UF student 'excels' to world championship

FINDLAY — Chase Otto, a sophomore at the University of Findlay, placed first in the U.S. National Microsoft Office Specialist in Microsoft Excel Office 365 competition earlier this month in Dallas, Texas. "I was completely shocked," Otto said. "It was an unbelievable experience, because I had no plans on winning at all." Competing against students from across the country between the ages 13 and 22, Otto scored the highest in the Excel Office 365 application category. Along with securing first place, he walked away with a $3,000 scholarship, a Microsoft tablet and an all-expenses paid trip to represent the United States at the MOS World Championship next month in Orlando, Florida. "Computer programming, especially at the level that I reached, took years of practice and doing my own personal projects," Otto said. "Computer programming was not at all natural to me, I struggled a lot initially. Now I've reached a level where I can code in a pretty efficient way, and also in a way that's readable to other people who may not understand the programming as well." Otto credits his father for sparking an interest in technology and video games in his early childhood. A 2024 graduate of Pandora-Gilboa High School, Otto continued his passion throughout school taking several computer science classes at Millstream Career Center. Now studying at UF, Otto is a computer science major. "I've been interested in computers pretty much my entire life," Otto said. "I've been playing video games since I was like four. I attribute a lot of that to my dad, he is also very much into computers, same as me." Otto competed in the national championship after scoring higher than average in an Excel certification exam at UF. As a part of a university course, he was required to become certified in Microsoft Excel Office 365, where he learned that his score qualified to compete at the state level. From that point, Otto earned the top score in Ohio and placed first in the national competition. This year's MOS National Championship featured a new testing format than in previous years, combining multiple-choice questions with an essay on the real-world applications of Microsoft Excel and how they can be used in personal and professional life. To prepare, Otto used materials provided by UF as well as his own real-world use of Excel. Despite scoring "around 800 out of 1,000" on practice tests the night prior, Otto walked away with first place. "I was only getting around 800 out of 1,000 as my score and so that just added on to my doubt of winning," Otto said. "Then the day of the ceremony came, and when they announced my name, it was just unbelievable - just complete and utter shock." Next month, Otto will travel to Orlando with his father to compete against Excel champions from across the world at the MOS World Championship, July 27 to the 30. The all- expense paid trip also includes a complimentary visit to Universal Studios. "I'm hoping to get more time with my father since we haven't really had a trip by ourselves in a while," Otto said. "We're both big fans of the stuff at Universal Studios." Once he's back on campus, Otto will be gearing up to compete in a regional programming competition hosted by the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges this fall. Last year, he competed solo and placed fifth. This year, he is preparing with a full team and is hoping to bring home a win for the university. Otto wants to pursue a career in software development after college. "I've looked at companies like Marathon, and also other ones locally that offer software engineer or software developer positions," Otto said. "It's just been a matter of getting the experience to qualify to work there." In the coming month, Otto will continue to practice and stay focused on his upcoming global competition. "I have a new understanding of how the actual competition works," Otto said. "I'm going in with a bit more confidence than I did this past time around." For more information about the MOS World Championship, visit https://moschampionship.certiport.com.