It's presently 12:35 AM and I working diligently with my Kogod Case Competition team on our presentation for this morning. I say this morning because we are schedule to present our solution to a panel of judges in roughly 9 hours. So far we've put about 20 hours work each into preparing for the competition. We'll likely have contributed another 10 by the time the entire competition is over.
What are we putting ourselves through this for, I wonder? Well, I really don't wonder. While there may be other things that I'd rather do on a Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night, and finally, Saturday morning, I'm putting myself through this for the experience and its rewards. This is my third time competing in the Gartenhaus Financial Case Competition, and the cost-benefit ratio changes each time I compete. No matter what, 30+ hours will be put into preparation for the case. Starving my frontal lobe of rest by depriving myself of sleep for the entire night before the competition is a given. I do it, though, for the networking opportunities and the free lunch at the end. It's hard to feel a real sense of competition when I don't see any of my competitors during the actual competition moments.
We need coffee, our brains are beginning to mush, and.. I think we're over the hump. Once you get past the 1-2 o'clock "hump," it's much easier stay awake for the rest of the night. Hard working high school and college students know what I'm talking about.
It's time to practice presenting. This year's case is about an Upholstery company based in South Africa. The company is having some cash flow and management problems it seems, and we're attempting to creatively work through these issues. Unfortunately I'm going to have to miss work today (Saturday) because of the competition! This actually does upset me. After a day of hard work at the Tax firm I feel like I've really earned my money and gotten a great education in the process. It's such an intense job that requires the use of my brain at almost all moments to correctly perform. I'll miss not going, but I'll be glad to sleep when this competition is over.
Missing 8 hours this week isn't too big a deal, though, since I'll surely be working more than 20 when the heaviest parts of the tax season arrive. I'll likely head in 3 days per week during late March and early April, assuming there's enough for me to do. We'll see, and I'll surely keep you informed.
Back to work this Wednesday.
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1 comment:
The judging bias at this year's competition was slightly more obvious than in previous years' competitions. It's not enough anymore that a team may have the best presentation.. a team must have the best judges.
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