Experiential learning

Staying a busy body with BComm student Daniel Eng

Daniel Eng has done it all at Asper — from exchange, to case competitions — and he's still pining for the next adventure.

Daniel Eng on exchange
Estimated Read Time:
4 minutes
Daniel Eng
Daniel Eng
Estimated Read Time:
4 minutes
By

Brett Maclaren

By jumping at every chance to participate, along with a healthy dose of inspiration from his grandma, Daniel Eng, a BComm student in his final year, bloomed at the Asper School of Business. 

“In my first year, I felt like I was that student who would go to classes, then go home,” he says. 

In his second year, everything changed. Perhaps he realized why he had wanted to go into business in the first place. Originally, he had been torn between business and medical science, but he chose business as a way to explore. 

“I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life studying away on the skeletal forefront of a brain.” he says. “I wanted to see the world and try to experience new things more than just books or textbooks.”

That he did. He immersed himself in experiential learning—joining the Commerce Students’ Association (CSA), competing in case competitions, and eventually going on exchange. These hands-on experiences offered by the Asper School of Business to all its students enriched his education and launched a journey that, by a rough estimate, has taken him to 14 countries and counting. 
 

Always challenging yourself

Euphoria (the feeling, not the show) has been a running theme for Daniel Eng’s experience in the Asper School extracurriculars and leadership opportunities. 

He first felt the rush of adrenaline onstage at Business Banquet 58, an event that he helped plan through the CSA. The rewarding feeling of satisfaction flooding you all at once overtook him after working for months on the event. 

“There’s like 500 people in this room and they all came because I made this event, like, wow,” he said. 

He felt it when in case competitions, which brought him to the Netherlands, Calgary, and most recently, Mexico, where his team earned second place. As he describes it, these competitions threw him in the deep end of the pool...in the best possible way.   

“I think my very first case competition, my slides were three bullet points. I failed that presentation. But the thing is, when you fail, you can improve from that.” Since, he’s not only improved his PowerPoint skills, but his critical thinking and speaking skills, which will stay with him forever.

These case experiences, which tested and enhanced his classroom skills, were fully funded by the Asper School. Eng says if you’re not sure if case competitions are for you, he says, “Just jump.”

And he felt it when he took advantage of an international exchange opportunity to the Hong Kong University of Science Technology, a program offered by the Asper School of Business to over 100 students per year, who take a semester abroad in one of the partner business schools spread in 30 countries. 

As the two sides of Eng’s family are Vietnamese and Cantonese, Hong Kong made for the perfect base camp as he scheduled his classes specifically so he could travel and explore both sides of his heritage. He made it to 11 different countries during his exchange. 

“Always keep an open mind,” he says about what he learned. “Always try to challenge yourself regardless of what the consequences might or might not be. Keep trying new things and don’t stay in the same area or same place or same mentality.”
 

Daniel Eng and classmates at BB58
Daniel Eng and his Case competition team in Mexico
Daniel Eng on exchange

Continuing the legacy

When asked about his greatest mentor, he said his grandmother without a moment’s hesitation.

Eng’s grandma, Moc Que Trinh (their family just calls her mama), came to Canada as a refugee from Vietnam in 1978. She started as a seamstress at Canada Goose; when she got laid off, she decided to start her own business instead of looking for a new job. 

She created Young’s Market, a grocer which now has three locations in Winnipeg. It became a true family business as Daniel’s grandparents, mother and her three siblings all helped out at the original store on William Avenue. 

All four of them took an interest in business and graduated from the Asper School.  

Daniel, too, was drafted into the family business. “Ever since I was born, I’ve been at the store. I was pushing carts since day one.” Nowadays, he’ll use his business skills where he can, assisting with accounting and payroll.

His mom, aunts and uncle now run Young’s operations, but at 74, his grandma still helps with day-to-day tasks. “She’s always been a busy body. She always can’t see herself sitting still. And that’s what I took from her.”

“She decided to make her own opportunity, and I’m really empowered when I’m around her. The most important thing is to continue that legacy that she has laid for me,” he says. 

True to his grandma’s busy-body spirit, I interviewed him on a slow Monday afternoon, and he had just finished writing the LSAT (Law school Admission Test).  

He majored in Finance and Accounting at the Asper School, but says, after this final year, he’s “free-sailing.” As you can tell, he wants to go to law school next. But he’s not exactly sure of the details of his life’s next phase just yet. 

What is sure, is that whichever way he sails, the skills he gained at the Asper School of Business will be there with him, guiding the way. 

Moc Que at Young's Convenience
Daniel Eng's relatives working at Young's Convenience

The Asper School of Business is bursting with student opportunities to develop your potential, have fun outside of the classroom, network with new connections and discover new interests and connections.