Psychology students win 'Apprentice' challenge
Posted on 19 January 2012
Congratulations to Jack Blake, Rosalind Baker, Daniel Bennett, and Joy Bothamley (pictured) who won the York Entrepreneurs Society ‘The Market’ Apprentice Challenge. The members of the winning team are final-year students in Psychology at York. They received their prize of £1000 from Grace Oyesoro who leads the York Entrepreneurs Society. See the advert for York which they produced here.
This is Dan Bennett's account of the competition:
“We arrived at 9am on the first morning, briefed that we had the day to obtain as much free stuff as possible to sell that evening. We went into town and asked businesses for donations - we also received some great help from the Psychology department. We acquired fudge, wine and desk chairs, raised £90 and came 2nd out of 14 teams. The second round started at 8am the next day (a challenge in itself!) where we rebranded York in a 30 second TV advert. After a quick plan, we raced YSTV round York city centre in an hour, before editing and voicing over back in their studio. We pitched to the panel and came first - meaning we were finalists!
“The final 3 teams arrived at the Ron Cooke Hub at 9am the next morning. We were told that tomorrow evening we would pitch our idea to the deputy mayor of York, and Sir Ron Cooke himself! Our brief was to design an original, feasible and profitable landmark for York.
“Overwhelmed, we headed to our 'pod' on the lake, where we designed the world’s first virtual reality museum, submerged in beautiful parkland. It used cutting edge technology to create an immersive experience for any era in York’s history. The presentation was nerve wracking and following tough competition, we were victorious!
“After experiencing what a thousand pounds smells like, we reflected on the five days hard work. It was a fantastic, eye-opening experience and it goes to show that Psychology gives you the skills to achieve in any capacity.”
Dan Bennett, December 2011