Finance students were thrown into improv situations when three theatre education majors brought activities to Finance Society on Wednesday.
Sophomore senior education major Marissa Novak and Dan Boylan, an instructor of finance and adviser for finance club, planned the event after Boylan heard other colleges had similar programs.
“I thought, ‘Why can’t Ball State do it?’” Boylan said. “Theatre majors need more finance, finance majors need more theatre. It highlights our analytical tendencies and they are more free spirited. We need more communication skill and likewise, they need us because they have to sell tickets and buy supplies.”
Boylan said the biggest difference with doing this between clubs is that students are in charge.
“We didn’t want some stuffy teacher coming in,” Boylan said. “This is a club, and this is a chance for students to be leaders.”
About 13 of Finance Society’s 30 members showed up for the event. Finance club co-president Anthony Moore, a senior psychology major, said he was pleased with the turn out.
“I didn’t know if everyone was going to be participating or not,” Moore said. “It turned out well.”
Out of the four activities the group did, Moore’s favorite was one called “Crisis Situation” in which the group split into two and faced each other with a random crisis to which the partner has to improve a solution.
“You really had to listen to what the other person was saying, and comprehend what they were saying and then come up with an answer,” Moore said. “You have to be on your feet, you’re not going to know the questions beforehand.”
Moore said this helped him learn how to communicate effectively and said the skills could be applied to a business interview.
Tucker Olson, a senior finance major and co-president of Finance Society, said everyone participating was very energetic.
“All I knew was that the theatre club was coming in, so I just kind of put my seat belt on for the ride,” Olsen said. “I was smiling and laughing the whole time.”
Novak said she considered real life applications when she chose the activities.
“[Improv is] going to happen in the business world generally, there is a very good chance that something is going to change very last minute, or you’re going to be given a piece of misinformation ... or you go to interview for a job and suddenly everything you had planned doesn’t apply anymore,” Olsen said
The finance club will return the favor Tuesday when Boylan will teach theatre students about budgets and financial statements.
