Meet Some of Our International Business Students

I like the community. Everyone knows everyone because of our small class sizes, which creates a close-knit, welcoming community. Plus, I love the professors at Champlain. They know your name, and they're very understanding and kind. I feel like I can stop and ask any of my professors a question and they'll have an answer.

I will be traveling a lot while at Champlain. I lived in Shanghai, China the summer after my sophomore year, completing an internship through the Freeman Foundation Grant program. After that, I went to Dublin, Ireland at Champlain's campus for the fall semester. The Office of International Education is a big reason why I came to Champlain. They make studying abroad easy and seamless.

Burlington is such a great town. Part of choosing Champlain for me was the location. I love watching the sunsets and going to the Church Street marketplace. There's always something to do, because everything is walkable. The whole city and community feels like a part of our campus.

I chose International Business because I want to travel. I love learning about the world, different cultures, and different people. The introductory course that International Business majors take when they first get here really shows you how you're going to be able to interact with different people. I feel like this major is the best at Champlain because it goes with everything.

I'm pretty involved with the International Roundtable, which is a group at Champlain that offers a safe space for all sorts of political opinions and backgrounds. We structure debates; it's interesting and it works. I feel like we're learning a broader view of why people advocate for certain things. 

I also joined Quest, a men of color affinity group. We have different topics to discuss, like a spoken word poem day, where we broke down different poems and how they related to our personal experiences. It was a good support group during my first year—a great family. We look forward to it each week, and we want to team up with other affinity groups around Vermont.

Scott Baker, the Dean of the Stiller School of Business, was my Advisor before he became Dean, and he has been a guiding force since I've been here. He gave me tips, sent me to academic coaching, and was really supportive. He was the one who helped me get my internship for the office of Congressman Welch. I enjoyed working with Congressman Welch a lot because he is very human. I attended events with him, like meeting people at the farmers market, getting people's names, corresponding with them, and taking pictures.

One of my favorite parts about Champlain is the license professors give students to work on what interests them while staying within the learning objectives. In one of my Core classes, The Global Condition, we were tasked with analyzing one of the global issues that the United Nations is tackling. I chose human trafficking, as that had been an area of interest for me in the past. Through this research project, we were encouraged to find primary research and do interviews rather than just relying on our previous knowledge and secondary data. This helped me gain a broader idea of the local contexts in which human trafficking is seen and deepened my understanding of the topic. By the time the project was finished, I had a topic that I could speak on with information to back up my position and a solid perspective on the overall fight against human trafficking.

I was lucky enough to study abroad in Dublin, Ireland. I could not recommend a better study abroad experience for students. The Champlain team in Dublin is one of the most welcoming groups of people you will meet and they do everything they can to ensure students have the best possible experience abroad. 

The Dublin experience is ideal for a few reasons. The number one most important for me was that the cost remained the same. All of the financial aid students receive on campus in Burlington will transfer to their time abroad. Without this, going abroad would not have been a possibility for me. The next reason the Dublin Campus is so amazing is that it provides a home base. Students do their classes Monday through Thursday, enabling them to have three-day weekends every weekend to travel to other countries. This is highly encouraged by the staff and faculty who can offer recommendations and suggestions for most locations around Europe. The last point to make is the utmost excellence brought to the classroom by the Irish professors. They have a worldview and experience that makes even the most mundane of classes seem exhilarating. These professors fit in with the passion that every Champlain professor brings to the table and give students insight into the culture in which they are currently immersed.

I was surprised just how much support exists at Champlain. There is support for everything if you ask. There are tutors to help with tricky homework problems, there are RAs to help navigate roommate disagreements, and there are relevant internship opportunities in your inbox almost daily. 

My favorite support is the Career Collaborative. They use their immense network to get you into the right office and have you shaking the hand of your future employer. All it takes is an email and they are happy to look over your rèsumè and cover letter. Once they have read through your rèsumè, they will make sure to also send you opportunities that they think would be a good fit for you.