Monthly Archives: January 2014

BHP Sophomore Recognized For Outstanding Leadership Across Campus

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BHP Sophomore Recognized For Outstanding Leadership Across Campus

CharlieAComing to UT was an easy decision for sophomore Charlie Adkins. Bleeding orange since birth, Adkins grew up watching Vince Young take the national title and cheered on the Longhorns in every sport possible. When asked why he came to McCombs Adkins replied, “McCombs is the best business school in the Southwest. BHP offers me smaller classes and I’m around the brightest individuals I’ll ever meet. Being around driven people pushes you to take on things you initially wouldn’t have.”

Adkins was most recently chosen as the only sophomore recipient of the Texas Exes Presidential Leadership Award, an award that recognizes undergraduate students who have demonstrated outstanding leadership within the student community at The University of Texas. “I am incredibly honored and humbled to receive the Texas Exes Presidential Leadership Award,” said Adkins. Six students are chosen annually from the UT student body to receive the award.

Adkins has been an outstanding student and shown stellar leadership across campus, especially in McCombs. He has been heavily involved with the Undergraduate Business Council (UBC) as chair for the VIP Distinguished Speaker Series, which hosts interviews with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. “UBC represents students and it’s something I really enjoy doing,” said Adkins. “The Speaker Series allows CEOs to see how high caliber our students are, and encourages them to come back to donate and recruit.”

Along with UBC, Adkins is also part of Student Government and has been appointed director of the 2014 Longhorn Run, a 10K race that raises over $25,000 for the Student Government Excellence Fund, which benefits student organizations. “This year, I am looking to grow Longhorn Run and cement its place on campus as a UT tradition,” said Adkins. “Longhorn Run is a unique way for students to give back to other students.”

Adkins is interested in the sports industry and was a marketing intern with the Round Rock Express last summer. After earning his degree in accounting, Adkins hopes to go into baseball operations and manage an organization. When asked where he sees himself in his future career, he replied “Texas forever.”

Annual HBA Company Field Trip Brings Students to Washington D.C.

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CFT 2014

Written by Jace Barton

Four days. 23 students. Three companies. Good memories? Too many to count.

The Honors Business Association recently traveled to Washington D.C. for its annual Company Field Trip. A broad mix of students, from freshmen to seniors, marketing to finance, took advantage of an incredible opportunity to network with executives at top companies in the city while learning more about the non-traditional doors a McCombs major can open.

The first company visit was to Marriott. We toured sample rooms from six of Marriott’s brands and learned about the intricate process behind crafting the perfect hotel rooms. We also gained insight to the subtleties of hotel branding, and how even the smallest details can make a difference in guest experience. The Marriott visit also included a tour of the Innovation Lab, where Marriott is testing new designs to place itself at the cutting edge of the hospitality industry. The visit concluded with a quick tour of the rest of the headquarters building and a question-and-answer panel with two Longhorn alumni.

Thursday night, the group was treated to even more alumni interaction through the annual Alumni Dinner. Four local BHP alumni joined us at the Texas-themed Rhodeside Grill. We chatted with the alumni to enquire about their career paths and gathered advice on fun classes to take and quirky hole-in-the-wall restaurants to try. With outstanding food and even better company, the night was a treat for all involved.

Friday started with a tour of the White House. While not all of us have political ambitions, it was hard not to fantasize about one day calling 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. home. After the White House, we trekked to one of Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Laboratories. Various company executives talked to us about multiple facets of the company’s business, including aerospace & defense, space, and information technology. At the end of the visit, we took turns piloting Lockheed Martin’s F-22 and F-35 simulators. While no student has voiced intent to leave the Business Honors Program to become a fighter pilot, several were tempted!

Friday concluded with a visit to the Central Intelligence Agency. We were treated to a tour of the Main Hall and museum, where the history of the agency is illuminated through photographs, artifacts, and exhibits. After the tour, two officers from the Agency’s recruiting division talked to us about how business majors make an impact in the CIA. We departed extremely impressed with the level of excellence the CIA attains. We would tell you more, but we’ve been sworn to secrecy…

Saturday, we started the day with a tour of the Capitol. Following this, we broke off into small groups to explore all Washington D.C. has to offer. Popular destinations included the Newseum, the National Zoo, several Smithsonian museums, and many of the national monuments.

Sadly, the trip needed to end sometime, and the group returned home Sunday. While the trip was finite, we all knew that the memories of good times with great friends in an amazing city would last forever.

Barton

BHP Freshmen Take on Excel and Grammar at Annual Boot Camp

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Written by Anna Hiran

PivotTables, Oxford commas, what-if analysis, faulty pronoun references. What? This year’s MIS 301H and B A 324H boot camp was a shocking wake-up call for me and a good number of other freshmen in the BHP. Tuesday morning, I unknowingly said that I knew how to navigate my way through Excel: by that, I meant I knew how to enter numbers in cells, use the SUM function, and fill cells with whimsical colors. I was completely unaware of a whole other realm, a whole untapped world, hidden beneath the deceivingly simple-looking ribbon bar at the top of the screen. Professor Agarwal wrapped up the MIS section for the night with an application-based problem that demonstrated the incredible functionality of spreadsheets as well as my serious lack of Excel knowledge.

Once the clock struck 6:30 pm, we raided the pizza tables outside the auditorium and appreciatively enjoyed our free dinner. Pepsico, our generous class sponsor, sent representatives to reveal amazing technology they had developed to increase efficiency and conveniently sell products to stores using only an iPad and their fingertips. Much to our chagrin, that mental break ended too quickly.

Part two of our boot camp started off with the grading of our grammar diagnostic tests. As Professor Riekenberg provided explanations for the correct answers, it was made clear that I had the grammar of a second-grade student. My everyday e-mail typically consists of a random sprinkling of commas, capitalization errors, and an-obnoxiously-excessive-usage-of-hyphens. Ouch.

Quite honestly, the night was a bit painful because my ego was hurt, but we now have multiple reasons to be even more thankful for these first-year classes. It’s all about laying down the foundation so that we can successfully use technology to our advantage and send e-mails to prospective employers without sounding like cavemen. It’s apparent that MIS 301H and B A 324H will provide us with so much more than what we already know, and we’re all anxious to see what our professors have in store for us these next few months.