Meredith Wachel and Lauren Farish, both Lake Highlands High School graduates, traveled to Washington, D.C. last week to participate in a national competition as part of the Baylor accounting team. The Baylor group was one of five teams qualifying nationally in the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) national xTREME games in taxation, the only team from Texas.
“The trip was a wonderful experience,” said senior Lauren Farish, who graduated from LHHS in 2008. “We had the opportunity to network with professionals at the very top of the U.S. division of PwC and with local professionals from the Dallas office.”
The team won $1,000 for being the top team at Baylor and $10,000 for being one of the top five teams nationally. Oklahoma State was the final winner, with Binghampton University in NY, Penn State and University of Wisconsin also competing.
“I also personally loved seeing D.C. in the snow,” added Lauren. “I just had an opportunity to visit D.C. for the first time back in October, but the snow and below-freezing weather was a marvelous addition. Our team consisted of 5 girls, and I had so much fun being their leader and ‘mother’ for the trip.”
Also on the team were Waco senior Reenal Bhakta, Edmund, Oklahoma sophomore Kendall Buskirk and Austin sophomore Brianna Goulet.
“I am extremely proud of my teammates. They all grew exponentially through the process, and I really enjoyed seeing it happen.”
“Overall, it was just a very positive experience,” junior Meredith Wachel told the Baylor Lariat newspaper. “I loved my team and I think we bonded more than just working together. We enjoyed what we did.”
