Tag Archives: Business Honors program

Kyle Campbell Competes For Mr. McCombs Title In Style

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Kyle Campbell with escort Jemma Miller

Kyle Campbell with escort Jemma Miller

Written by Kyle Campbell

On Friday, Jan. 31 I had the amazing opportunity of representing HBA in the Mr. McCombs Pageant. This fundraiser, organized by the org reps of the Undergraduate Business Council, pits representatives from other McCombs organizations against each other in a fight for the title of “Mr. McCombs.” The winner also gets to choose which charity the proceeds go to.

This experience was grueling, competitive and exhilarating all at once.  The other contestants and I spent at least a month practicing the choreography for our opening dance, and trust me it took a LOT of practice until we were ready for the big stage.  Every week we would show up to rehearsal, and our choreographer, Tenci, would ask if we wanted to run through the whole thing to see what we remembered.  After stumbling through the few twists and fist pumps we could recall, we would share embarrassed looks, pat each other on the back, apologize to Tenci, and start learning the dance all over again.  The coolest thing is that after suffering through a dance none of us had any business attempting we became friends.  We added our own moves, started to learn about each other, and we were no longer competitors, but just 10 guys trying to get through a performance without embarrassing themselves because a few of our cheekier friends tricked us into agreeing to compete (Natalie Parma if you’re reading this I’m talking about you.)

Students that heart Kyle, showing their support at the pagaent

Students that heart Kyle, showing their support at the pageant

Finally the night of the competition came.  We all had to somehow make it through a choreographed dance, Q&A period, swimsuit competition and talent portion without falling or fainting from the pressure of performing in front of hundreds of UT students. As the opening notes of “I’m Too Sexy For My Shirt” started to play I wiped the sweat off my palms, ran out on the stage, chest bumped Archie Agarwal, the UBC Representative, and began maybe the most exciting hour and a half of my college career.  While being escorted by the lovely Jemma Miller and wearing a batman onesie, I talked about how if I could have lunch with anyone it would have to be Dr. Seuss. I showed off what I would wear to the beach.  But the highlight of the night definitely came out of the talent portion.  I began by playing Chopin’s “Revolutionary Etude” on my piano, but after about half a page I ripped the sheet music off and broke into what I hope was an extremely moving and powerful rendition of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.”

In the end I lost the crown, but I came away from the experience with nine new friends, and memories that will probably stay with me for a very long time.  The Mr. McCombs pageant was an incredibly fun and fulfilling way to raise $2,158.81 for a great cause, and I consider myself extremely lucky to have been a part of it.

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.”

BHP Students Take First Place In SCI Case Competition

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It is no secret that Austin, Texas is the place to be right now for anything to do with business. Entrepreneurs are flocking to get their startups off the ground, businessmen and women are migrating from the Silicon Valley to the Silicon Hills and everyone who’s anyone is talking about ATX. As businesses are growing, they’re also presented with bumps along the way, which is when consultants are able to lend a helping hand. The UT Student Consulting Initiative (SCI) is more than happy to offer their services to the booming business of Austin.

SCI hosted their Annual Fall Case Competition Saturday, November 23, which was sponsored by the BBA Alumni Excellence Foundation, EYAdvisory, OSL, Student Government and SCI alumni. The competition lasts two months and teams were tasked with assisting a local business with their needs from internal communication to marketing and more. Nine teams competed in the competition pairing with different local businesses. “We were very impressed with the results this year,” said SCI Co-Chair, Holli Wertheimer. “The students created a wide range of deliverables from marketing campaigns to inventory management tools to compensation requirements among many others.”

The winning team worked with Fair Bean Coffee on their internal communications and employee retention for a prize of $1,200. The team consisted of Jason Prideaux, BHP, Finance and Plan II ’16, David Kaplan, BHP & Corporate Finance ’16, Douglas Berkman, BHP ’16, and Catherine Anne Prideaux, BHP & Plan II ’16.

“This was a tremendous learning experience,” said Douglas Berkman, a member of the winning team. “The case competition provided me with insight on what it is like to be a consultant for a real company with real employees and a real owner.” Many of the students felt it was a good experience even for those not currently pursuing consulting, “I entered the competition for experience,” said Catherine Anne Prideaux. “I would highly recommend doing SCI even if you’re not considering consulting!” All four team members noted that their group meetings were one of their favorite parts of the competition.

If you’re interested in learning more about SCI, visit their website.

This article originally appeared on BBA News.

BHP Finance Major Creates A Mobile Application To Increase Productivity

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If you’ve ever wished for an easier way to organize and manage everything you need to get done then you are in luck because there’s an app for that; Cluster. CEO of Mobylsoft LLC and BHP student, Ram Anantharaman, created this iOS application. “Cluster is a productivity tool and visual planner,” said Ram. “It provides information that a simple to-do list cannot. It tells you what you should be working on right now, which is a question I was always asking myself as a student.”

