After my service break trip experience to Birmingham, AL we had a follow-up meeting with all of the students who went on trips all over the world. One of the speakers at this gathering was a professor at the University who recently switched from being a professor in the Business School, to a professor in Arts & Sciences. His claim for the switch was that he could just no longer function in the Business School, for the faculty’s want of success and money was too overwhelming. He said although the University itself was conscious of making a positive impact on the world, the Business School wasn’t a place where he felt he could do so.
This speech made me feel uneasy about my school and choice of major. Who was he to say that the students at VSB didn’t care about the world, and that we couldn’t make an impact in our chosen fields? Half of our student population studies abroad in other countries, and many of us participate in habitat or mission trips over breaks. We volunteer through clubs and organizations including Business Without Borders, the International Business Society and the Women in Business Society. I truly feel that my school and my friends reject the stereotype of the Business brats, and I was disappointed an insider to the University did not feel the same way.
A few weeks after this meeting, I was awarded a position on the Executive Board of the Women in Business Society, which helps plan events around campus to educate and empower women in the workforce. Additionally, we hold a community event each year to help young women realize their potential and provide strong role models for them to look up to.
This year, I am also taking a class, in the BUSINESS SCHOOL, which focuses on Business Decision Making. Within this class, we have the option to go on a habitat trip over a weekend in November to New Orleans to help rebuild the area after Hurricane Katrina. My professor, Dr.Bob, has gone nine times to this one area, each semester with students from yep, you guessed it, the BUSINESS SCHOOL. I’m beyond proud of this particular instructor for changing the way formal education can work by integrating the needs of those who need our help.
With his inspiration, I am trying to continue to further my education and business experience while continuing to find ways to volunteer, help others, and grow as a person. I encourage you to continue to follow my journey as I try to hold on to this part of me amid my search and potential beginnings in a corporate working environment.