A few weeks ago, I participated in the Brand Challenge at Fuqua. It’s an annual event where “teams of students design creative brand challenges that pit products head-to-head in taste and functional tests.” The event has become a true Fuqua tradition, and any student can participate – it’s not just for marketers or future marketers!

Participating teams are tasked with finding a fun way to pit name-brand products against the generic equivalent. This tests students’ brand and product knowledge, and they are asked to determine which product is the name-brand and which is the knockoff. In the last few days leading up to Brand Challenge, my team came up with an idea for Q-tip darts. The game was simple – shoot Q-tips from straws and assign point values to where they land. Our thought was that the real Q-tips would be heavier and not shoot as far; therefore, the brand with the lower score was the “winner.” Practice darts proved this theory correct.

At the challenge, we spent 2 fun hours “shooting darts.” In the end, although my team didn’t win the judges’ choice (marketing professors) or fans’ choice, we still had a lot of fun participating in the contest. It was also fun to visit the other booths.

Events like this have helped me to determine that marketing is probably not a part of my future career path, and that’s ok! It’s good to know. I try to attend and participate in as many events as possible to broaden my perspective on industries and functions to ensure that I’ll make the best career choice for myself.