What a glorious day!
Today (January 5th, 2013) was Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario’s CA$H
Competition 2013, that they have been having for quite a few years now.
It’s a simulation game that has very little to do with Accounting in
terms of numbers but more to do with the soft skills that is required to
thrive as a future Chartered Accountant.
I represented Atkinson Faculty for York University along with my
teammates, Tamar and Alamgir. We worked pretty well during group prep
sessions and finally ended up being chosen as one of the two teams that
Atkinson sent for this coveted competition. After the registration, we
were briefed about the game. It was an Expedition Outback in Australia
that took in the form of a map and consisted of two phases. For Phase I,
we had to reach a specific destination(Artisan’s Village) by 35 minutes
or be penalized at $5000 per box away from Artisan’s Village. The boxes
took in the form of Shady spots or just normal spots. Shady spots were
spots where we can send one of our teammate to ask about information
from the Cashiers.The Cashiers would have vital information but they
would not dare provide it to you unless you asked for it. It would take
in the form of clues and heads up as to where we can get our desired
goals. The desired goals not only included the maximization of
profit(which is a general theme for each year) but also having 60
Kangaroos, 30 Diamonds and 10 Antidotes by the end of phase II. Not
meeting any of the latter 3 goals would lead to a one time penalty of
$5000. We were given 20 moves per phase and possible extension if we got
the right card for it.
It was quite a lot to take in and there were a lot of red-herring. What
were they? Well firstly, the abundance of duplicate information made
things confusing. Along with that, we had many other clues and cards
that were just not at all relevant to the game. We as a team did start
off on a messy note but ended up being the 5th team after phase I with
$13500. But we did get a grasp of what was being really asked and phase
II was a superb transition for us. We did our best,at least we hope we
did, and ended with $39000. Sadly we missed out on the required goal of
60 Kangaroos considering we had 57. Sure it was devastating considering
the fact that the 5th position team made $41000 and we really were
close, but I honestly had a great time working with my team. We had the
winning attitude but this experience made us think about how it’s far
more important to actually have a winning mindset that can not only
think about winning but accordingly take necessary actions to achieve
it.
The game as we found out later had plenty of metaphorical references
throughout. How? Well for starters, the end of phase II was more like
how it’s our (i.e. aspiring CA students) journey to becoming a CA. The
mistakes or Wallybenders as they would call it, were references as to
how every now and then, we’ll stumble upon and fail but that it should
not be the end of things and feel defeated. If anything,we learned how
amazing it feels to quickly get back up on our feet and feel energized
after a fall back. The maximum that a team could earn so far has been
marked at $57000 but the host said that they still don’t know how much
more can truly be earned. That’s another reference that tells us that
while we can’t achieve everything there is to it, we can surely give our
best to strive for the highest and keep on trying. Artisan Village or
the end of Phase I was more of a reflection on how to move forward with
things in the right perspective. Remember how I told you that we did
better in Phase II? Well it was because we took the initiative to
understand how we can do better and how we can cut back on moves that
have been pulling our true potentials down.
The game ended with a fantastic networking opportunity where we got to
meet with recruiters that we have been hearing about or really like(that
is with whom I met in the past). All in all, it was an environment full
of energy, competitiveness and ambition. It was an event where we
tested our soft skills that are not limited to teamwork, communication,
organization skills and more. I met some compelling students that I
would love to work with one day. I am really satisfied to have been a
part of CA$H 2013 and will surely put out a great word to future
students that will represent Atkinson and may even bring the coveted
cup!
By: Shadib Newaz
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