not succumb to the technical difficulties that might have ruined it all. I was constantly on the phone with their lovely advisor, who treated them with love only a mother could have for their children. That energy I am yet to see in another group of people. We left the teams to get ready for the finals and went to set things up for the presentations. Our guile bosses always provided us with briefs that made it so much easier. The whole competition was so well constructed and there was very little room for errors on our behalf. After some time we gathered our teams and went to the great hall. It’s showtime. You could feel the anticipation of everybody in the room, dying inside to see the results. And there it was – National University of Singapore was announced as a finalist.
It struck me for a moment, but I somehow knew that was going to happen, they really were amazing. Full of pride and joy I looked at them as if they were my own, giving them a few last words of encouragement before they were instructed out of the hall to prepare for the final presentations. All my fellow ambassadors congratulated me because we all knew what it meant to all of us – after immense amounts of effort we put in our teams. The finalists started presenting, and all I could hear in my head was: please, let them win! Minutes of powerpoint solutions and q&a went by so slowly, yet so quickly. After the last team finished their performance, the jury had some time to debate on the results.
Those were the most excruciating 20 minutes of the whole week. Everybody had a poker face, trying to kill the suspense with their slick looks, but you can feel everybody was nervous. And then, NUS was announced as the winner.
I swear, I jumped out of the chair as if it was me who won. Somehow everything fell into place at that moment, and it showed me that it was all definitely worth the effort. I congratulated them and backed off to let them enjoy that wonderful moment. The ceremonial part that was later on was amazing, but nothing can compare that feeling of realization that your team won. I believed in them from day one and I felt like all the effort that I’ve given in accommodating them definitely contributed to their victory.
That week will remain as a highlight of this year, if not this part of life, because I’ve met some great people from all around the world and more importantly, I’ve met some friends for life.
