Name: Eric Layo

Concentrations: Supply Chain Management, Marketing, Strategic Leadership, and Entrepreneurship

Internship: Strategic Procurement Summer Intern with Penn State’s Purchasing Services

Future Plans: Home Depot Operations Manager

Why did you choose Smeal:  I’m a native Pennsylvanian and life-long Penn State fan.  After serving in the Air Force for several years and moving around the world quite a bit, I decided to return to Penn State so that I could spend time with some of my closest friends and family.  Additionally, I really like the small class sizes and tight-knit community feel that the Smeal MBA program offers.

What has been your favorite Smeal MBA memory thus far: By far, my favorite memory from the Smeal MBA program will be my recent Service Immersion trip to Hawaii.  Along with three of my classmates, Greg Curran, Tyler Ritchey, and Peter Wolkowski, I participated in a Habitat for Humanity trip to Maui.  There we spent a week working with local volunteers in order to repair and remodel several condominium units.  It was a great opportunity to get outside of the classroom environment, get our hands dirty, and give back to those in need.  Not to mention, we were in easily one of the most beautiful places on Earth!

Teaching under privileged children in India

Participant: Harihara S Chockalingam

Growing up back in my hometown, I have always noticed that not all children from that part of the world are as privileged as I was during my childhood. About a mile away from my home is ‘The school for the blind’. It was distressing to see these children struggle with their day-to-day lives since they cannot see the world as we do. Standing outside the fenced perimeter of the school and watching those children engage in games that develop their ability to manage their lives without being overly dependent on others, I used to feel thankful for the life that I have and realized that I take a lot of good things in my life for granted.

I have also seen children, as young as eight or 10 years old, work at nearby small businesses and struggle to pay for their education. Although I have always wanted to help these children in whatever way I can, I used to be one of those sympathizing beholders who are so busy with their own lives that they do not take serious enough initiatives that would turn sympathy into action. However, things changed when I was talking about my upcoming service immersion to a longtime friend of mine. He helped me secure a volunteering position with one of the schools for under-privileged children.

During March 2013, I spent a week with such children at ‘Balar School’ teaching them Mathematics and Chemistry. While I am not good at studies myself, my Engineering background came handy in making practical explanations to the theoretical stuff that is always found on high school level books which helped the children in grasping the concepts quickly and apply them to their day-to-day lives. They also built some models that explain the electronic structure of atoms and how they interact to form molecules. These models will be used to teach the future students by showing a physical structure rather than bulky text on paper which the kids always find difficult to visualize.

It was also fun to be with the children, for they have a knack of turning the adults around them into kids. I will definitely go back to see these kids whenever I visit India. It would be nice to see them grow up as responsible citizens.

On March 28^th, members from the WMBA and the Minority MBA Association participated in a Speed Networking Event with representatives from Deloitte at the Allen Street Grill.  The concept was simple.  We were divided into four small groups, each with a designated table.  At this table, we were given the opportunity to meet a representative from Deloitte.  After fifteen minutes, our small group then rotated to a new table and met another Deloitte representative.  In these sessions, we learned about the culture at Deloitte, the day-to-day life of commercial and federal consultants and fine-tuned our networking skills.  We were having so much fun getting to know the Deloitte representatives that some of the sessions lasted longer than fifteen minutes.  All in all, it was great evening making connections with Deloitte and with each other.

-Angela Shershin, Penn State Smeal MBA ’14

Name: Ronnie Yang

Concentrations: Finance and Supply Chain Management

Internship: Worldwide Services Procurement, Dell Inc. Shanghai, China

Future Plans: Learning the ins-and-outs of the business I’m in and become expert in that field. In doing so, I feel fully prepared to take on any greater responsibility which is to be presented in the longer term, such as developing strategies on a global scale.

Why did you choose Smeal: Extensive alumni network and solid supply chain reputation

What has been your favorite Smeal MBA memory thus far: Practicing dance/rehearsing the performances for the Chinese Lunar New Year Night with my fellow classmates.

Career Focus Friday: Alumni Panel

The spring semester has been coming along well, and the recruiting season is active with many employers reaching out to students via career fairs and other means. Many first year and second year students have their interviews lined up for their internships and full time jobs, respectively.

The MBA Career Services team took this opportune moment to organize a session that featured our Alumni, on February 08, as a part of the weekly ‘Career Focus Fridays’. We had eight of our Alumni (Class of 2012) visit our campus to talk about their internship and full time job search experiences. They offered valuable insights and advice on various aspects of job search – ranging from networking and preparing for interviews to salary negotiation and career management, especially, the first 90 days on our job.

