Tag Archives: MPA Council

Alexandria, Events, Student Life

MPA Council takes Project 2012

Leave a comment
The River City Youth Foundation Success Center, where we spent our morning volunteering

Just last Saturday,MPA Council joined approximately 2000 other volunteers to reach out and improve the greater Austin community for Project 2012, UT’s largest day of service. What an experience it was!

Here’s a summary of my memorable day: I had to wake up quite early (especially for a college student) in order to report for duty with council members. We, along with the other morning shift volunteers, were then welcomed and thanked for our help by multiple local politicians. We also were lucky enough to watch the Dove Springs Middle School cheerleading squad perform for us! It was definitely the highlight of the ceremony.

We then went to our volunteer location, River City Youth Foundation, in south Austin. They had a multitude of tasks for us to complete to improve the facility for Austin’s youth. Some members and I were responsible for repainting the interior of the complex, while other members helped re-mulch the trails by shoveling mulch into a wheelbarrow. Continue reading MPA Council takes Project 2012 →

Allison, Career, Recruiting

A different perspective…

2 Comments

If you read Melissa’s post from a couple of days ago, she spoke about the MPA: Building Connections event about an introduction to recruiting.  I was also at the event but on the other side – helping the 3rd year MPAs practice recruiting by posing as a recruiter and giving networking advice.  It was pretty fun doing this! I got to talk to the students and get to know where they were in the recruiting process and what their interests are in the accounting profession.

The funny thing is that I also learned a lot from this event.  It had been a while (at least 6 months) since I was at a networking/recruiting event and I was a little rusty on my skills.  Listening to what Michelle Polkinghorn and others had to say was a great reminder of the small details that make you stand out from others, as well as great refresher on the conventions and etiquette of business interactions.  Mainly, it was fun talking to the 3rd years and sharing my experiences with them.  I was able to talk about my internship experience, what I liked and what I did not like, and then relate that back to them and to help them take advantage of their opportunities.

If any 3rd years (or anyone else for that matter) have questions about recruiting or networking tips, the people at career services are experts in that area.  In addition, I would be happy to share my  thoughts with anyone about my experiences in networking, both in a recruiting sense as well as in a general sense.  Networking can definitely be tiring, but it is also very fun, so enjoy it and take advantage of meeting new and exciting people!

Please leave comments or questions below.

Alexandria, Events, Student Life

Spare some time to volunteer!

2 Comments
Bowling is a sport right up the athletes' alley!

One of the great things about McCombs is that they develop students into professionals while improving the greater Austin community. Serving the community is a huge part of the culture of McCombs and Texas MPA.

Just last weekend, I had a remarkable experience volunteering. I went with MPA Council to help out with a Special Olympics bowling event in North Austin. I had the opportunity to get to know four extraordinary people: Sterling, Kelley, Kyle, and Alaina. All four of them have down syndrome and live at the Down Home Ranch. Sterling and Kelley have been dating for 12 years and plan to get married in 2013, and Kyle and Alaina have been dating for a year. The four of them have been bowling for most of their lives and it  is something they are truly passionate about. The four of them are also aggies, which could have led to a sticky situation.  Luckily when I told them I was a true longhorn, Kyle came up to me and gave me a big hug and said, “It’s ok, we can still be friends.”

Volunteering at this event is an experience I will never forget. I feel that when you are at a place as amazing and exciting as UT, it’s important to remember how lucky we are. We have limitless possibilities for our future and opportunities to make a difference in the world. I love how MPA encourages us to take these volunteer opportunities to remind us what’s truly important in the world.

Companies also take this idea of building up the community around you to heart. Corporate responsibility is becoming an extremely important aspect of developing a company’s brand.

What makes this exciting is that when MPA students disperse across the world to follow their careers and continue volunteering in the community, the Texas motto of “What starts here changes the world” becomes a reality.