My experience at NHBC

Hi everyone, My name is Abhinay and I am a grade 10 student studying in White Oaks Secondary School. Today I had the pleasure to attend the National High School Business Competition. I was welcomed by many of Illuminate’s hard working and talented executives and I had the opportunity to further grasp the comprehension of consulting in a business world. Our first keynote speaker was Mark Grenon who is a Forensic Accounting specialist at a Federal Level. When I first thought about consulting, I just assumed that it’s to do with finance and managing earnings and numbers. I never would’ve thought that by being a consultant, you are also solving some of the world’s biggest criminal investigations.

Through Mark Grenon’s presentation, I was able to learn that there are many types of consultants and the job of a forensic consultant is nothing less than the others. As forensic consultant, you are tasked in reading, analysing and interpreting an organization/person’s financial record who is deemed guilty. If any irregularities are observed such as large cash deposits and suspicious purchases, it’s the job of a forensic consultant to identify whom the suspicious person is, the reason behind the transactions and ways to make sure said complication does not repeat itself. After the keynote presentation, participants were asked to join two workshops; one hosted by Jodi Buckley (CPA ambassador) and the other hosted by Illuminate alumni. The first workshop we attended was related to CPA and the benefits of choosing the CPA program and partaking in a fiance related occupancy. We got to learn about the different categories universities and employees seek in an applicant and what students should do to fulfill their dream goals. The second workshop focussed on ways we can control our thoughts, emotions and workload. Learning about positive and negative muscles such as saboteurs in our body and how we can maintain a positive mood will really help me in the future when the workload and stress significantly increases.

I felt that the Open Q&A was probably one of the most impactful events at NHBC. Like many high school students, I am very curious about the differences between highschool and university. The insight given by illuminate university students definetly helped ease my stresses about highschool and it gave me a good perspective of what I need to include on my applications and the skills/qualities I should obtain in order to be successful during by undergraduate years.

I felt like the competition was overall, an interesting one. Me and my group were able to work together effectviely to find a culprit which we believe had commited the crime. Eventhough our final answer wasn't a 100% accurate, we enjoyed the time researching and comping up with evidence to prove our suspicion. In general, I felt that the skills and attributes I gained throughout the course of the conference will help me with future projects, cases and competitions. The internship programs and other extra-curricular activites I learnt about through the National High School Business Conference will definetly boost my interest for the financial side or business. At the end of the day, I felt that the way the Illuminate Academy was able to run the conference amidst a virtual setup was impressive. I can't wait to participate in the conference again next year and join more Illuminate programs in the years to come.