Henry: First year, no fear

As many people have stated before me, Monash University offers many opportunities for students, however it is up to the individual to apply for such experiences. One particular opportunity I was able to experience finished last week on Thursday, where my team and I presented at the Campus Finals for the UBS Investment Banking Challenge at their office in the CBD!

Unfortunately, we didn’t win, but the fact that we had made it to Campus Finals in itself was an extraordinary feat for a first-year team! Our team was made up of solely first-year students and we had never taken any finance subjects at university before, so we were at a big disadvantage from the start, yet we somehow managed to make it past the Heat Round and present at Campus Finals. Most participants were at least in their third year, so it was definitely a great feeling to meet older students as well as network with bankers from UBS after Campus Finals too.

Looking back at my experience with this competition, I can say that I enjoyed every moment of it despite the late nights that my team and I were working on the competition whilst understanding the basics of valuation too. It took us longer to implement things into our presentation, but our hunger for knowledge and our perseverance carried us to the end.

I highly recommend prospective students when entering first year to take on board the opportunities presented, especially competitions! It’s a great place to meet new people and to learn something new and interesting without the constraints of university (except for due assignments, of course). Just remember to have no fear when applying for opportunities :)