MEWC
FMWC
TAC
EEO
introduction:
Some students find the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge through a scroll, a social media post, or a friend’s recommendation. Austin Safer found it through his classroom, his professors, and the upperclassmen who had already been competing and loved it at Messiah University.
What followed was a journey that took a finance student who thought Excel was purely a financial tool to the Las Vegas MECC Championships in 2025, an investment banking internship in New York City, and a completely new understanding of what Excel, and his own abilities, are truly capable of.
a clasroom introduction that clicked
Austin Safer did not stumble across MECC by accident. His university (Messiah University) was one of the first to integrate MECC directly into its curriculum, and that head start made all the difference.
“I think my school is one of the first to sort of include MECC in their curriculum, which is something that me and other students have found really beneficial.”
But it was not just the curriculum that convinced him. It was the students already competing. Upperclassmen in the finance program who were part of the school’s MECC team and genuinely loved it. Hearing their experience made Austin want to find out for himself. And doing assigned MECC cases as homework sealed it.
“If I can do this for homework, I can do this in competition. I thought it was something that would really benefit me in the long run in sort of a career sense.”
That instinct turned out to be exactly right.
a strong foundation that still was not enough
Before MECC, Austin was not starting from zero. His finance program had already given him a solid foundation in Excel, more than most students his age. But MECC quickly revealed how much further he could take this.
“Once I started, I knew that there was a lot, a lot more that I had to learn. Just some of those formulas that you learn in class to do different financial models and whatnot is not always the same that you’re going to use for an MECC case.”
It is a moment many students experience when they first encounter MECC. The realization that classroom Excel and competitive Excel are two very different parts. But rather than being discouraged by that gap, Austin leaned into it and that decision changed everything.
how austin prepares and what actually works
Asking Austin about his preparation routine, he gives an honest and practical answer that any student can learn from and do themselves.
“It’s just doing old cases and also doing cases that have YouTube videos sort of like as guides for them.”
His method is straightforward but effective. He goes to past MECC cases that he has not completed yet and works through them while watching the walkthrough videos to see how the best competitors in the world approach the same problems.
“Someone like Diarmuid Early, you know, speeding through it as fast as they can and putting the video on like 0.75 times speed or just having to pause it like every two seconds to see what formula is that because they’re just so fast with it.”
It is a humble and honest approach that gets results. Watching the best to become better. Slowing down to understand before speeding up to compete. And the results across Austin’s MECC competitive performances show it certainly works.
The – means the student competed in both levels and scored above the Varsity median, so their Junior Varsity result is not shown.
the first competition and that spark it lit
Austin’s first MECC competition was a Weekend Battle. His school’s finance lab became an unofficial communal space for the occasion, with fellow students competing individually but sharing the same energy in the room.
“After I was just like, man, like that was hard. Definitely was able to complete a couple levels, but was like, wow, there’s a lot to learn.”
But what stood out was not the difficulty. It was the feeling.
“I’ve done more athletic competitions. I did track, basketball, all the sports back in high school and middle school. But that was the first time I’d ever done sort of like an Esport for a score and something public.”
And despite the nerves beforehand, the moment he logged in something clicked. His brain started moving. Formulas he had seen before, combinations he had practiced, all began to fall into place. That experience of thinking fast, problem solving under pressure, and discovering that he could do more than he expected was the spark that kept him coming back.
las vegas and the moment that made it all real
Of everything Austin has experienced through MECC so far, the 2025 MECC Team & Individual Championships in Las Vegas stands above everything else.
“That was just an enormous blessing to be able to do. It was a really cool trip to do with different people from my school and getting to meet other competitors from schools all around the country, all around the world really.”
The conference, the competition, the community, all of it came together in a way that was impossible to fully explain to friends back at school. But Austin tried anyway.
“Getting to go to Las Vegas for competitive Excel was a fun thing to get to explain to my friends here at school.”
And he is already looking forward to going back for this year’s 2026 MECC Team & Individual Championships. “I’m very glad that our school is able to go and compete and glad that we’re going to be able to go back this December.”
what mecc really gave him and what comes next
MECC did not just teach Austin new Excel functions. It completely changed the way he sees the tool and his own potential.
“I definitely saw Excel as like a very specifically financial thing. When I did MECC, I was like, wow, there are maps and pictures and you can use it for all these other things, all these other use cases that I never would have imagined Excel could be used for.”
That shift in thinking paid off almost immediately. During his investment banking internship in New York City, the summer after competing, Austin found himself showing fellow interns and full-time professionals Excel skills he had picked up through MECC. Functions and techniques they had never seen before. Skills that gave him a genuine edge in the workforce.
“The learning experience, just of the competition experience, the problem-solving experience that you get at MECC will last with you for a long time. It’s important not just to have that on your resume, but be able to use what you’ve learned in the workforce.”
His message to any student sitting on the fence is one of the most thorough and genuine endorsements MECC could ask for.
“It is fun. It’s extremely beneficial because you can bring it with you into the workforce, into the classroom, wherever you need to. No one else is going to have this type of experience and it really teaches you so much in a really short amount of time. MECC was able to make Excel seem more like a sport than what it is. Nothing to lose from it. It’s only gonna benefit you.”
For Austin, the journey is far from over. With strong results across multiple Weekend Battles and a 2025 MECC Championships appearance already on his record, the 2026 MECC Team & Individual Championships in December could be the next chapter in a story that started in a finance classroom.
Watch the Full Interview
Hear more about Austin Safer’s story and the full journey from his classroom to the 2025 MECC Championships in Las Vegas. Watch the full interview with Austin here: