The World Economics Cup (WEC) is an international education initiative and platform for high school students who are interested in economics. It aims to identify, inspire, empower and support the next generation of leaders in the economics field to develop their international network. Each year, the WEC organizes an economics competition for globally talented students. This year, Pranav Agarwal, Vedanta Das, Cristiano Hong, Justin Jiang, Pheam Sunkapongse, and Prathamesh Trivedi all qualified for the World Economic Cup. Their background in business has been founded by taking classes such AP Economics and Academy Product Development. Pheam Sunkapongse, junior, expressed that they also previously knew each other through extracurricular activities such as DECA and FBLA, two business programs. Pheam also noted how being a close group has led them to success in the competition, “Being grouped as a unit in this competition instead of the individualistic nature of our previous events provided a new dimension to the bonds we’ve forged in our time together.” Mrs. Burgin, the faculty advisor, expressed how this honor is “truly a testament to their hard work and dedication” as she congratulated the students for their accomplishments.
On the personal level, Pranava Agarwal, junior, and Justin Jiang, senior, also placed in the Top 10 scorers on the regional scale. Pranav expresses what the competition has taught him and helped him improve on, “As a student, the competition deepened my understanding of economics and enhanced my ability to apply theoretical concepts to real-world problems. It pushed me to think critically and creatively about global economic issues, which has been incredibly enriching.” These students have worked so hard for what they have achieved and should be extremely proud of what they have accomplished.
Although this team has been extremely successful in their journey together they all have experienced challenges along the way. One of the most challenging portions of the competition for the team was the application and critical thinking questions. These specific questions forced the team to develop well reasoned solutions, using complex economic theories under extreme time restraints. The team also added that “[a]nother significant challenge was managing stress and maintaining focus during the competition. The stakes were high, and it was crucial to stay calm and think clearly despite the pressure.” Despite all of these challenges these students went above and beyond to move forward in the competition, using their deepened understanding of economics.
The team would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to Mrs. Burgin for her dedication and involvement in the organization of the event for them. Without her support, they wouldn’t have been able to participate in the first place. They would also like to thank their economics teacher, Mr. Harkins, who taught them the basic principles and encouraged their creative and critical thinking skills. The team noted, “[h]is guidance was instrumental in our success, and his teaching inspired us to form our unofficial team name, Team Harkins.” The team’s ultimate goal was to make Mr. Harkins and the rest of the school proud, and as anyone could see they have done it a thousand times over. We wish all of the students luck in the competition and know they are capable of doing great things. They exemplify the true characteristic of what it means to be a Scarlet Knight. They all have truly taken this school year’s theme to another level, and have literally gone for the Gold and have come out winners. The school could not be happier about what these true knights have accomplished!