Honors

Suggested by my design teacher, this was my first business competition and sparked my interest in entrepreneurship, laying the foundations for my future in business. The event spanned three days, allowing participants to pitch their ideas, form teams, and collaborate to develop a unified presentation. Despite my nerves presenting a pitch for the first time, I worked independently to develop a solid concept and worked on my presentation skills – which I slowly acquired through this experience. Out of numerous ideas pitched by each participant, only five were selected, and mine was chosen as the top idea by a popularity vote. I felt a deep sense of pride in this accomplishment and felt comforted in the fact that my idea had resonated with so many.

My concept was a “Tangerine Tree ranting system,” which utilized the surplus of discarded tangerines and the desire for personal tree-growing experiences. Collaborating with two other students – an eleventh-grade student and an eighth-grade student – we began our project, developing my communication and teamwork skills significantly. To make up for my lack of business experience, two eleventh-grade students became my mentors, sharing their knowledge and teaching me the basic skills for entrepreneurship. Through this experience, I witnessed the Shark Tank Program, training myself on how to make a pitch, write an official business proposal, and orchestrate an effective business presentation. Consequently, I learned the power of collaboration. I discovered sharing my ideas would aid in its development, resulting in a project I could be proud of alongside my team members.

As we refined our presentation, my advisor provided valuable feedback, suggesting we incorporate gaming features into our application to encourage engagement. This leads us to combine our service with a metaverse feature, allowing customers can interact with trees through a mobile application. In addition, my advisor also suggested customizing our application to match the needs of our target customers – those living in urban cities. This would allow us to share where the customers’ food originated from, offering a chance to track the growth process and enjoy the fruits of their efforts

Overall, our final pitch included a five-minute presentation and a Q&A session. As the team leader, I carried the responsibility of answering each question, including one surrounding our motivations behind the application. Using my new skills, I shared a childhood memory of visiting an orchard with my family, an experience that motivated me to create a similar opportunity for others.