A team of 91����Ƶ senior accounting majors tied for fourth place in the final round of competition with a team from the University of Virginia in the ninth annual Goodman & Company Accounting Challenge in the fall of 2010.

The team – consisting of Brittany S. Snyder, Raphine, Va.; Heidi A. Boese, Hesston, Kan.; Eric B. Yoder, Narvon, Pa.; and Jason D. Ropp, Iowa City, Iowa – was one of 33 teams from colleges and universities from Virginia and Maryland who took a six-hour business exam the second week of October.

The 91����Ƶ team was one of only five to advance to the final round of the competition held Nov. 5 in Richmond, Va. Here, the 91����Ƶ students took another intensive, six-hour exam of practical business questions.

For finishing tied for fourth place, the team was awarded $750 for the 91����Ƶ business and economics department, and each student received $250 from Goodman & Company. Another team from U.Va. finished first in the contest, followed by teams from William & Mary and James Madison University.

“I’m really proud of these students,” said , professor of business and economics and MBA program co-director at 91����Ƶ. “It was definitely a team effort.

“It’s great to have this kind of external validation of our business program and our students,” Stoltzfus added.

“It’s an affirmation of our curriculum and says that our students are well prepared to enter the job market and go on to graduate school,” he added.

Article courtesy Crossroads magazine, fall/winter 2010-11

br>The winning team of MEDA’s annual student competition (left to right): Lindsay Lehman, Heidi Boese and Matt Ropp

Among these students were Matt Ropp, Heidi Boese, and Lindsay Lehman who participated in the annual student competition and won.

Students from different colleges were given a case involving an actual business and their task was to find solutions to the most important barriers and challenges.

The groups are then judged and a winner announced. Heidi Boese reported that her group prepared a PowerPoint that lasted around 20 minutes and they explained their plan for the business to a panel of judges.

The convention was a good experience for her and it helped apply the material she was learning in class to a real business.

Convention a great opportunity for students

Along with putting business concepts into practice, the convention offers a great opportunity to network with Christian business owners from all across North America and to meet students from other Mennonite Colleges.

The highlights of the trip for Heidi included listening to speakers who were successful in business, meeting new people, and spending a weekend in California.

It was an enjoyable experience for the students who attended; through the seminars and various speakers it was demonstrated how real organizations become successful.

For a few of the 91����Ƶ students, the San Jose MEDA Convention wasn’t their first; some of them attended the 2008 Convention in Columbus, Ohio.

The next opportunity will be in fall 2010 at the Calgary Convention in Alberta, Canada.