LUCC

*Pictured is the group of other CMU CBA students I competed with.*

This event was put on by the College of Business Administration on November 5th. I had gotten some emails about this event already but wasn’t particularly interested considering I have no prior knowledge of logistics. However, I decided to take a risk and encourage myself to achieve higher standards in the business field. This was a great opportunity for me to improve academically. I chose to go into this event blind and check it out because this is the first year they put it on and they intend to continue it in years to come. This event intrigued me because it was a chance to ultimately help in my career by teaching me about other areas of business and possibly allowing me to create connections. I was looking forward to pushing myself to try something new. I was hoping that my teammates were also going in with little knowledge so we could figure it out together. I was put into a team of four but only one other person ended up showing up and someone from another team was added to our group. None of us had an extensive amount of knowledge but this event was run spectacularly and I was never thinking about how much time was left. It was an all-day event, but I surprisingly enjoyed my whole time there. First, we were introduced to the sponsors and the agenda of the day. As freshmen, we competed in a different way than the juniors and seniors. Juniors and seniors were given a logistics case study that they had to find a solution for during the week prior. Freshmen and sophomores were introduced to logistics through a logistics case study simulation. As the upperclassmen presented to judges, we were walked through the process would we be carrying out in the computer lab. They explained everything thoroughly. Then our teams all went to the computer lab and played several rounds of the supply chain simulation. It was a learning process along the way and my team was struggling. But we knew we could improve as there were more rounds after lunch. During lunch, some sponsors gave some speeches and we all had time to rest a bit. After lunch, the upperclassman competed in round 2 of their competition but they also had to incorporate a twist. And our teams competing in the simulation continued to play more rounds after lunch. Then finally, after everyone had finished competing in the presentations and simulations, it was time for awards. Considering how badly we had messed up during our simulation, we still weren’t last! It was nice to meet new people and experience this new business field in a fun and engaging way that was just a bit competitive. I hope to continue competing in this event as it is very fun. I learned a lot from this activity especially in how to run a supply chain. I wouldn’t necessarily want to pursue a career in logistics, but I was glad I got to go through the simulation. I had only gone through a hotel simulation in the past for a DECA event. It was also cool to hear part of an upperclassman presentation to get an idea of an option to do in the future. This event reminded me of DECA, and I really enjoyed that it was through the College of Business Administration and I plan to spend a lot more time in that college. This was a great step towards getting more comfortable with the career that I have dreamed about for years.