Day 90: Exhibition Mishap

Today was the Business Administration Faculty’s annual exhibition, a grand showcase of student projects and entrepreneurial ideas. Our group had been working on a display about “Sustainable Business Practices,” which was meant to highlight eco-friendly innovations for modern companies. It sounded impressive in theory. In practice? Well, let’s just say things didn’t go as planned.

The chaos began the moment we arrived to set up. Yusof, our resident perfectionist, had assigned everyone roles. Faisal and I were in charge of assembling the booth, Amanda was tasked with finalizing the visuals, and Daniel… well, Daniel was supposed to bring snacks.

“Where’s the banner?” Yusof asked as we unloaded our materials.

Faisal frowned. “I thought you had it.”

“No, I distinctly told you to grab it from the printing shop yesterday.”

Faisal’s face fell. “Oh no. I forgot.”

Yusof groaned. “Great. Now we have a booth about sustainability with no sign. Very professional.”

While Yusof muttered about organizational failure, Amanda came to the rescue. “Don’t panic,” she said. “I’ll get some supplies and make a temporary sign.” She grabbed a marker and some cardboard, transforming them into a surprisingly decent banner.

Disaster averted, or so we thought.

During the event, I was tasked with explaining our project to visitors. I’d memorized a script, but nerves got the best of me. The first group to approach our booth included a professor and a few industry professionals. I launched into my presentation, only to realize halfway through that I’d mixed up key terms. Instead of “carbon footprint reduction,” I blurted out “carbon pizza production.”

The professor raised an eyebrow. “Carbon… pizza?”

Amanda stepped in smoothly. “Eddie meant reducing carbon emissions in the supply chain. It’s one of the strategies we’re emphasizing in our project.”

I nodded, grateful she hadn’t let me spiral. Note to self: never attempt public speaking on an empty stomach.

Things went downhill again when Faisal decided to “enhance” our booth with some live demonstrations. He’d brought a small solar-powered fan to show how renewable energy could be integrated into everyday tools. Sounds great, right? Except he didn’t test it beforehand.

As he flipped the switch, the fan sputtered for a second before emitting a puff of smoke and dying completely. Visitors stared, and Yusof looked like he wanted to throttle Faisal. “Did you even check if it worked?” Yusof hissed.

“It worked fine yesterday!” Faisal protested.

Amanda managed to salvage the situation again, engaging the audience with statistics and anecdotes about sustainable energy while Faisal discreetly removed the smoldering fan from the table.

The final nail in the coffin came during the judging round. The judges were making their way through the exhibition, and we were determined to leave a good impression. But just as they reached our booth, Daniel, who had been munching on snacks all day, accidentally spilled an entire cup of iced coffee onto the table. The liquid spread rapidly, soaking our display board and Amanda’s carefully prepared pamphlets.

Everyone froze. Amanda’s face went blank for a moment before she calmly said, “It’s fine. We’ll improvise.”

While Daniel frantically tried to clean up the mess, Amanda and I walked the judges through the project verbally, doing our best to sound confident despite the chaos around us. Surprisingly, they seemed impressed by our ability to adapt under pressure.

By the end of the day, we were exhausted but oddly proud. Our booth might not have been the sleekest or the most organized, but we’d survived—and even learned a few lessons about teamwork.

As we packed up, Amanda turned to me and smiled. “See? It wasn’t perfect, but we made it work.”

“Thanks to you,” I admitted.

Lesson of the day: Sometimes, things will go wrong no matter how much you plan. The key is to stay calm, think on your feet, and have someone like Amanda on your team.