by C. GARRETT KEIDEL & ALEXA SCHMIDT,

Asst. Sports Editor & Asst. A&E Editor

Another year, another FED challenge. Seniors Zoe McGreevy and Diego Miguens plan to participate in this year’s challenge, for the fourth and second time, respectively. 

McGreevy, an economics major explained what the FED challenge is.

“It is a college wide challenge, that kinda acts like a club, in which a group of students and a faculty advisor get together to create a 15 minute presentation. We also prepare for 15 minutes of questions when we compete at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York at the end of October,” she said. 

Miguens, a finance and global business major said the team made it to the second round last year. 

“Out of 40 schools I think there were only eight of us that made it to the second round. It just so happened that we got put in a bracket with the best team out of the competition which was Pace University. They ended up beating us to advance to the finals, and then they ended up winning the national championship in Washington,” he said. 

This year’s team will be different than last year’s because of the addition of new members. 

McGreevy said, “We have a lot of new people this year. I think only a few people are returning from last year. We all have to learn the different ways we mesh together in a new group versus last year’s group. There’s a lot of different current events which will change the way that our presentation is given.”

She continued.

“You gain a lot of real world experience. Which is really important because I feel like you don’t necessarily get that sitting in an economics classroom. But in being a part of this club you get to go out and meet people who are actually working in what you want to do. The real experience is good.”

The FED challenge is something that requires a lot of commitment, practice and time. Sophomore economics and finance major Richard Gerling, is participating in the challenge for  first the first time. 

“We’ve been working hard over the summer. We do research on the various economic policies and monetary policy and really look how it affects the overall economy. We’re giving our recommendation as to what the federal reserve should do comprised of a 15 minute presentation and then questions afterward,” he said. 

He continued. 

“I thought it would be a really good experience to get knowledge outside of what I could get in a traditional classroom setting. It would be a helpful way to get me progress with an eventual career,” Gerling said. 

This year, the team set goals for success. 

“I think our main goal is to do as well as we did last year and hopefully better. So definitely want to get to the second round and hopefully move on to the finals. The Finals are in Washington DC,” said McGreevy. 

Beating Pace University this year is especially important to Miguens. 

“ I think my expectation or my goal is to beat out Pace before I graduate. Every year I’ve heard about the Fed it’s ‘Pace this, Pace that’ and that they’re a top school, that always ends up winning. So beating them or making it to the finals against them would be a good goal,” Miguens said. 

And there is always room for improvement. 

“We just want to basically improve anywhere we can. We have a couple presentation set up already to give to different people in the industry. Hopefully they’ll give us good feedback and that way we can fix those different things. There’s always things we can improve upon. Even going into the second round last year we had to improve a bunch of things,” Miguens said. 

McGreevy and Miguens pay tribute of their success towards Hany Guirguis, Ph.D., the advisor of the club.

“Im proud of the faculty advisor, Dr. Guirguis. He takes time out of his family, out of his summer life just to come and teach and get us prepared for a little presentation that goes a long way in your future,” Miguens said. “I’m just proud of all the work that goes into it.”

He continued.

“ A lot of it is behind closed doors, having people wake up at 6am every day including weekends. I don’t think people recognize that. They just think we give a regular presentation. It’s a lot of work leading up to it.”. 

McGreevy and Miguens agree the FED challenge is overall a great way to get involved on campus and make the most out of college education. 

“I think anyone whos an economics major or just interested in economics in general, this is probably the best thing you can do for yourself,” said McGreevy. “I’ve learned more in the last four years doing this than I probably would have if I didn’t.”