Memorial University’s Students in Free Enterprise team is back from Malaysia after being knocked out of a global competition in the first round.
The team placed third in its division in the first round, watching teams from Russia and Kenya advance to the semi-final of the 2011 SIFE World Cup in Kuala Lumpur on the weekend.
Still, Danielle Seaward, the team’s vice-president, said the team was pleased with its own performance.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t make it out of the opening round,” she said. “But you can’t really look bad at that, considering there’s over 1,600 teams in the world and we did make the top 24, so we’re really excited and happy about that.”
Moreover, said Seaward, the team’s presentation was perfect, so there was no second-guessing going on afterwards; the team just ran up against stiff competition.
“The judging was a little bit different this year from what we’ve been used to in the past, but our team was really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish,” she said.
“Our presentation in our opening round was absolutely flawless. We had many judges in other countries approach us after, telling us how great the presentation was and we should be so proud of everything we’ve accomplished.
Seaward also said the real-life programs the team runs are also a source of inspiration.
“The one thing that’s made our team really proud was hearing from participants of people that we’ve impacted after the competition was over,” she said.
“We heard from different Canadian Forces members that participated in our Based in Business program, and also from seniors that participated in our FLAGS (Financial Literacy And Goals for Seniors) program telling us how proud they were of us for making it that far. And it’s at that time that you realize what you’ve done and what you accomplish.”
dmaceachern@thetelegram.com
Twitter: TelegramDaniel
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That's right, Donny. As far as "free enterprise" goes, those who are not first are losers.