On Friday 28 August, we attended the National Secondary School Case Competition Finals run by the University of Auckland Case Club. I competed in a team with Aliza Jivani, Hashmeet Kaur, and Nishka Nandan as Pak Team 1. We were given a new case and had five hours to analyse and create a presentation of our recommendation using PowerPoint. We were given 10 minutes to present and then another 10 minutes to answer questions.
The judges’ panel consisted of the Case Programme Manager and final-year university students in the Case Cub.
The case we were given at the finals focused on Rhythm and Vines, New Zealand’s largest music festival. After 24 years in Gisborne, Rhythm and Vines announced that it would be moving to a new location for 2027.
Our task was to develop strategies that addressed areas such as: what Rhythm and Vines should take with them and leave behind in Gisborne, how they could build trust and strengthen relationships with the new location, and how they could honour their 24-year legacy in Gisborne while transitioning into a new chapter.
A key challenge was that the new location had not yet been revealed. Therefore, our strategy’s implementation needed to be adaptable, realistic, and feasible for any potential location across New Zealand, while still preserving the identity and experience that makes Rhythm and Vines unique.
Sitting in a meeting room and working for five hours straight was intense and came with a lot of pressure. We first brainstormed and discussed our ideas together on a whiteboard before dividing up the tasks and beginning to build our presentation slides.
We were competing against some very strong schools in the finals, including Saint Kentigern, Diocesan, St Andrew’s College and Sancta Maria College. For Pakūranga College, this was our first year competing in a competition that has been running for almost 20 years. We were incredibly proud to take 1st place, winning $1,500, and Aliza Jivani was awarded Best Q&A Speaker. It was an amazing result for Pakūranga College and a rewarding way to finish our first year in the competition!
Elaine Zhu – Year 13
