This year, I attended my first SIFE (now known as Enactus) World Cup Competition! The event took place in Washington D.C. from September 29th through October 2nd. As a faculty co-advisor with Professor Embry, I had the opportunity to join her and 4 Indiana University students for this incredible opportunity. The World Cup consisted of teams from 38 countries presenting for 24 minutes to a panel of judges about the impact they made (or the good that they did) through entrepreneurial approaches throughout the academic year.
Can you image college students from 38 countries in one room? It was absolutely phenomenal. The countries represented include: Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Thailand, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.
About the Enactus World Cup (A quote from http://enactus.org/worldcup/)
Once a year, the National Champion Enactus teams from around world meet at the Enactus World Cup where they present the results of their community outreach projects to a prestigious group of international business leaders. Through a written annual report and live audio visual presentation, teams will be evaluated based on how successful they were at using business concepts to improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need.
Competing teams are divided among eight opening round leagues, each with approximately five teams. From the opening round of competition, two teams from each league advance to the semi-final round with four teams winning a spot in the final round of competition. Eventually one team will be declared the best and win the coveted title of Enactus World Cup Champion.
The Enactus World Cup is a showcase of the impact that Enactus teams are achieving around the world and brings together an international network of student, academic and business leaders. In addition to the competition, events such as the culture fair provide an exhibit of the rich diversity of cultures represented within Enactus. Multiple receptions, lunches and dinners, along with special events such as the Top-to-Top and Top-to-Future-Top Forums further enhance the opportunities for participants.
In addition to watching the teams compete, our Enactus team toured Washington D.C. We saw the American History Museum, the Holocaust museum, the Natural History Museum, and many of the famous monuments D.C. has to offer.
Since the World Cup is not always held in the United States, we were very lucky to have the opportunity to attend this year. We hope to be able to attend again in the future. I think opportunities like this don't come around very often and it is important to jump on them when you have the chance. I hope our students enjoyed the trip as much as I did!
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