Quinton Mendoza
Last fall, Canfield BHP freshman Quinton Mendoza learned about networking in his Professional Development and Career Planning course. Since then, the Canfield BHP community has given him opportunities to apply what he has learned in the real world through coffee chats as well as the Honor Business Association’s Company Dinner and Company Field Trip in San Francisco. Hearing from Canfield BHP alumni has made Quinton feel better prepared to reach his professional goals. He is excited to continue talking with more alumni in the future as he decides on a specific career path.
Read on to learn more about Quinton’s future goals, his networking experiences, and some highlights from his first year on the 40 Acres!
1.) Why did you originally choose to study in the Canfield Business Honors Program?
I had been interested in studying business at UT, but I had never heard about Canfield BHP until a few months before the deadline. I applied, got an interview, and was accepted in the spring. I had offers from some great schools around the country, but Canfield BHP quickly became the place to beat. I grew up in a small town and had a small graduating class, so I knew everyone. I knew coming into a large university would be a huge change of pace for me, but the fact that Canfield BHP is a tight-knit program made me feel that I could still have that small-school feeling while getting a world-class education. I also knew that Canfield BHP offered multiple ways to get more involved on campus, including alumni events and research opportunities. Finally, burnt orange has been a part of my family for generations (even though my grandfather went to OU), and I felt proud to be able to continue the tradition.
2.) Which classes this semester have been your favorite and why?
My favorite class this semester has definitely been my Introduction to Data Science class. I never took a statistics class in high school, but I have always enjoyed the analytical thinking that came with my math classes. Getting experience coding in R has also been very helpful in dispelling some of my previous assumptions about coding. Professor Provost has also been an amazing instructor this entire semester, and I truly find her lectures to be informative and engaging. Another class I have really enjoyed this semester is my Educational Psychology class. Gaining a deeper understanding of how the mind learns new information has been pretty fascinating, and the course has given me great study strategies that I can implement in my other classes.
3.) What are your academic and career goals?
Along with my Canfield Business Honors major, I plan to also major in Finance, along with adding a minor in Supply Chain Management. Apart from my business degree, I am considering adding the National Security and International Business minor to explore my curiosity about foreign policy. After graduation, I plan on using my degree to pursue a career in the finance industry. I am currently leaning towards starting in investment banking, but consulting is also a very appealing option.
4.) How have Canfield BHP’s professional development opportunities helped you plan for your future?
Canfield BHP’s professional development opportunities have been an amazing resource during my freshman year. When I first came to college, learning how to navigate my course schedule, extracurriculars, and recruiting seemed overwhelming. But I was quickly able to rely on the professional opportunities provided by Canfield BHP to learn the best practices for tackling these challenges. One of the best resources has been the alumni coffee chats in the Canfield BHP office. Talking to these alumni in a casual setting has given me numerous tips and tricks for how to navigate college and the professional world. Other events, like the Company Dinner in the fall and the Company Field Trip in the spring, have given me even more exposure to alumni in various roles around the country and helped me to better understand what path I want to pursue. There is so much I now know that I wouldn’t have known had it not been for the professional opportunities available in Canfield BHP, and I believe that I will be better equipped to recruit professionally in the future as a result.
5.) What have been your favorite Canfield BHP networking opportunities?
My favorite Canfield BHP networking opportunity has definitely been the Honors Business Association Company Field Trip to San Francisco in January. I got the chance to help plan the trip throughout the fall and attend after winter break. The trip was amazing and really brought me closer to a lot of my peers. We also had multiple opportunities to meet Canfield BHP alumni at casual places, like a rock climbing gym, and at their workplaces, such as Google and Stanford. I enjoyed getting the chance to hear from Canfield BHPers that are doing amazing things in industries apart from consulting and investment banking. The trip was one of the highlights of my freshman year and demonstrated to me the national footprint of Canfield BHP.
6.) How have you used Canfield BHP’s network of upperclassmen and alumni to assist you in your professional development?
Canfield BHP is not only unique because of the small size of the program and its curriculum, but also because of how engaged upperclassmen and alumni are in your success. I have definitely used the network of upperclassmen and peer mentors to ask about things like classes to take, places to live, and ways to navigate recruiting. I’ve also gotten the opportunity to utilize the alumni network at events like the Alumni Advisory Board Coffee Chat. These events are sometimes underutilized, so I have been able to have multiple one-on-ones with alumni in various industries. A few have even reached out to let me know about professional opportunities and ways to connect with others in the Canfield BHP alumni base.