July 22nd. Hours of preparation and 173 volunteers have gone into making this day and the succeeding week possible. The kick off could not have gone any better.
Some campers walked off their buses looking meek and unsure, but after the lively greeting from the BestPrep staff and CEO student leaders, they waltzed through registration as if they were at home. Everyone was met with cheers and clapping as they received a binder, a premium drawstring bag and a luxuriously soft camp shirt.
Following registration, students and accompanying parents packed the dining hall for a lunch made by Saint John’s talented chefs. It was amazing to see campers of all different educations socializing and developing connections by eating with people they’d never met before. One camper said that he was nervous coming in, but he quickly made friends with two other students who also wanted to major in business marketing. Those are the kind of friendships that last beyond camp and set up future careers.
As parents departed, students delightfully made their way to the auditorium to hear from our keynote speaker, Senior Vice President of Optum Enterprise Solutions, Adam Cohen. One of Mr. Cohen’s most profound points was on the importance being a part of a company whose work environment best correlates with your values. After a short company meeting, we heard from Daran Han, founder of Kanary Education, who introduced to us his theory of irrationality in success. He proposed that throughout history, great things are accomplished by those with goals that most people would consider ‘irrational’. This thought-provoking speech made students truly evaluate what they want to accomplish in life.
Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for… JUNK NIGHT! Each of the 14 companies got to pick from a huge pile of junk, draft style. Then they needed to make a cohesive presentation involving all members that creatively sold their product to the RBL judges. It was a cut-throat competition which was extremely close to call, but in the end, the judges gave it to Company G who presented on a product that warded off thieves from stealing food on the grill.
In closing, the first day of MBV was a success! All events flowed with ease and students had a great time developing connections and networking with their peers. Stay tuned to hear about tomorrow.