Ram came up with the idea for Cluster as he attempted to juggle the chaotic schedule of a college student. “I came up with the concept out of pure need,” said Ram. “I turned to the App Store for help and as I went through the productivity options, I realized that most of them took a lot of time to enter tasks and then didn’t offer a good picture of how to complete those tasks.”

Since high school Ram has taken an interest in writing code and taught himself to do so, “I used online resources, like the Stanford lecture series and would spend eight hours at a time reading books and doing as much as I could to get my feet wet,” said Ram. “Writing code for apps is tangible. It’s a way that I can hold my creation in my own hand. I wanted to dive into the tech world and create something I myself could use. It’s a simple and beautiful way to have a startup and not spend a lot of time and money on it.”

Ram holds a high amount of confidence in his product and offers his consumers a personal money back guarantee, “I absolutely will give the customer their money back,” said Ram. “If the consumer feels that I’ve done an inadequate job making them more productive then I think that’s a problem and I’ll do anything to fix it whether it’s adding a new feature or giving their money back.” Cluster has been in the App Store for about six weeks and has over 150 downloads. Although only available for iOS (iPhone and iPad) currently, Windows phone, Windows 8 and Mac are in the future plans.

In the future, Ram would like to shift from selling straight to the consumer to working with businesses, “I would like to create a project management app for businesses with some of the interface from Cluster,” said Ram. “I think it’s a much more sustainable way to sell and make money. Also, I’m currently taking Operations Management right now and learning about supply chain management and I think I’m well equipped to create a project management application.”

Ram is projected to graduate next year and hopes to go into consulting, “I want to work for a consulting firm to build a better client network and leverage those skills to become a better entrepreneur,” said Ram.

BHP Alumni Accepted Into Top MBA Programs Across The Country

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Choosing to pursue a MBA degree is common for BHP graduates. We don’t always hear from alumni when they have been accepted into graduate school, but this year we received news from several BHP alumni letting us know that they had been accepted into top business schools across the country. In fact, seven alumni let us know that they are attending Harvard Business School, and others wrote to tell us of their acceptance into the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

 

Andrew Schwaitzberg graduated from BHP in 2008 with additional degrees in Finance and Government. Schwaitzberg worked in the energy industry for four years before applying and being accepted into the Harvard Business School. “I wanted to meet new people and find new ideas,” said Schwaitzberg. “I’m finding different ways to be a good leader and rethinking the type of manager I want to be.” Since entering the Harvard MBA program, he has found his experiences in BHP to be extremely relevant. “Whether it’s grad school or any other situation, knowing how to learn with other really talented and smart people to find a common solution is always valued highly,” said Schwaitzberg. “Being in a program where you’re constantly working and being challenged always forces you to better yourself – those are the types of skills valued most, not just whether you can build a financial model or not.”

 

Alpana Kelkar graduated with dual degrees in BHP and Marketing in 2009. She has noticed a lot of parallels between the Honors Program and the MBA program at Chicago Booth. “The curriculum is molded based on our background and interests as students,” said Kelkar. “I was attracted to the good reputation at Booth and the top-notch professors. It reminds me of BHP because everyone is really driven and collaborative.” She also notes that making connections has been an important aspect to both programs. “The teamwork and collaboration required for all BHP classes has been instrumental for me. Relationship-building is really important, especially in grad school. You never know when you’ll want to start a company and need to rely on your peers.” Kelkar describes the Chicago Booth application process as intensive and stresses the importance of telling a clear-cut story for admissions. “You have to really make sure you know what you’re trying to get out of your ultimate experience,” said Kelkar. “Make sure everything you’re portraying is accurate. Link what you’ve done in your past to what you’re going to do after school to tell one story and tie everything together.”

 

Angelique Obiri, who graduated in 2004 with degrees in BHP and Marketing, worked for the same company for eight years and was looking to switch industries and functions. She began applying to grad schools with the help of Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) and took the GMAT three times, which paid off when she was accepted into four of the five schools to which she had applied. Obiri chose the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern because of the people, the curriculum and the opportunity to try new things beyond her comfort zone. She believes her time in BHP had a positive impact on the decision to admit her into the program, “In my interview I explained how I transferred into the program as a sophomore and it helped to tell my story of seeking new challenges,” said Obiri. She also offered advice to current BHP students considering getting a MBA, “Really know why you want to go to business school,” said Obiri. “The time goes by quickly and you don’t have much time for exploration once you’re actually in. Many people that come into school thinking they will figure it out are surprised about how soon you have to start making career decisions.”

 

Current BHP students and alumni of the program who are interested in pursuing an MBA and speaking with a BHP alumnus in a particular MBA program can contact Shelley Nix in the BHP office.