What it means to be a Business Scholar

By Sarah Glave, junior Honors College student

It is an amazing thing to look back and see how far you have come.

When I first applied for the Honors College, during my junior year of high school, I noticed a special program to apply for called Business Scholars; although I was doubtful of myself and didn’t think I would have a chance at receiving such an honor, I still applied. The benefits were blatant: early assurance into the MSA or MBA program (with exemption to application fees and the GMAT), a scholarship award of $12,000 distributed over the four years of undergrad, and the ability to have close relationships with the College of Business faculty. It was unsaid in the application, but I have also been able to maintain a relationship with my sponsor of this scholarship, Lynn Schubert, who has been an amazing role model and I am so thankful to have in my life. Of all the perks, the most underrated is the ability to network with the faculty and staff, as well as, have the opportunity to meet and mingle with successful alumni who graduated from the College of Business – this has been invaluable, priceless, and vital to my growth as a person and student.

I came to ECU as a marketing and management major. I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to study; I just knew I loved everything business because it is the way our world works, and it made a lot more sense to me than chemistry. For our foundations courses in the College of Business, we have to take classes with various departments to get an idea of what the options of majors are (marketing, operations management, accounting, management information systems, etc.). For me, accounting clicked. It seemed so tangible, challenging, real, and skillful. It is the language of business, and a great foundation for the rest of my career.

Each department has amazing faculty members that will do almost anything for students. Professors are understanding of our busy, overloaded schedules and do their best to be there for you one hundred percent. I’ve had professors meet with me outside of their office hours, even at 7 or 8 a.m. Anytime I have a question, it is answered or searched for deeply. They encourage and foster our growth as students and push us to learn more and work harder. I have found if you put in the effort, they will meet you halfway or further. I don’t think I could have found that type of commitment from any other university.

So what is it like to be a business major? Well, we take our classes like any other students. And then we network, constantly. We push ourselves to be better speakers, guests, and teammates; to be more self-aware, globally aware, and politically aware; to learn more and always engage one another. And after classes and between the studying, we put ourselves out there to find the end goal of our education – a job. We put on our suits and our happy faces when we are stressed, put time into our resumes, and put our hearts on the lines looking for a company that we would enjoy getting up at 7 a.m. to work for. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Now I look back, to the days when I was an eager freshman beginning college. Meeting people I could only hope to be like one day. Being a nervous wreck and unsure of who I am and where I fit in the world. Anxious. Trying to manage studying, new friends, and old friends. It was difficult. Flash forward to today, and I know what I want. Instead of having a lack of self-confidence, I have an “I can do it” attitude. I am ready for my senior year. I am ready to work. I am preparing myself today for tomorrow; and I can attribute much of that to this university.

Won’t it be an amazing thing to look back and see how far we have come?