In recent years, AV俱乐部鈥檚 Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Management programs have attracted a growing number of international students. Last week these students had a unique opportunity to participate in the International Student Case Competition, a collaboration between the International Student Success Program and the AV俱乐部 Commerce Society.
Fourth-year marketing major and Commerce Society External Vice-President Xinyu (Lokiy) Wang, herself an international student, organized the competition. Eight teams, composed of undergraduate students from 14 Asian, North American, South American and European countries, competed, presenting their business cases for prizes. Many teams had students from more than one country, and two teams, one of which placed second, included students from four different countries.
聽鈥淭he goal was to provide international students with an opportunity to do a case competition and to increase their confidence and case analysis skills,鈥� says Loki, adding that she hopes this experience will encourage more international students to participate in the upcoming Atlantic Throwdown case competition.
This was the first opportunity for many of the students 鈥� most of whom speak English as a second language 鈥� to participate in such a competition.
鈥淟ots of students were really happy,鈥� reported Lokiy. 鈥淥ne told me that she鈥檚 always found case competitions really scary but now she sees that they鈥檙e not so bad.鈥�
The finishes for the competition were as follows:
- First Place: Merilyn Layne (Barbados), Megan Clarke (Barbados), Tatiana Olar (Moldova)
- Second Place: Talha Hashmi (Pakistan), Jessica Dalrymple (US), Lucas Marino (Brazil), Suparat Cha-umpan (Thailand)stu
- Third Place: Guanqiang Song (China), Jinrong Ge (China), Huxun Wang (China)
- Best Speakers: Wendi Zhao (China) and Jinrong Ge (China)
- Best Team Spirit: Wendi Zhao (China), Nana Fujimoto (Japan), Yinrong Zhao (China), Erin Zhou (China)
- Best PowerPoint: Talha Hashmi (Pakistan), Jessica Dalrymple (US), Lucas Marino (Brazil), Suparat Cha-umpan (Thailand)
鈥淚t was a great competition and a real first for the Faculty,鈥� says Management Dean Peggy Cunningham. 鈥淭he teams were composed of students from different countries and it was wonderful to see them learn from each other.鈥� Dr. Cunningham thanked Lokiy and the Commerce Society and recognized the event鈥檚 judges: Ramon Baltazar, Sergio Carvalho, Binod Sundararajan, and Linda Macdonald, who works extensively with the Faculty鈥檚 international students.