～ITC2022挑戦の記録～Change myself to be my dream self～

久しぶりの投稿です。
今回はFedEx Express/ Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge 2022に挑戦し、日本代表として国際大会に出場された高校生の皆さんからの成長の記録を複数回にわたってお届けします。

International Trade Challengeについては下記サイトをご参照ください。
https://ja-japan.org/contests/ITC.html

最初の投稿は、国内大会での優勝を経て国際大会で決勝ラウンドに出場し、見事第2位の成績を収められた高校1年生のTさんによるものです。国際大会では、すべての生徒が他の国の代表生徒とランダムにペアを組み、大会初日に出されるチャレンジトピックに従って新たなビジネスプランを作りあげます。Tさんはインド代表の生徒とペアを組みました。日本代表の生徒が表彰台にあがるのは実に数年ぶり。オンラインで見守っていたJAスタッフも大きな歓喜に包まれました。

If I were to describe myself before participating in the International Trade Challenge (ITC), I would say I was a shy and introverted person who preferably did not like to do presentations or make speeches in front of audiences.

However, I still had a dream.
A dream to have a successful career who would play a big role in the globalizing world.

Becoming an entrepreneur isn’t necessarily the only way to achieve this dream. Still, my current interest in business and economics made me believe that this competition was a perfect opportunity to gain the skills and knowledge to achieve my dreams, regardless of whether I was to become an entrepreneur or not, which motivated me to participate in the ITC.

The theme for the local final of this competition in Japan was to think of a health product that targets the people of Cambodia.

My partner and I came up with a product which was a ball made of a type of metal called pig iron, and inside contained a ball of dry mulberry leaves. This product was to be used by placing it in the pot of rice and cooking it together with the rice.

By doing so, the pig iron can add extra iron to the rice, and the mulberry leaves will limit the absorption of carbohydrates, helping with the high prevalence of anemia and diabetes in Cambodia.

As a result, our team was able to win the 1st place.

After this local final, I learned that the key to accomplish great results in this competition and to become a successful entrepreneur was to first discover a significant social issue with a business opportunity that others haven’t paid as much attention to, and its method/strategy to solve it, then adding uniqueness, creativity, and detail to our product/business along the process of brainstorming.

So I did the same in the Asia Pacific finals as well, winning 2nd place in the end.

The Asia Pacific finals was a whole new experience for me. All of us were paired up with someone from another country we didn’t know, to compete in the final stages of the competition.

Final Round presentation with a Partner from India

However, I felt that this was a great chance for me to break out of my shell and change myself. I actively engaged myself to communicate and discuss with my partner and other competitors.

Although it was a short period of time, I know for sure that by doing so, I gained confidence in speaking up in front of others.

Additionally, by meeting, communicating, and sharing my ideas with competitors and judges from countries around the world, I was able to encounter different ideas and perspectives and that certainly broadened how I view the world.

In addition to the knowledge that I gained through my participation in the competition, I was able to learn the skills and qualities required to become not just a successful entrepreneur but a person who can make an impact on the World, through an opportunity that doesn’t exist elsewhere than the ITC.

記載：高校1年生　T.T