I was approached by Stephen Lee, a former Chair of CaseIT who first introduced CaseIT leading to my major step in really getting involved in relation to my studies. While I am hoping to pursue a career in advertising, online brand management and/or public relations, Finance and MIS are great areas of to gain experience to develop skills and knowledge. It was then I decided to apply that year (2010/11) for the Sponsorship Executive position. Upon applying, I was called for an interview and was offered the position. It was the beginning of many accomplishments and lifelong friendships.
The student-run four day event, takes places in the heart of downtown Vancouver traditionally every February where I was one of dozen other students in the CaseIT organizing committee who were to execute and host 16 teams of talented students visiting from all over the world. CaseIT is the largest MIS case competition in North America and there is a substantial amount of time and effort put into organizing it. The planning of this event involves months of commitment, drive, effort, immense amount of teamwork and attention to detail. Within CaseIT’s team, everyone has a responsibility whether it’s in University Relations, Entertainment & Hospitality or Team Hosts but everyone is a support system to each other.
To be involved with CaseIT was truly a blessing for me. In addition to developing my own skillset and expanding my understanding of business in the real world, the friendships and connections that I made from CaseIT were by far the most substantial gains. Aside from my Sponsorship position, I also represented as a Team Host during CaseIT 2011. This gave me the opportunity to really get to know several of the students from the 16 teams that were participating. The students and I were able to discuss their experiences from their respective schools that allowed me to develop a better global perspective and appreciation for different cultures and its academic environments. Even after CaseIT ended, I remained connected with many of these students via Facebook.
During my time in the role, I was able to take a lot of the event planning tools and skills that I learned from CaseIT to even bigger projects, such as the campus abroad program with students from the Bocconi University located in Milan, Italy. Aside from administrative and logistical tasks, the Bocconi Campus Abroad Program was very similar to CaseIT. There were social components to the program that I needed to organize, and it is because of my involvement in CaseIT, that I was able to exceed both the expectations of my manager and the Bocconi students.
I credit CaseIT for giving me the confidence to take risks and do things outside of my own comfort zone. In fact, in the Spring 2013 semester, I will be participating in an academic exchange at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Thanks to all the connections that I’ve made from CaseIT, the preparations for my exchange have gone a lot smoother than I would have hoped. Because of those connections, I was able to get valuable insight from various CaseIT Alumni who have participated in an exchange as well as the students from the NUS teams that competed at CaseIT 2011 and 2012. It goes without saying that the friendships and connections that I made from CaseIT have allowed me to become the student and individual that I am today. Kudos to you CaseIT, you rock!
Being involved is one of the greatest things about post-secondary. You are given the opportunity to experience a scenario that you would face in the real world. Once you get into the real world, the problems and situations are going to constantly change, and you’ll need to be able to respond dynamically and efficiently.