Before I entered GBUS, I had always admired the HKUST Case Analysis Team (CAT) 's successful track record. CAT's consistent high-flying performance in international case competitions inspired me to one day be able to represent HKUST in winning cases. 

Starting my CAT journey as a blank sheet of paper, I always felt subpar when cracking cases with other more experienced members. However, through countless training conducted by our seniors and alumni, as well as learning from my peers, I eventually felt confident and equipped with the necessary skills to conquer all kinds of cases. 

I competed in my first in-person competition at NWS-JUCC in the second year after joining CAT. As the case company was a logistics business, an industry we were all unfamiliar with, we underwent intensive training. We conducted comprehensive research before the competition to ensure that we were well-prepared. This extensive preparation proved to be very effective, enabling our team to be crowned champions of the 48-hour case competition. Through this experience, I became more familiar with the logistics industry. I learned how to work well as a team with other motivated and like-minded individuals, engaging in insightful discussions and delivering solid recommendations.

In my third and final year, I further rounded out my experience by competing in 3 international case competitions, namely TUBC, HKICC, and MICC. Highlighting my experience at HKICC, our team competed in 2 cases, i.e., a 3-hour case on NWD's existing accelerator program and a 22-hour case on solving the Hong Kong housing problem. Under such tight time constraints, our team was able to generate creative yet implementable ideas through open and constructive discussions. We were then able to turn the ideas into a story in PowerPoint, followed by verbally delivering these ideas to three separate panels of judges. In a very tight race, we were the 1st runner-up in the competition, and I was fortunate to be awarded the best speaker, which has recognized my development as a presenter over the years.

Even though most of my casing experiences have been virtual, my past case competition experiences have been extremely eye-opening and fruitful. With casing, I could:
Think and act quicker under tight-time constraints.
Solidify soft skills, e.g., presentation and collaborative skills.
Form friendships of a lifetime.
As many GBUSers have a "work hard, play hard" mentality, I would encourage individuals who enjoy challenging themselves to join the Case Analysis Team. We "work hard" during training and "play hard" when we fly overseas, which I hope to experience before I leave!