International Business and Sports Administration Major
"Now that I am a senior student, I can say that IUP and the Eberly College of Business and Information Technology have provided me some of the most exciting adventures in my life. More importantly, I can assure that indeed IUP and the Eberly College of Business and Information Technology do provide good quality education through faculty, student organizations, and extracurricular activities available to the students and surrounding communities.
"I was born and raised in Patillas, Puerto Rico. All of my life, I have been passionate about sports, not only as a fan of teams and athletes, but also about the industry in general. I was always certain that whatever professional career I would choose, it would have had to be related to the sports industry. Despite my certainty, it was difficult to find the correct university that provided me the opportunity to develop the professional skills suitable for the sports industry until I discovered the Sports Administration program offered at IUP.
"Once I was accepted into the Sports Administration program, I had to face other challenges that were in the path toward my professional development. Two of the biggest challenges I had to face were the language barrier and cultural differences. Because of being from a Spanish-speaking country, my English communication skills were very limited at the time. However, thanks to my dedication, hard work, and the help of faculty, family, and friends, I was able to overcome these obstacles. Today, I am able to communicate fluently in both Spanish and English (written and conversational).
"Since the instant I was accepted into the Sports Administration program, I knew that I had to differentiate myself from peers in order to be more marketable to future employers. It was because of this that I decided to pursue a dual Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Administration and International Business.
"In Spring 2007, I was accepted into the International Business programat Eberly College of Business and Information Technology. Ever since, I have been involved in student organizations such as the International Business Association (IBA), for which I have been the president since 2009.
"As president of IBA, I have organized, coordinated, and led community services and academic trips to major metropolitan areas within the United States and Canada. The purpose of these trips has been to provide our members the opportunity to network with professionals, as well as to explore different professional careers they might pursue when they graduate from IUP. Additionally, I have been focused in providing our members the opportunity to develop a global outlook. We achieve these through country presentations and interaction among our members, since we are very diverse group.
"Being president of this great student organization has allowed me to develop my leadership, organizational, managerial, and communication skills, as well as to enhance my professionalism. I have been able to put into practice some of the business concepts that I learned throughout my education at IUP. For instance, I had to develop marketing campaigns to promote the organization, and make strategic decisions, among others. In summary, thanks to the experiences I have had with IBA, I am very confident in my abilities and feel more prepared to succeed in the professional world."