A group of six University of Pretoria (UP) Internal Auditing honours students formed part of the 2019 cohort of international students who recently attended the Louisiana State University Center for Internal Auditing (LSU CIA) Case Studies week in the United States.

 

Gontse Mosese, Matsietsi Morobi, Nangula Ndadi, Lerato Jiyane, Zaneta Boshoff and Tylo Sargeant thoroughly enjoyed the six-day programme during which students teams, consisting of various international students, delivered daily presentations covering 10 to 12 topics during the week. This is what the UP students had to say when they returned:

 

"We boarded the plane to Louisiana State University not knowing what to expect. With determination, hard work and a lot of fun, Case Studies week shaped us into better and stronger people. We have the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences to thank for the incredibly high standards that made us fit in and stand out all at once.

 

Have you ever heard of the term ‘southern hospitality’? Well, we got to experience first-hand that this is not a myth. Louisiana is home to some of the kindest, warmest and most welcoming people we have ever met. They were at our beck and call, doing absolutely everything they could to make us feel welcome and included. We met so many wonderful people and we were treated like royalty. They made sure that we never went hungry and we were always cared for.

 

The Case Studies week was quite a challenge, but the knowledge we acquired will be an essential tool in our desired profession, internal auditing. The array of topics discussed in that short space of time made us realise how knowledge about different subjects gives you a competitive advantage. It not only enables you to converse with people in the workplace, but everywhere you go.”

 

Tylo: “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognise them” – Ann Landers. LSU Internal Auditing Case Studies once again proved that nothing is impossible if you have an honourable attitude and an incredible team to help you through it. It was a life-changing opportunity to build lifelong friendships from across the world, challenge all your limits and experience different cultures. The most valuable lesson I took home from LSU, is to “build your own brand”. As Zig Ziglar said, “The real opportunity for success lies within the person and not within the job”. I will carry the people, places and experience in my thankful heart forever.”

 

Gontse: “A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that opened my eyes and paved the way to my future. LSU Internal Auditing Case Studies 2019 was and will always be a highlight of my life as this was my first trip overseas, engaging with talented international students and creating lifelong memories. The key aspect I took away from Dr Sumners, Programme Director of LSU CIA, is that we as the youth do not read enough. He recommended multiple books, which I will definitely put on my to-read list as part of my personal development.”

 

Zaneta: “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone, then you are forced to expand your consciousness. Being placed in a new environment, a new time zone, with a wide variety of different cultures from all over the world is already quite daunting. Mix that in with extreme time pressures doing 2-3 presentations per day, a little bit of jet lag, not a lot of sleep and a panel of experts judging you every day. Nothing builds character as much as overcoming challenges, learning from it and growing. This learning experience is one that we would never be able to get anywhere else again and we value that highly.”

 

The students want to extend their heartfelt thanks to LSU for being the best hosts, and the Department of Auditing in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences for providing them with this amazing opportunity and experience.

Back row: Gontse Mosese and Matsietsi Morobi

Front row: Nangula Ndadi, Lerato Jiyane, Dr Jana Slippers, Zaneta Boshoff and Tylo Sargeant