Mikayla Zolis trained months for this moment. Years, really.

Countless lectures in the Goodman School of Business listening to professors explain case studies. Untold hours contemplating how she would handle complex business situations if she were the CEO of, say, Coca-Cola.

Case studies are the crucible of modern business schools, the moment of truth. And in that moment, standing before of a panel of four judges — private sector business heavyweights — the third-year Brock University BBA Co-op student put all that learning on the line. And she nailed it.

“The competitions are when you can really apply the case study skills and theory you learned in your classes,” Zolis said.

It was Sunday, Jan. 8, and her six-minute presentation in the Business Strategy Academic category of the prestigious JDC Central competition being held in Ottawa was exactly what the judges wanted to see. Same for the presentations of her Goodman teammates Jenny Doan and Max Muria Courchesne.

“Going in front of these judges is pretty intense. We took it as our opportunity to shine and be able to prove to everyone watching that all the hard work we put into it culminated in something great,” said Zolis.

I think winning the title means more than we can understand right now

Brock went on to win the Academic Cup, along with a pair of firsts, three seconds and two thirds in various events. But most importantly, the 40-member Goodman team ended the three-day ‘business school Olympics’ by winning the coveted School of the Year title, ending a seven-year streak by Wilfrid Laurier University.

“I think winning the title means more than we can understand right now,” said Goodman captain Dan Giddings, who graduated last year and now works at CIBC. “The fact Laurier was able to win seven years in a row is incredible, and the fact we were able to take them down … it still hasn’t set in. It’s awesome.”

Developed largely by Harvard, case study methods in business schools are widely used because they essentially let students step into in the shoes of decision makers at the world’s biggest companies, and confront just about every conceivable real-life situation.

“These scenarios can be ethical challenges, something around marketing, human resources or accounting issues,” said Goodman Interim Dean Barry Wright. “They’re real-world examples, and then you have the opportunity to say ‘what would you do.’

“More people are recognizing Goodman as a leading business school in experiential education and scholarly activities, so case studies fit in nicely with what we do. Students learn how to manage in the real world based on real-world cases.”

Case study-based events have become the varsity sports of the highly competitive business school world, and Goodman undergrad students get introduced to case competitions right from year one.

The competitions range from small in-class events, where students go up against their peers, to the JDC Central, one of the biggest case competitions in Canada, where 700 students from 13 business schools battle it out.

“We’ve been so close in the past, but this year we pulled it all together,” Wright said.

Like Giddings, he expects the impact of the School of the Year title to be long-lasting.

“I think there will be a wonderful ripple effect. We’re close to Toronto, but far enough away that some people haven’t heard about us in the corporate world. For us to be in front of all of these CEOs and show them what these Goodman students have to offer, it’s a great opportunity.

“I think the ripple effect will be the reputation. That takes a long time to develop and we’re still a young university and an even younger business school. I like to say we’re the best kept secret in Canadian business schools, and this proves the message is getting out.”