"As most young students, I had no idea what I truly wanted to study when asked, “What do you want to study when you grow up?” And I’d usually respond with, ‘Engineer in Physics’. Little did I know my true passion was business marketing; I had no idea what marketing really was until my freshman year of high school when I first took ‘Principles of Marketing’. A month and a half in a class and I was already loving it, I found the subject very easy to comprehend and most importantly I would always be very engaged and curious of different marketing outcomes and strategies, amazed with the magic behind marketing and understanding the messages behind each; commercial, ad, flyer, billboard and even sales pitch. 

Marketing is about sharing a vision, and I understood that right away. For those who knew me before and after my freshman year, they know how much I’ve grown professionally and personally. I used to be that one shy student, that would not speak up much and hated presenting in front of class. But never did I picture myself two years later, leading a presentation on how to offer a better ‘Customer Service’, at the age of 17, to a monthly staff meeting (Note: these are employees who are 4-5 years older than me), where the owner introduced me and I held the meeting from there on with professionalism, confidence, and ambition to share my vision and provide tips on how to improve business. I recall afterward, one of the questions from the employees was, “You look very young, how old are you? 20?” I laughed a little and responded with a clear tone, “I am 17." Everyone’s jaw dropped. Going through the process of learning about marketing and developing comprehensive marketing plans for local businesses.

 

My experience in the Southwest Marketing program has opened to a world full of opportunities by networking, gaining real-world hands-on experience, allowed me to gain confidence in myself, develop as a professional and grown as a person by utilizing and practicing my critical thinking skills in order to solve real-world problems. I know am able to easily connect and network with my peers and college professors, offer help to my classmates on how to present themselves and obtain endless opportunities to keep on moving up the latter in the business marketing world, with integrity, hard/smart work, ambition and always adding value To the spaces and lives around me."