ST. JOHN’S, NL - Two teams of College of the North Atlantic (CNA) students have a busy month ahead as they prepare to step into the spotlight on the national and international stages.
With two Business Case competitions right around the corner – one in Montreal, QC (Feb. 9-10) and the other in Doha, Qatar (Feb. 15-16) – the students representing this province are ready, eager and well-prepared to face the coming competitions head-on.
Business Case competitions provide CNA’s students with the unique opportunity to showcase their technical knowledge and provide analysis of a business problem in a team-based approach. The top two winning teams from CNA’s internal Business Case competition, held in November 2018, will now pit their skills against some of the top colleges and universities.
Representing CNA at the Vanier College BDC Case Challenge is Beacon Solutions, comprised of Charlotte Green, Amanda Walsh, Cassandra Marshall and Kathryn Tilley of the college’s Prince Philip Drive campus. They will travel to Montreal for the competition this weekend.
“We feel good; nervous, but good,” said Walsh. “We’ve been practicing and going through our template on how to analyze a company. We’ve been making it more marketing oriented as opposed to a business analysis so that we can be more competitive at Vanier because they do primarily marketing cases. It would be lovely to place – it would be a dream come true. We are so excited for this experience.”
Meanwhile, The Bestie Solutions, also from Prince Philip Drive campus, will make the trek overseas to represent CNA at the international competition at College of the North Atlantic-Qatar in Doha, Qatar the following weekend. Team members include Jeremy Dominie, Hilarie Duffy, Ashley Barron and Marissa Barron.
“I am so excited,” said Marissa Barron. “I’ve done a fair amount of traveling before, but I’ve never been to anywhere like Qatar, especially with the cultural change of it. It is going to be so different than Newfoundland. I’m excited to see how different it is and how it will affect my presentation at the competition. I’m both excited and intrigued.”
She says the team has been brushing up on international news and reading about international companies so they are as prepared as possible.
“I’m lucky to be on a team with three really good friends of mine, so we have great chemistry, we really connect, we understand the way each other thinks, and that gives us a bit of an edge. Being really good friends helps with the team dynamic.”
Stephen Warren, CNA’s Dean of Business and Information Technology, says he’s looking forward to seeing how CNA’s students measure up to the competition.
“There is an incredible amount of personal growth that occurs when you are in front of a panel of judges and decide to take that step forward to answer a tough question. That type of personal growth is hard to simulate, but its impact can be life-changing,” Warren said.
“The students participating have already proven themselves in provincial competitions and now it’s time to take their skills and experiences to compete against some of the brightest students on national and international stages.”
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Media contact:
Glenda McCarthy
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
709.643.6408
glenda.mccarthy@cna.nl.ca