Sajnova Hossain Kanti, a senior student from Bangladesh, proudly represented SolBridge on the international platform at the Inter-collegiate Negotiation Competition (INC) at Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan. She shares her thrilling experience:

"From November 16th to November 17th, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in one of the biggest negotiation competitions that was an amalgamation of passionate law school students from the Asia-Pacific region. The competition, which lasted two days, was a remarkable experience that not only tested my analytical skills among others but also gave me the chance to connect with a community of like-minded people from different countries.

The INC competition is conducted in both Japanese language and English language, with 36 and 27 teams participating respectively this year. The competition was extremely challenging and demanding. Especially because it was a competition among law schools while we were the only business school participating. The competition is held in two rounds, Round A and Round B. Round A is a mock court trial, where we all had to take on the role of lawyers representing a hypothetical company against our opponents in the presence of the judging panel. While Round B was a negotiation session where each member of the team was assigned a specific role representing the same hypothetical company against our opponents.

As business school students, Round A was the most taxing of all, since for a month before the competition, we had to study several laws related to the case we were given and prepare rebuttals for the arguments. The preparation for Round A was exhausting yet a great learning experience as we got to expand our knowledge beyond our field of expertise. Round B was more casual and exciting since it was something we were a bit familiar with. All the Business Negotiation courses taken at SolBridge proved beneficial to our team during Round B.  

There were a total of 29 participating universities and we were proud to represent SolBridge and South Korea. The camaraderie among the participants was one of the highlights of the event in my opinion. It was inspiring to see so many people aspiring and working towards a common goal throughout the competition; the final title. The atmosphere was fierce, full of positive energy and it was motivating to be a part of that community.

Although in Round A we couldn’t excel much but knowing the fact that we went up against Masters of Law students from Kyushu University while being BBA students ourselves, gave us some relief that after all, we tried our level best to give them a tough competition. However, one of the most rewarding aspects of the competition was receiving praises for excelling in Round B against Chuo Univeristy with one of the top scores in the whole competition! This recognition was a proof of our hard work and dedication we put throughout our preparation time. As the team representative, that moment was one of the best moments in the competition as it was a moment of pride for me. In that moment I felt like all the hours we spent practicing and preparing has finally paid off. I was proud to represent SolBridge, knowing that I had given my best effort throughout the competition. It was a moment of my life that I will cherish forever.

Yet, despite the high level of competition, we came in 19th place. The experience of competing alongside such skilled opponents was an invaluable learning experience for all of us. I learned a great deal about international law, including areas where I could improve and aspects where I excel. Being ranked among the top universities was an accomplishment in itself, but what mattered most was the journey of learning and new adventures.

As I am finishing my undergraduate degree and reflect back on this competition which is my last one as a bachelor’s student, I couldn’t be more grateful for having such a wonderful team and coach, Professor Harold Y. Shim, to participate in such an amazing competition. This wasn’t my first time representing SolBridge internationally but truly one of the most memorable experiences I have had in my university life. This experience has encouraged me to only continue to push myself forward beyond my expectations and put a beautiful end to my university life."