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“No challenge is too ambitious, so we believe that Peloton’s user goal of 100 million users is attainable.”

As a second-year team entering the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) Strategy Case Competition, our team’s main goals were to exercise our consulting skills and learn from the unique experiences each member brought to the team. As competition day neared, our team was most excited to witness a plethora of top-tier presentations from our upper-year mentors. Never could we have guessed that we would be amongst the teams on the podium!

Lessons gained from competing at the SAF Strategy Case Competition

Over the past month, the three of us that make up PPG Consulting, have had a blast working on our presentation for the SAF Strategy Case Competition. From the first moment we heard about the competition, we knew we had to put our skills to the test.

The SAF Strategy Case Competition allowed our team’s friendship to foster and grow in unimaginable ways, even while in an online setting. From meeting in SAF’s CPA Student Lounge on campus in our first year to working until the early mornings on group projects to working virtually on our case competition together — our friendship has blossomed exponentially.

On our stellar team of enthusiastic and creative individuals we have Jia Lei, Neha, Samanvitha, and Stefania! Our roles in the M&C team are to create the best possible experiences for our fellow travellers by cultivating opportunities to build connections, all while showing off the amazing work being done throughout the term.

I recently had the opportunity to attend the DECA Leadership Development Academy (LDA) Conference, which is an interactive virtual event where students are brought together to learn from real leaders themselves. This was a worthwhile experience that helped me grow and explore career paths that I never thought I would be able to pursue.

Going into the DECA Leadership Development Academy (LDA) Conference in my first year with DECA, I didn’t know what to expect. With the shift to online learning, I am going to be honest; I didn’t expect anything more than another Zoom meeting, which because of the pandemic, I've gotten very used to and tired of. But I was so surprised by the wealth of information that I was able to gather from all the presenters.

“While I am stuck in isolation,

Keeping my distance and staying away,

Two things brightened my pandemic stay:

One was my XBOX Madden NFL gameplay and the other,

The fantastic learning through DECA!!”

The importance of teamwork in a virtual setting

The CFA Society Ethics Challenge was a commitment over the course of several months, starting in late 2020 and carrying on into May 2021. The various rounds involved preparing for case studies, writing reports, creating presentations, and ensuring we were performing to the best of our abilities in order to succeed.

hEDGE inspired me to believe in myself.

Today’s accounting and finance professionals face many adverse challenges, now more than ever. Attending and competing in the 2021 Achieve Case Competition while representing the University of Waterloo and the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) was not only a great learning experience but also a time to showcase courage in redefining the future and overcoming challenges.