Three Northwood students traveled to Ottawa University in Kansas earlier this month for the 2024 Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) League Competition.
“This is a great experience for students to show their creativity and ability to educate an audience,” stated Dr. Alex Tokarev, an associate economics professor at Northwood University. “Students created a commercial, engaged in a video game competition, and faced off in pairs in strategic economic games.”
Tokarev explained the final portion of the competition included a policy case presentation, which encourages students to think critically, analytically, and creatively to present policy solutions to real issues.
“The policy case was very interesting,” stated Konner Lauria, a student from West Branch, Michigan who was part of the trio of students who went to Kansas. “We expressed our own ideas about virtual currencies as well as the dangers associated with them.”
The other students who participated in the event include John Michelotti of Oak Park, Illinois, and Noel Tokarev of Midland, Michigan.
“It was a very educational experience,” stated Noel Tokarev. “We hope to participate again next year — and maybe even host the event on our campus. In Kansas, we met students who had a wealth of prior experience in contests. We were the youngest team there, but we hope to catch up to their level.”
“We are very proud of John, Noel and Konnor for representing Northwood at this year’s PPE League Competition,” added Dr. Alex Tokarev. “Our students had just two weeks to catch up to teams that had months to prepare for this competition. So while we didn’t win, it was a successful experience, and I look forward to watching these students grow over the next year.”
