PSU is home to an active chapter of PBL (the collegiate version of Future Business Leaders of America) that regularly enters competitions and attends conferences.
Two students — marketing and management major Sarah Clausen, of Cherokee, Kansas, and finance and business economics major Matthew Schmidt, of Easton, Kansas — captured first place in a competition that drew 900 university students from across the U.S.
Schmidt’s was in sports management and marketing, while Clausen’s win was in entrepreneurship concepts.
Clausen also captured fourth place in social media marketing and sixth place in website design, both with classmate Wynter Jacobs, a marketing and management major from Pittsburg. Their projects: a social media campaign for a beauty salon, and a website for a thrift store.
“It’s really special to end my very last national leadership conference with this win,” said Clausen, who is working on her MBA in the Kelce College of Business.
She said PSU prepared her for the competition not just from an educational standpoint, but also with staff and faculty “who are extremely supportive of student organizations.”
“When we qualified for nationals, everyone was very helpful in our fundraising efforts,” she said. “Our advisor was especially helpful in making sure we would financially be able to go, helping to plan the trip, and making sure we were ready for our competitions."
It also will look great on her resumé, she added, when she begins her job search soon.
In addition to his first place win, Schmidt also captured third place in financial services and seventh place in financial concepts.
“The opportunity I was granted to travel to Chicago through PSU PBL was transformational,” he said. "I competed in several business events, experienced new cultures and met new people at an international level."
In total, PSU students competed in 15 events and brought home 14 trophies. Competitors were:
Amanda Becker, accounting major from Weir, Kansas
6th in Accounting for Professionals
Hannah Evans, accounting major from Shawnee, Kansas
Participated in Accounting for Professionals, Accounting Principles, and Macroeconomics
Spencer Grillot, accounting major from Oswego, Kansas
2nd in Cost Accounting
Samuel Holman, computer information systems and economics major from Cassville, Missouri
5th in Microeconomics
5th in Macroeconomics
5th in Programming Concepts
Wyntr Jacobs, marketing and management major from Pittsburg
4th in Business Communications
4th in Social Media Marketing
6th in Website Design
Learn more about Kelce College of Business.