My key takeaway from the session was their advice on how to create an impression during the first 90 days at our job. One of the alumni members spoke about how those 90 days can be designed as three concentric circles. The first 30 days is about the candidate learning ‘What I want and what my role is’. The second 30 days is about ‘What my team wants and how can I make my team’s job easier’, and the last 30 days is about ‘What my organization wants, and how can I help my organization achieve those goals’. This is definitely a great piece of advice considering that I will be starting my career, upon graduation, as a consultant at Ernst & Young. It helps me to visualize clearly how I should be organizing my activities with a targeted goal in my mind.

Apart from this, there were lot of other inputs and suggestions on various aspects that catered to the whole spectrum of audience present in the session. The sessions were also videotaped by the Career Services team so as to create a resource for students who were not able to attend the session live.

It is always great to have our alumni back on campus, and it is amazing to see the amount of efforts put in by both our alumni and the career services team towards furthering the careers of our MBA students. I am hoping that I will be able to offer my one cent in the future by taking part in such panels as alum.

-Hari Chockalingam, Penn State Smeal MBA Class of 2013

Name: Simon Hsu, Michael Wang

Service Organization: Centre County PAWS (http://www.centrecountypaws.org)

Growing up back in our hometowns, we had grown up around pets for as long as we could remember. Being away from our pets is something that both us have had to adjust to since moving to State College, so when subject of looking at an organization to volunteer our time came up, Centre County PAWS was immediately a front runner. Centre County PAWS is an independent animal shelter for dogs and cats, which means that it is not backed by organizations such as the ASPCA or the Humane Society. Because of that fact, PAWS is entirely member supported, it makes volunteers the backbone of the organization.

Getting started with PAWS was a great engaging experience. When we first arrived, we were given a tour of the building, and a run through of all the tasks and duties that we would be taking on. From walking dogs for a period of 15-20 minutes, to simply just spending time with them or preparing their daily meals, there were numerous tasks that we could do that could help out the organization. Early on, we learned that not all the animals at PAWS were as friendly as the next. Through the organization’s level classification system, dogs were labeled between levels 1 through 4. A level 1 dog meant that it was friendly, did not pull when walked, and was able to interact with other dogs. In contrast, a level 4 dog could bite volunteers, other dogs, and ultimately prove hard to handle if not experienced. Nonetheless, we were both more than patient to learn the ropes and start with level 1 dogs, and hopefully work our way up, so that we could safely interact with all the animals at PAWS.

After volunteering at PAWS for a number of months, we can honestly say that we have developed a newfound respect for what an organization such as PAWS accomplishes. Being that the organization generates all its funding and manpower through volunteers and donors, we knew that our time was not going to waste. Not every animal is able to have the luxury of having a happy home, so it brings a smile to our faces seeing these dogs at PAWS wagging their tails with joy when we take them out for a walk. Although we might be far from our pets back home, caring for all the animals at PAWS and helping them to get adopted is a different joy that we can both appreciate.

When I received the pre-commencement announcement a couple of days ago, I almost couldn’t believe it: I’m only about 6 weeks away from graduation. These two years of my MBA have gone so fast. I remember vividly the moment I received a call from Smeal saying that I had been accepted to the program. I was so happy that I almost cried, and I kept smiling all the way home. Finally, all the hard work in the past year had paid off, and my dream to get an MBA from a prestigious university in the US did come true.

I arrived at University Park on a beautiful summer day and fell in love with the campus, especially the Business Building, immediately. Smeal welcomed me with two weeks of orientation, where there were various events to get to know the program and my new classmates. Then I started a new period in my life with MBA classes, career planning, new friends and a lot of fun! I have enjoyed everything I’ve done here: global immersion trip, Diwali, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Lunar New Year, philanthropy activities, case competitions, etc. Those memories are still fresh in my mind as if they just happened yesterday. What I’ve learned here at Smeal is not only the business knowledge and skills that will benefit me in my future career, but also international cultural exposure from my MBA fellows and a high level of integrity, which is extremely important at this school. The MBA work was challenging, yet the experience is very rewarding. I believe that after graduation, I’ll be much more confident and well-prepared to return to work.

In only one and a half months, I’ll be part of the Smeal alumni community. I will be so proud to be in the largest alumni organization in the world. No matter where I go, Smeal will always have a special place in my heart. And for now, I stay excited and looking forward for my big day to come!

