Nick Hollard, President of Goodman DECA, gets some support from teammates after a successful DECA Provincials.
1. Congratulations on your recent success at the DECA Provincials! Tell us about the weekend and how you ended up finishing with such great results.
Well, I’ll first say that the DECA U Ontario Board of Directors did an amazing job putting everything together for the weekend. It was absolutely awesome; everything ran smoothly and everyone had a blast.
The team really came together this weekend, too. Something that I feel was greatly improved upon since previous years was the cohesiveness of our delegation. We were always hanging out together, having a laugh, being supportive, cheering on our school, and so forth. It truly felt like a fifty-one person unit, and I’m so proud to have been an integral part of that experience. I’ve received nothing but positive feedback from my delegates, and we have a lot of interest already for executive positions and returning delegates!
As for our results, I’m really proud of what my delegation has done this year. We tripled our medals since last Provincials – our six medalists were Yvonne Huynh and Zaman Dubey (1st place – Project Management), Robert Mandru and Steven Simons (3rd place – International Marketing Role Play), Ashwin Anant (3rd place – Financial Services Written Testing), and Nick Hollard (1st place – Travel Management Role Play).
It’s important to note, however, that these awards aren’t the be-all and end-all of our success. It’s a tight competition, and I know, without a doubt, that we had many other delegates in those 4th-10th spots in many categories. I’ve seen the score sheets, and we had delegates scoring 90 to 95 (out of 100) without making the podium. So not only did our overall medal results improve, but we’ve seen an overall improvement in our entire chapter.
Look for bigger and better things in 2017 – I’m confident that the next executive team will do some big things, as well.
2. As President of Goodman DECA, you’ve overseen the hard work that your team has put in to be ready for Provincials. Talk about the preparation that went into this year’s DECA U event.
For Goodman DECA, this has been a year defined by change. Our chapter has been around for well over a decade now, and a lot of the systems and processes we followed were pretty antiquated. While other chapters around the province had become innovative and creative in their tenure, we had stagnated, and I decided that this would be the year that Goodman DECA received a face-lift. The two key pieces that we implemented were our training process and our internal competition. My VPs of Training created new training materials to not only teach students how to present through practice cases, but we also implemented mandatory learning sessions that would teach students what to present. We had listened to feedback from previous delegates and a lack of knowledge was identified as a major weakness.
This worked out to around four hours of training per week leading up to the Internal Competition on November 1st – more training than we’ve ever had before that date! As many of our delegates are first-time case competitors, the Internal Competition was a great way for us to simulate Provincials and mentally prepare students for the event while providing a competitive edge that really brought out everyone’s A-game. I’m confident that these two new items were vital in our success this year as a chapter!
3. Who has been your most influential Professor or Mentor at Goodman?
Dr. Mark Julien is 100% the professor that has influenced me most in my time here. I have been a student of his for two OBHR courses, and I’ve had a blast both times. But it extends beyond fun, of course. Superficially, the content that I learned in his classroom has been the most applicable and tangible material I’ve been taught. I have applied knowledge I accrued in his classroom numerous times in my position as President of Goodman DECA. On a deeper level, I have never seen anyone love what he does as much as Dr. Julien. The energy, passion and genuine excitement he brings to the classroom brings the content to life. To me, it’s a reflection of finding something you truly love and putting yourself into it whole-heartedly. It’s that spirit that I wish to offer to others as a student leader to enrich the students’ experiences and inspire them to follow their passions, as well.
4. What advice do you have for younger Goodman students who are looking to get involved?
There are over seventy volunteer positions open on CareerZone right now. Go apply!
The BSA and its clubs have a lot to offer – something for everyone, really. And everyone starts somewhere!
Today, you’re a club executive, but tomorrow, you could be the President of the BSA. It’s all up to you to put yourself out there.
5. You’ll be starting your 4th year of your BBA in September. Where do you see yourself heading after that?
Well, as a BBA Co-Op, my program is 4.5 years, but I’m doing an extra semester as well to stay involved. I think that the experiences and connections we have the opportunity to create within the Goodman BSA are incredibly invaluable, and I don’t mind delaying my graduation for it.
Whenever I do get around to graduating, however, I’m hoping to find work in financial services, and I intend to do my Master’s a few years down the road as well!
