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I believe that every decision I have made since I came to the US to study for my undergrad has shaped me into the person I am today. You might ask how a study abroad opportunity can change an 18-year-old girl and am here to share that journey with you. Although my first year was virtual due to COVID it all changed when I  transferred to MSU and it all made sense when I joined the Honors Program

 

As a transfer student coming to MSU, one of the first things I was introduced to was the Honors program. As an incoming sophomore, I didn't quite understand what path I would like to take and how I wanted my college experience to be impacted. It took me a while to take part in Honors, but after understanding the layout and its requirements, I understood it mostly related to what I was looking for - a program that helped me create intentional involvement. Besides that, I realized I was taking part in most of what the Honors required. That's when I decided to join Honors so that my overall college experience could have meaning and impact what I plan to do. 

 

As a senior now taking more leadership roles and having been part of more advanced experiences, it all starts with getting involved and being a member or taking a class to develop valuable skills. The Honors Program divides experiences into the three competencies of Leadership, Research, and Intercultural Engagement. All these experiences have developmental and application levels. For me it all started when I got an email during my first semester(Spring 2021) at MNSU from my econ professor suggesting we take advantage of a supplemental support session led by a fellow student called the MavPass program, I admired my MavPass Leader and how she helped me achieve a higher grade in the class. A year and a half later in Fall of 2022, I chose to become a MavPass Leader for the same class where I have applied my leadership skills by advancing in my communication and relationship-building techniques. 

 

That spring I was also rushing for a business fraternity called Delta Sigma Pi and got recruited as a member. The next semester I ran for the Vice-President position and helped with recruitment, where I had to learn how to step out of my comfort zone and talk to people. During that time I also signed up to be a learning community member where I volunteered with my peers and met amazing people from different countries, and learned about their culture. 

 

Meeting amazing peers from my community then inspired me to sign up to be a volunteer as a language partner in Fall 2022 teaching English to international students from Japan, I was initially scared because I didn't know if I would be valuable to my partners but after building a meaningful connection it was a mutual growth where they helped me understand about what it means to be a global citizen beyond the classes I took in previous semesters. 

 

Spring 2022 added to an important experience as  I registered for an ASL class where I learned sign language and about the Deaf culture. I had joined the class out of curiosity, but by the end of the class, I had become a more conscious person who sees the world differently. That inspired me to also take a four-week lecture series based on a four-day conference that focused on the equity gap in schools K-12 called the Pan-African Conference. This experience was not only about cultural awareness but also a research skill that helped me identify the right and true resources to help people understand data to further understand the equity problem. This sequential engagement with diverse educational experiences has been instrumental in shaping my approach to learning, understanding, and contributing to societal progress.

 

Seeing all this made me interested in being part of a group where I can bring change. So in  Spring of 2023, I ran for a senator position in student government and was elected to become a College of Business senator. I started working on various projects for the fall, during which I also took on another leadership role as Finance Club President. Having the two roles side-by-side helped me understand what my peers valued in their education and then be their voice to represent them in important decisions. 

 

One of the key lessons I have learned through engaging with my peers in discussions and hosting events is their eagerness to delve into various research and case studies. This stems from the inherent ambiguity in how we, as business students, define research. In response to this, courses like MAVFund, in which I participated during Fall 2023, are designed to bridge this gap through real-world applications. MAVFund, in particular, offers finance students a practical immersion into analyst roles, employing university foundation funds for investment purposes, guided by rigorous research and course-derived methodologies. Notably, this experience underscored the importance of leadership and teamwork, as it demanded collaborative efforts to make informed investment decisions. Moreover, it laid a foundational understanding of leadership through the lens of finance, which was instrumental in my subsequent involvement in the Tenaska Business Case Competition during my final semester. Alongside three peers, I was challenged to research a case within 48 hours and present our findings before a panel of industry experts. This not only honed my abilities in effective communication, research, and idea presentation but also reinforced my leadership skills, showcasing the real-world applicability of our classroom learnings.

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I have also been presented with other opportunities through Honors Program funding which opened new doors into my area of interest which includes a combination of Africa, finance, and technology. I was granted money to participate in the 2023 Africa FinTech Summit, allowing me to network with investors, startups, financiers, students, and government representatives to talk about my interest in working with startups. This was built on my experience in the Integrated Business Experience program(IBE) I took the prior semester, Fall 2022. Where students come together in groups, form a company, take a loan from a bank, and give all the profit to a non-profit. I believe that has been an integration of my journey perfectly depicting the Honors program, I was a Co-CFO leading six students in my team from different backgrounds and disciplines together doing weekly analysis and projections on our company's performance. This turned an idea into a successful business through leadership. It also increased my research skills implementing what I have learned in class to further bring it to real situations in our business.

 

My Honors Program journey has been an integration of developing different skills, each factoring into one another and helping me apply my abilities to transferable experiences. It has taught me how to effectively reflect so that I learn from each one. This will allow me to thrive after graduation in my personal, spiritual, and professional life.  

 

Beyond just being part of the experiences and doing the reflections, being part of the Honors Program has made me a “yes” person. I now sign up for every opportunity that comes my way and understand that through my reflections on my experiences, I am more self-aware and I take chances to either develop the skills that I have or address weaknesses I’ve identified. I now realize the grit that made me decide to board that plane in 2020 has put me in all these experiences to make me a stronger version of myself.