Rebekah Thayer
BHP, Finance ’13
As this year’s Discover BHP co-chair, Rebekah planned and coordinated the event to showcase all that BHP has to offer to potential students and their parents. She presides as the current president of her sorority, serves as university-wide representative for Student Government, and works in the McCombs Alumni Relations Office.
Having interned since the summer of her freshman year, Rebekah is well on her way to being a leader in the professional world. She has held internships with Illuminas-Global LLC, an Austin accounting firm and Firmenich, working with sustainability. After her sophomore year, she was one of only 24 students from across the nation selected to participate in the BP Sophomore Experience in Chicago.
BHP: How and why did you get involved in Discover BHP?
RT: I was asked by another student to co-chair Discover and I really wanted to do it since I am so passionate about the mission of BHP. I wanted to share with the high school students what BHP is about and the opportunities it afforded me so that they would be able to really experience the great programming, faculty, staff and students that BHP can offer. Discover BHP showcases it all at one time.
BHP: Students frequently ask about Greek Life at UT. What benefits did you find from joining a sorority and becoming involved at the leadership level?
RT: Joining a Greek life organization enabled me to make the campus smaller and create a family within my pledge sisters. It gave me a home at UT and gave me a lot of opportunities to plan events and explore my leadership potential by progressing my skills through various positions I held. It also gives you mentorship opportunities, a social outlet, and helps balance everything else. It is a big time commitment, but managing an organization of 200 shows me a bit of what it would be like to run a big company.
BHP: What lessons did you learn from your internships over the years?
RT: From my experience working with sustainability, I realized that I wanted to get into non-profit at some point in my career. I met a person who mentored me and he taught me about what I should look for in a job and how to make the most of my life. I feel like having someone like that to guide you is very important. Don’t be afraid to utilize your network and seek mentorship outside of the online resources that McCombs provides.
BHP: Do you know what you would like to do after graduation?
RT: I’d probably like to do something with energy finance, consulting or commodity trading. I applied for the BP Sophomore Experience during the spring of my sophomore year. They accepted 24 from across the nation. This was the first annual program. We stayed in Chicago for a week, did trade simulations, CASE competitions, toured the city and learned about technicalities of the energy industry. I met students from across the nation and it gave me confidence knowing that BHP was matching up and even exceeding other ivy-league programs. Many of these students will also be working in the Chicago BP office as interns with me this summer as analysts for the commodity trading field.