Tag: Class of 2019

Photo, above. From left to right: Ony Mgbeahurike, Janell Cleare, Jose Reynoso, Jennifer Franklin, Ricardo Marrujo Mexia, Ashia Powers, Oscar Vasco, Gbenoba Idah, Gheremey Edwards and Bryant Powell.

The violent clashes between white supremacist groups and counter-protesters last weekend on the University of Virginia campus prompted members of Olin’s incoming MBA Class of 2019 to create a video of solidarity and support for their fellow students at U.VA’s Darden School of Business in Charlottesville.

The students who appear in the video are members of Olin’s Consortium cohort and scholarship recipients through the Consortium for Graduate Studies in Management (CGSM). CGSM was founded in 1966 by Olin Business School’s Prof. Sterling Schoen. Today, the CGSM is the premier national organization involved in promoting and helping gain access to graduate business education for historically underrepresented minorities. Through business school and corporate partnerships, the Consortium provides scholarships, mentoring, networking, internships, and career placement advice to each class of MBA fellows. 18 world class universities admit 400 CGSM students annually to MBA programs. Since its founding, CGSM schools have graduated more than 8,000 leaders to the benefit of businesses and communities around the world.

I have found teamwork to be one of the cornerstones of the Olin experience. This fall, all freshmen in Management 100 and Management 150 were put into random teams. We had the same teams for both classes. All projects and the vast majority of the homework in both classes were team assignments. This meant that early on I had to get very close to working with a small group of people.

Both of these classes culminated in large final group projects. In Management 150, we had to design a product, and pitch it to a group of judges. We ended up designing a high heeled shoe, called “Cabriolet” with removable heals making it easier to walk.

Our Management 150 Pitch Poster

In Management 100, we had to analyze Nintendo and propose solutions to solve their underlying problems. We then had to present these solutions to a panel of judges. After countless hours of work and late nights, we had our presentation this morning. I left feeling very proud of my team. We certainly have become the “high performing” team we aspired to be earlier in the year.

I’d like to give a special shout-out to my team members Hannah Paige, Chris Detloff, and Jenna Sumikawa for all the hard work they put in this semester.

The freshman class is a record-breaker with 1,730 first-year students from all 50 states and 23 countries – it’s one of the biggest and most diverse classes in the University’s history. Welcome to campus!

This year’s class was selected from 29,000 applicants and it includes the university’s highest percentage of underrepresented minority students — 18 percent, which is up from 11 percent last year.

“We’re proud of the diversity you represent in every dimension,” Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton told the first-year students at the evening Convocation ceremony held in the Athletic Complex.

Photo credit: Joe Angeles, WUSTL Photo Services, Convocation 2015.

The New York Times and NBC News published advice this week from older and wiser students on how to handle the stress of freshman year at college.  An incoming WashU undergrad got a laundry list of do’s and don’t’s from her big sister. And a rising WashU junior encourages the Class of 2019 to take advantage of their new found freedom of choice. Read on for more words of wisdom from those who’ve been there, done that, and survived freshman year.

From The New York Times:

“I wrote this list — a compilation of things I wish I had known at the start of college three years ago — for my sister, an incoming freshman at Washington University in St. Louis.

1. When you are stressed, take a shower. You will feel productive and you will be clean.

2. Your grade in one class does not define you.

3. Make sure you check in with yourself now and then. How are you doing? If the answer is not so great, treat yourself. Prioritize your well being.

4. Some readings are more important than others. It’s O.K. to skim sometimes.

5. Don’t be afraid to call campus security if you or a friend is sick/feels unsafe.

6. Take naps. Preschool and college are the only times when napping is socially acceptable.

7. If you always have enough clean socks/underwear, your life will be so much easier.”—Justine Goode, Oberlin College, ’16

From NBCNews.com

Don’t be afraid to experiment.

“Freshman year is the first time you can truly make your own choices: No parents breathing over your shoulder, no reputation you have to uphold, no set group of friends to impress. Take whatever classes most interest you; don’t worry about choosing a major or meeting requirements quite yet. I have changed my major at least four times and I’m still on track to graduate on time, so trust me; take the most random and exciting classes you can.”

—Jessica Thea, rising junior at Washington University in St. Louis

Image: uconn.edu, Freshman Beanies 1965