MEWC
FMWC
TAC
EEO
introduction:
In 2023, the whole of INSCAE was talking about the same thing: three seniors were flying to America to represent Madagascar in an Excel Esports competition. One second-year student felt proud, and that pride quickly became a dream.
Today, Mikoja Rakotoalisoa has competed at the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge (MECC) 2024 Individual Championships in Las Vegas, and he is going back.
a dream born at inscae
Mikoja first heard about MECC in 2023, as a second-year student at INSCAE. Team Kajy, made up of seniors Ny Tsiory, Kiraën and Tafita, had flown to America to represent Madagascar. “These people studied in the same institute as me,” he says. “And the pride quickly became a dream. I thought to myself, one day it will be my turn.”
Before that, Excel was simply a class. His group learned the basic features because Excel mattered for their studies and future jobs, but for Mikoja it was mostly “a box to tick to move on to the next year.” He did not see it as something exciting, and he definitely did not see it as an Esport.
how do you prepare for an excel competition?
Mikoja prepares for every MECC competition with three types of practice. The first is what he calls the speed run: he solves a case as fast as he can against his friends from INSCAE, finding shortcuts and cutting every wasted second.
The second is the total opposite, and the one that helps him most. He takes his time and solves the same case in as many different ways as possible, testing a lot and watching the great names of Excel Esports on YouTube, such as Diarmuid Early and Hadyn Wiseman. “In Excel Esports, choosing the right method is just as important as being fast,” he says.
The third is preparation. Some tasks come back again and again and take a long time to set up, like data tables or finding the most common characters in a text. So he builds macros and LAMBDA functions in advance and brings them on battle day. “It’s like sharpening your tools before you go to work.”
a first excel esports competition and a name on the learderboard
Mikoja describes his first competition as average. He finished around 15th place, but for him it was already a victory. His own name was on the leaderboard, not hidden as anonymous, and he had barely trained, using only the basics he learned in class at INSCAE.
He left with one clear thought: “If I go here with just the basics, imagine what I can do if I really work.”
The – means the student competed in both levels and scored above the Varsity median, so their Junior Varsity result is not shown.
las vegas and the mecc championships
Mikoja competed individually at the 2024 MECC Individual Championships in Las Vegas, finishing 22nd in the Semi-Finals. Asked for his most memorable moment, though, he points to the people he met there: professionals who have made Excel their job.
One conversation stands out, with Oz du Soleil. “He showed me that you can really master Excel, not just use it.” Oz even gave him a book, Career Data Analysis Using Microsoft Excel.
“That book gave me strong foundations, and it helped me reach the level I have today. So Oz, if you’re watching this, really, really thank you.”
why excel esports is a thinking game
“MECC completely changed the way I think about Excel,” Mikoja says. “Most people think Excel is a battle of formulas, but it’s first a thinking game.” Before, he tried to do everything in one single cell. Now he builds a clean structure he can reuse from one level to the next, and it helps him at work too, because other people need to understand what he built.
“MECC taught me that simple is not easy. Simple is smart.”
What he gained most, though, is people. “As a student, you rarely get the chance to meet so many professionals, and these are not people who just show off their skills. They share. They want everyone to grow together.” With MECC, he says, the learning never stops and it never feels like homework. “It feels like a game, just a game.” If he had to pick one, he would choose learning, because “the competition is the classroom, the community is the teacher, and the learning is what you take home.”
can any student join an excel competition?
Yes. Any student can join the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge, signing up is free, and no prior Excel experience is required. Mikoja started with only the basics from his classes.
His message to any student who is hesitant: “Just go for it. You can only win something. Don’t expect results overnight, but step by step you’ll realize it’s a lot of fun. The more you continue, the more you’ll see the skills you’ve built, skills that open doors you didn’t even know existed.”
Three years ago, Mikoja was a student at INSCAE hearing about Madagascar’s team flying to Vegas. “Today I’ve been there myself, and I’m going back.”
Ready to start your own journey? Sign up to the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge and see where student Excel Esports can take you. The next MECC Team & Individual Championships take place in Las Vegas from November 30 to December 2.
Watch the Full Interview
Hear more about Mikoja’s story and how a dream at INSCAE became an Excel Esports journey to Las Vegas.