In the SPOTLIGHT
Photo credits: Hult Media & Entertainment
My Experience as a Hult
Prize Ambassador
By Dorian De Broqueville
The role of a Hult Ambassador is, literally, to babysit two to four of the competing teams during the Hult Prize regional event. I was personally in charge of 3
teams, respectively coming from New Zealand, Mexico, and the US (San Francisco).
Being the first point of contact of these
teams made me wonder about issues I
would never have thought of. Believe it
or not, in the stress of the competition
things such as the presence of mayonnaise in the vegetarian menu becomes a
matter of life and death. Running around
and ensuring that teams have all their necessary supplies, and that they are ready
to pitch at the right time, is no easy task.
Hult’s Got Talent!
A one-on-one with the Winner
Hult is a business school. Every day, all
day, classrooms are filled with students
talking about business, business, business.
Yet, it’s not all we are. As the most international business school in the world, every
day Hult welcomes students from all cultures, nationalities, skills...and talents.
However, it was also an amazing opportunity for us to get to know other students
from some of the best Universities and Business Schools in North America, and around
the world. Walking them around the campus and sharing our respective experiences was really interesting, and a lot of fun!
I met Brandy for the first time after her
incredible performance at Hult’s Got Talent, the event that took place a couple of
weeks ago at the beautiful Palace of Fine
Arts. Chi Thi Thuy Nong or Brandy, as she
is known around school, is an MIM student
from Vietnam. Since February 21st however, she is known in school as “the amazing
opera singer”.
As volunteers, we also got to participate
in pretty much every activity organised for
the Hult Prize, rang ing from speaker events
to receptions and after parties. And when
it comes to giving a good image of Hult to
visitors, our school does not stop halfway!
Her interest for music started when she
was 3 years old, and heard an incredible
song on the radio. Moved by that beautiful voice, she realized that she wanted to
become as good a singer as the girl on the
radio.
Living it from the inside, I realised that the Hult Prize is an incredible project, and an amazing way to improve our school’s visibility across the
academic and corporate world. The fact
that our local team, P.Ward, made it to
the final four and delivered an outstanding pitch can only reinforce this feeling!
“I sing because is my way to express
myself and show the world my feelings”
She attended the Academy of music,
where her teachers discovered that she had
the potential to sing the opera.
At this point she didn’t know anything
about opera singing, which is not popular in Vietnam. After grafuation she began
her career by performing at fundraising
events. Driven by her passion for public relations, she worked to fundraise money for
children in difficult conditions.
My first impression of Brandy was that
of a generally shy person, someone you
wouldn’t picture performing in front of
hundreds of people. When she first heard
of Hult hosting a talent event, she was
reluctant to audition, but her friends convinced her to give it a shot.
“Singing is my passion. When I sing I
feel more confident, I feel that I can express
myself with music”
Did you expect you were going to win?
How did you feel?
“I was a very nervous.. at the rehearsal,
I didn’t feel confident that I would be able
to compete. I am very demanding of myself, and I didn’t know if I would be good
enough. We all have different talents, I can
sing but I cannot dance. I think everyone
deserved to win, because everyone has a
big talent!
“I am very grateful for the opportunity
to showcase my talent to the students of
Hult. I hope that my passion can inspire
others to not be shy and show their talents.
Fellow students, follow your dreams!”
15th March 2014 | Issue 1 |1355|Page 3