On June 9, IMBA student team participated in the “New Taipei City 6th Annual Dragon Boat Competition”, in observance of the Duanwu Festival. By uniting together, the team won first place in the first round and advanced into the semi finals on June 11. Although many team members did not have any prior experience participating in a dragon boat race, they all felt the power of teamwork.
“Go! Black Pearl! Go!” was the cheer surrounding the IMBA team as they competed in the early morning at Luzhou Breeze Canal. Apart from the dragon boat competition, the team also registered to participate in the “Dragon Boat Creativity Design Competition”. Team Leader, 丁宇星, said that the team voted for the name “Black Pearl”, named after the fastest boat in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. The team proved to have excellent performance upon entering the water.
In recent years, IMBA has participated in the annual dragon boat competition. Similarly, this year the team consisted of students from the United States of America, Germany, France, Poland, Philippines, Mexico, Panama, Chile, Honduras, El Salvador, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Swaziland, Paraguay, and Taiwan. Before the competition, the team had 10 training sessions over the weekends.
Martina Teumer, from Germany, reflects back on the first training session where the coach took everyone through an intense warm up routine. Having not yet seen the boat, she already wanted to go home. The coach also became nervous seeing everyone’s performance during training. Moreover, when the team first moved the boat into the water it felt surprisingly heavy. In the end, it is happy to know that the team overcame every one of these obstacles together – “We won today because we are a team”.
Michelle Hu, from the United States of America, admits initially she lacked energy and did not want to participate. Yet, after an invitation from her friend and several training sessions, she was so glad she joined. She believes that this experience will be one of her most memorable while studying her IMBA.
Having learned the importance of teamwork from a young age, Nanbei Lin of France not only once again experienced the value of teamwork, but also learned more about organizational management. He discovered that the dragon boat competition focuses on both physical ability and teamwork spirit. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and when they are placed in the right position the team can achieve its highest performance.
As the team leader, 丁宇星 expresses that leading a team composed of students from different countries, some working full-time, some working part-time, it was important everyone was willing to train over the weekends. Seeing the team receive first place in the first round was truly not due to good luck. Team captain Andrea Pineda applauded everyone for being a great team, with Hector Canete shouting, “We are the pirates of love!”
IMBA “Black Peal” will continue to compete on June 11 at the Breeze Canal, reaching after a greater achievement. The team also invites all students and faculty to come cheer them on and observe the immense potential of the “Black Pearl”.
