TRU team takes third at annual MBA Games

The TRU Masters of Business Administration students picked up and ocean of knowledge at the recent BC MBA Games at the UBC Sauder School of Business Oct. 26 to 28.

For the third year in a row, TRU sent a team to the annual celebration and competition with the leaders of tomorrow.

 Loaded with 23 bright, international students, TRU placed third out of five schools.

“All the competitions were fun and interesting. The challenging and most fun part of it was having to come together as a team for the group events and work with people you never met before,” said TRU co-captain Mika Nguyen.

Although TRU wasn’t able to regain their first-place finish from two years ago, the newly assembled team worked together well enough to earn third.

Significantly boosting TRU in the standings was the team’s first-place finish in the fundraising and video portion of the games, as they captured the Mann’s Cup.

With the blue marble theme for the games, TRU’s squad met early in the summer to begin fundraising strategies for Ocean Wise, a non-charitable partner for the games.

“We initially started during the Back to School barbecue, where we brought awareness to students and professors, explaining the issues currently facing the oceans. We also went on radio and TV, asking the community for donations to Ocean Wise. Together, we managed to raise nearly $4,000,” said Nguyen.

Nguyen, alongside co-captain Nasser Altariqi, led TRU to a second-place finish in the spirit category, which featured a handful of events, highlighted by an informative rap battle.

“We were creative and we brought something unique to the stage. We looked for ways to distinguish ourselves from other schools,” said Altariqi via an email. “We went with blue uniforms and we wore some blue accessories that represented the ocean.”

Along with choreographing their own dance, the team enlisted the lyrical stylings of Bachelor of Science student, Tamba Kemoh, who is commonly referred to as T-Bone, for help with the song. Here are a few of the fiery bars from Oceans and Nations:

“Hope you get the knowledge, hope you see the picture. Let’s keep the ocean, let’s keep the creatures.”

“They’re just like us, like me and you. The First Nations, they’re humans too.”

For the athletic portion of the event, the TRU team dialed up Tim Dobbert, an MBA student and member of the TRU WolfPack men’s volleyball team, for pointers in beach volleyball. Teams also battled in dodgeball, where TRU combined to finish third.

There was also an academic portion to the games, where teams worked through case studies about Ocean Wise, along with an indigenous and an eco-friendly non-profit organization. Despite great presentations, TRU did not place in the top three.

The TRU unit also didn’t apply for a return trip to the national event this year, the same one they attended last year.

That doesn’t mean the trip wasn’t a success, though.

“For me, this brought me a lot of experience as a captain. The preparation process in building new relationships was very valuable. We were meeting people new to our school from countries all around the world. Everyone was differently culturally and personally, so we had to find ways to build a relationship as a team and work together,” said Nguyen, who will be graduating next December with her MBA.

As a parting gift, TRU was also voted most sportsmanlike at the games.

TRU enjoyed an action-packed weekend at UBC and each member is thankful for Terry Lowe with Volkswagen, TRU World, the Rotary Club of Kamloops, CBC Daybreak and the TRU staff members for the donations to Ocean Wise and helping to get the team to Vancouver.