Beni

Activities

• Alpha Kappa Psi – professional business fraternity that strives to help develop well-trained business students in preparation for future success
• FUSION – group of students that act as liaisons for alumni, faculty, and students within the College of Business
• College of Business Honors Program
• Illinois Leadership, Student Advisory Committee – group focused on addressing leadership development within the University

One-on-One

Where is your favorite spot on campus to study?
I can be seen almost every day at the Undergraduate Library. Sometimes it ends up turning into a social scene. That's why I love to study there. I get the best of both worlds.

Where is your favorite spot on campus to hang out with your friends?
My apartment, a friend's apartment, or at Za's

Where is your favorite spot on campus to relax?
A patch of grass somewhere around the business quad

What do you like most about your major?
I love that what I'm studying has career related applications annd personal applications as well. I enjoy that it requires me to use commonsense, intelligence, and intuition, and also challenges me to be a self-learner.

What are your favorite courses within your major?
Business Administration 300 with Paul Lansing has been one of the toughest courses I've taken during my entire college career and I loved it. He challenged us to look pass the words in the book and apply business law and concepts to our own lives. Finance 221: Corporate Finance was the class that assured me that I was in the right major. And not everyone agrees with me, but the class was involving and the material was intriguing.

What are your favorite extracurricular activities related to your major?
Alpha Kappa Psi has provided me the opportunity to network with established alumni and very impressive undergraduates. I had dinner with a COO and CEO. You do not get that kind of exposure at most universities as an undergraduate. Because FUSION is so new and I am sitting on the executive board, I am free to provide some direction for the organization. I love the University of Illinois because I get the opportunity to shape and mold my future, but with some of the best direction and support in the country.

What are your favorite extracurricular activities not related to your major?
I was a three sport athlete during all four years of high school and intramural athletics have enabled me to maintain my competitive edge, exercise, and just have fun with my friends.

Describe your most memorable experience at Illinois.
I participate in a international experience in Germany and Poland during the summer after my freshman year. I experienced European life professionally by visiting the European Central Bank and Warsaw Stock Exchange. But the impact of the trip came from experiencing European life socially.

What is a little-known fact about Illinois?
Life isn't just on campus. There is life surrounding the University of
Illinois. There are jazz concerts in downtown Urbana, a Chicago feel in downtown Champaign with great dining and salsa dancing. Life does not end once you leave the confines of campus. Plus, everything is open until at least midnight and 3 a.m. on the weekends.

Why do you belong at Illinois?
40,000 students may seem huge, but within the first week, one of the deans shook my hand and said, ‘Welcome.’ Then a few weeks later I was flagged down by a professor as I crossed the Quad. I was spotted among all the students on the quad and singled out. Illinois feels small and you receive a world class, ivy league comparable education with all the benefits of a large campus. You’re not just a number here; you’re part of a tradition of excellence.