Undergraduate student reflection on Eller Case Competition
Editor’s Note: Victor De Lara, an undergraduate student at the Eccles School and the president of the University of Utah’s chapter of the Association for Latino Professionals of America, recently participated in the University of Arizona Eller College of Management’s 13th Annual Collegiate Ethics Case Competition. Here are his thoughts on his experience.
Accommodating to meet the submission deadline for the presentation and executive summary while staying up to date with homework and other commitments were challenging. Also, time became an issue for me as we got near the date.
Despite the challenges, the rewards were far greater. My awareness of business ethics was enhanced, and for the first time, I was introduced to a case competition. Moreover, I had a great time working and getting to know better fellow student Jory Peppelaar and the associate instructor of management at the Eccles School, Lynn Suksdorf.
The hours seemed countless when we gathered our thoughts and shared them amongst each other. It was nice to hear Jory’s input on recent media coverage related to Uber, and refreshing to listen to Lynn’s comments on our content and presentations skills.
Eller was a unique and unforgettable experience. All the Universities had a common purpose, to win. Paul Melendez and his team were aware of the nature of competition, and their approach to dismissing any negative pre-existing beliefs associated with competition was brilliant. They made all the students from the various universities participate in group building activities that required us to learn more about each other in order to be successful in completing the assigned task.
Throughout the event, the opportunity to network with various professionals was available, which I found rare but fascinating. Aside from the great food, the motivating ending ceremony and the nice gift, my favorite part was the final round. Seeing the last five teams compete was very informative, and if I ever participate in a similar event I have a better understanding of what skill set is required.