-Janice Nguyen, Penn State Smeal MBA Class of 2013

Name: John L. Hanson

Concentrations: Marketing, Finance & Strategic Leadership

Internship: Johnson & Johnson – Procurement LDP

Future Plans: Pursuing a career in commercial management with Biopharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies and consultancies.

Why did you choose Smeal: The Dual Degree Science BS/MBA program offered me a balanced education and a chance to learn more about my two passions – biology and business. By investing in myself now, I will be able to enter the work force both highly qualified for my age and in possession of extremely valuable experiences, such as my internships with Genentech and Johnson & Johnson and my on-campus leadership positions with organizations like the Interfraternity Council.

What has been your favorite Smeal MBA memory thus far: Taking 2nd place at the Rutgers Biopharmaceutical Case Competition! Kudos to Dr. Hambrick’s STAR and PRoMPT models.

So far my Smeal MBA has been a journey of excitement, challenge and opportunity for me.  The events that I have participated in after joining Smeal are exciting, value-adding and of course gave good return on my investment of time. You might feel that I sound a little more excited, and yes I am, as I just arrived back from my Global Immersion Trip to the Czech Republic. I will use three words to describe my experience about my trip: exciting, eye-opening and value-adding. My other classmates visited South Africa and China and as we discussed, they all agreed it was a great experience.

The trip truly was an exciting one. We, 43 students from the 1^st year MBA class went to explore the Czech Republic as part of our Global Immersion course.  Our trip started with an exciting dinner at the Folklore Show where we got to know about the Czech culture.  It was not just a dinner, but also participation in dance and music as part of fun activities. The next day we started visiting companies. We visited several companies, and each company represented a different industry.  Some examples were IBM, the SKODA car manufacturing plant, a GE Money Bank, The Prague Public Transport Company, Avast Softwares, Zeleny Kruh (NGO) etc. It was exciting to learn how businesses in the Czech Republic were doing things differently, how they were successful in some aspects, what some of the challenges were and how they were dealing with those challenges.

Just before the trip, we had a global perspective course, and it was really eye-opening. We were fortunate enough to compare what we learned, and ask insightful questions to both local and multinational companies operating at Prague. It was really exciting to see how fast the Czech Republic is developing.  The modern infrastructure, transportation system (that consist of tram, subway, buses etc.), the combination of old town and modern financial center, the history – everything was exciting. As a business student, I also gained a lot talking directly to people, including the CFO of IBM, a plant tour guide at SKODA plant, the CEO of Blazek Glass Co., the hotel receptionist, local people etc. It was eye-opening in the sense that reading about Euro zone and export economy helps your understanding, but watching live is more significant and opens up your mind for thoughtful analysis.

The tour was definitely an exciting and valuable part of the trip. Having such a tour enables one to learn practically how to analyze a country, its economy and ongoing situations. The learning did not end in Prague. It continued when we all got back to school and shared our observations, findings, comparisons etc., with other classmates who visited South Africa and China.

In a nutshell, the trip is going to be added to my list of favorite memories.  This was a time when I enjoyed a lot with my fellow classmates, professors and trip coordinators, and also learned from real life scenarios which was exciting, eye-opening and value-adding.

-Monira Linda, Penn State Smeal MBA Class of 2014

Lunar New Year is also called Spring Festival and is celebrated widely in many Asian countries such as China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore. As a diversified program, Smeal MBA held a Lunar New Year celebration event in late February. Before that, we also organized a cultural buzz to briefly explain the meaning of this festival and to introduce Chinese traditional culture to both the current students and also prospective students who joined our buzz that day.

Before the buzz, students decorated MBA common with Chinese traditional paintings, calligraphy, Beijing opera masks and paper-cuts, making the common full of festival atmosphere. There was a mini exhibition as well, displaying Chinese traditional stationary, chess, artwork and other cultural exhibits. Meanwhile, we offered typical Chinese snacks and candies for everyone to try. After the introduction of the customs of Lunar New Year, a couple of students shared their personal experience and feelings about the Spring Festival. This international themed event is different from business activities, but provides us an opportunity to gain more exposure to diversified cultures and global mindsets.

Two days later, a formal event was held in the Business Building.  People wore traditional Chinese costumes, enjoyed Chinese cuisine and watched cultural performances. The students practiced a lot and the performances included dual singing of Chinese songs, a Qipao fan dance, a fashion show and even a lion dance and Taichi Kongfu show. Various brilliant performances impressed the audience, and we all had a great night. A short video about “What does Lunar New Year mean to you” was broadcasted at the end, and all of the Asian students sent their best New Year wishes to everyone in Smeal.

-Effie Li, Penn State Smeal MBA 2014