by Martina in Grade 10 and Ryan in Grade 11 

On October 17, the weather was cool, and the day dawned bright and early, and on this day BCOS students set off for the ASDAN Business Simulation. Led by Mr. O’Ryan, the Principal of BCOS, and Mr. Wu, four teams from each grade arrived at Nottingham Ningbo Affiliated School to participate in the two-day competition. We are very pleased with our results from this competition. Company 2 won the Best Roadshow Teams award, Company 1 and Company 3 won the Brand Award and Top Trading Teams award. Company 2 came out on top, taking first place overall. 

ASDAN simulates the real-life environment and decision-making process of markets and companies, which includes company operations, corporate roadshows, and trade competitions. This competition requires teams to use their teamwork, learning and practical skills, public speaking skills, market analysis, and problem-solving and communication skills to maximize profits for their companies. This is a meaningful competition for students who are passionate about economics, where students can learn to better understand the economic structure of the market. During the competition, we needed to learn how to run a company, how to arrange workers, and how to invest. We believe that during the competition students were able to broaden their horizons, increase their knowledge, and improve their abilities. 

There were many outstanding future business elites participating in the ASDAN Business Simulation. To encourage his students, Mr. O’Ryan told them, “Enjoy the competition. It’s an unfamiliar field to you. It does not matter if you do not get the ideal result, as long as you know what your shortcomings are.” It is meaningful to learn after the competition. The grade 11 and grade 12 seniors, as the more experienced players, played a vital leadership role in leading the grade 10 students while never being afraid to face strong opponents, calmly guiding the grade 10 students in familiarizing themselves with the rules of the competition, and teaching them valuable knowledge along the way. They showed their excellent teamwork abilities. In this competition, the students not only achieved excellent results, but also cultivated perseverance in the face of difficulties, broadened their knowledge, and improved their ability to think for themselves, which are also aspects of the learning style advocated by our school. Our students actively reflected on their inadequacies and improved their abilities by communicating with other schools, and we believe they will achieve even more outstanding results in the future. 

In this competition, BCOS students showed their sophistication and ability. Although the preparation time was tight and the task was difficult, they did not give up and cooperated in the arena to complete the task well. The BCOS students’ qualities of seriousness, responsibility, perseverance, as well as their love for research and rigorous attitude, showed on their frowns as they were thinking, their refusal to panic in the face of various emergencies, and their late-night battles with the next day’s topic. 

After the competition, Mr. O’Ryan said that he saw a lot of positive thinking from the students, as well as many great examples of teamwork; he was very pleased with and proud of our students’ excellent results. He hoped that the students would be able to learn more in this competition and use this knowledge in their future studies and working life, as well as increase their propensity for self-study and research. While we may learn much from school, we also need to learn to study ourselves to improve ourselves for the future.