In a recently-formed investment club at 草莓社区, students are learning to invest in their own future by learning the strategies and logistics of investing wisely through all seasons of their lives.

Darrell Miller, Sam Buck and Matt Gehman, students in EMU’s investment club, study the market for opportunities.

“With the state of Social Security and the current economy’s affect on pension funds, students today will need to accumulate a significant amount of savings for their retirement,” said James M. (Jim) Leaman, assistant professor of business and economics, “and my hope is that students in this club will know they must invest and leave knowing how to successfully do so.”

The idea for the investment club originated from an assignment in one of Leaman’s classes, principles of macroeconomics.

Having trouble getting the students to connect with the macro economy, he decided to create an assignment that would involve them in the markets. He gave students the task of creating their own mock portfolio. Students researched investment opportunities, individually created their own stock portfolio and are following its value through the semester.

“I found it to be a success,” said Leaman, adding, “Students became competitive and took pride in their portfolios, following them very closely.” With the success of the portfolio assignment, Leaman began investigating in the business department about the feasibility of creating an investment club.

His proposal to create the club was approved and became reality in the fall of 2008. The 13 students invested an initial $10,000 in the stock market. The investment club is a one-credit pass/fail course, designated as a independent study. Leaman leads the group, which meets once a week for an hour, focusing on investment strategies and the logistics of actually investing.

Though the current state of the economy is problematic for many investors, it’s been a valuable learning experience for the students, according to Leaman, giving them a healthy perspective of market cycles and preventing future overconfidence.

“It’s been really interesting to track our stocks and have real money invested in the market,” said senior business major Sam Buck. “I’ve learned the importance of investing and after I graduate I definitely plan on using what I’ve learned.”

After tracking stocks last semester, students chose where to invest the $10,000, buying stock in companies such as Ford and McDonalds.

In May 2008, three EMU students departed on a trip of a lifetime.

Not only did they spend the next 10 weeks in different countries throughout Europe, but they earned 12 semester credit hours while they were traveling, all part of the itinerary of the International Business Institute.

The IBI began about 30 years ago at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., and the institute’s office is still on its campus. There are currently 15 schools that are affiliated with the IBI, including Eastern Mennonite. The coursework concentrates on everything from economics to international trade to global marketing, mostly within the European Union.

One of the highlights of the IBI is the opportunity to tour major corporations and agencies, while also getting an in-depth view of them from a business perspective. Some of these include Nestle, the European Central Bank, and Goldman Sachs.

Nick Miller, then a senior at EMU, was particularly grateful for these opportunities on the trip.

“To visit a place like the European Central Bank and some of the other big corporations in Europe was really a great experience,” Miller said. “Not only that, but everything is planned out for you. It’s a great way to tour Europe for the first time.”

Another aspect of the IBI that impressed Nick was the variety of professors and lecturers that were a part of their education over in Europe.

“You have teachers from different universities and areas and it provides a lot of perspectives that you wouldn’t get by taking all of your classes at the same spot,” said Miller. In fact, the 2009 IBI features eight distinguished faculty from six different universities.

Sam Buck, who will graduate in April 2009, expressed the same excitement when discussing the variety of students on the trip, as well as the overall experience.

“It’s an amazing time to network with other future businesspeople from Christian colleges throughout the U.S.,” Buck said. “(The trip) broadens your mindset from just seeing things from an American perspective to looking with a global perspective.”

Miller and Buck were joined on the trip by EMU alum Joshua Mann (’08). Despite sending these three students, EMU’s participation had been limited prior to last summer. It is, however, a great chance for business students to meet business requirements as well as many cross-cultural requirements.

Overall, the International Business Institute provides a great environment for EMU students to learn in a foreign setting and gain a better knowledge of the global marketplace.