Over the weekend, a UH team traveled to D.C. for the final round of the PwC taxation competition among the top five universities nationwide. | Courtesy Hilary Sheinbaum
For the first time a UH team advanced to the finalists round of a taxation competition sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“Each year, 38 schools participate, which equals 445 teams, 2200 students,” Paul Peacock, partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers and chairman of the accountancy and taxation advisory board’s curriculum committee at UH, said. “One winner is chosen from each of the 38 schools to advance to a review, and only five finalists are chosen.”
The xTREME Games consist of two challenges — extreme accounting and extreme taxation. Each school that competes is chosen for one of the challenges.
Michael Newman, advisor to the UH team, was amazed at how well the students did in the taxation competition.
“I am extremely proud of the students,” Newman said. “They did a phenomenal job of researching and presenting.”
Each year, PwC holds the national xTREME games in Washington, D.C. UH has been participating for the past four years.
In preparing for the competition, the six local teams are given two weeks to research and present a given topic and compete against each other. Three judges from PwC review each team and pick the five teams to go to nationals.
The competition was created to gain recognition on major college campuses throughout the nation and for students to get the opportunity to compete on a higher level than in the classroom and in a real world business-like setting, Peacock said.
The teams must consist of five members — two sophomores, one junior and two other members from any level. The team members must be in a first-year accounting course or an accounting major/minor at the undergraduate or graduate level.
UH was the only team this year with a freshman team member to go to nationals.
“In preparation of competitions, I was nervous the entire time,” freshman Jonathan Cohen-Kurzrock said. “I’m a theater student, so I rarely get nervous, but every time someone brought it up the night before at dinner, I felt my heart thumping in my throat. When we actually walked on the floor, I felt calm.”
All team members from the finalist teams walk away with a monetary award, and each student in the competition is offered an internship with PwC, subject to each vuniversity’s rules, Peacock said.
When asked whether he is looking forward to next year’s competition, Cohen-Kurzrock dispels any doubts of his excitement.
“You kidding me? Next year we’re going to win it.”
