Birthdays and Send-off

The last GBM was expectedly bittersweet. On a bright note, the meeting coincided President Tingle’s birthday so BWUA was able to help him celebrate, however, it was also the last GBM for graduating seniors. Historian Ashimedua Okonneh and VP of External Relations Oyinda Adeofie partnered to host the meeting, which was centered around maximizing your summer internship. Ashimedua and Oyinda took turns offering tips for how to find the best success in summer internships, with key and often overlooked pointers on what to do both before and after the internship. One of the biggest pieces of advice was that members should adequately research the firm they are to be working for as well as to have a full understanding of their role as an intern. Also notable was the fact that members were encouraged to remain cognizant of the reputation they were creating for themselves.  Oyinda and Ashimedua warned against involving oneself with office gossip or overusing personal email and texting, as both could actions could be negatively perceived. Finally, the hosts reminded the members that they should stay current with their firm after finishing the internship, especially if they one hope to return to that firm in a future summer or stay within that same industry. Coupled with the advice were hypothetical situations with an interactive component. The hosts first polled the membership on what they would do in the event that they had booked a vacation before the internship dates were made clear to them. The room was generally in agreement, with almost everyone saying that given that the internship should still take priority to the vacation. There was more discussion with the second hypothetical, in which one had to decide how to handle conflicting assignments from two different supervisors. While most people said that they would hope they would have a strong enough relationship with one of the supervisors to ask for an extension, others suggested contracting a fellow intern to help them complete the assignment. Finally, the last hypothetical asked what do in the event that you have a return offer but you are considering switching industries. Seniors Quasie and Balfe responded that it would be important to be sure that there are opportunities in the industry you are thinking of switching to before rescinding the current offer. After the internship presentation, the meeting transitioned into dinner, and from there current events. Ashimedua presented on the Philadelphia Flyers/Pittsburg Penguins series, as well as the latest developments in the case against George Zimmerman. From there, Oyinda returned and the two presented BWUA: A Year At a Glance, in which they highlighted HEMM, GALA, and the other numerous activities and events the club hosted this academic year. Then came the moment all had been waiting for: Senior Appreciation! Those honored were: Ex President Triston Francis, Ex VP of Internal Relations Balfe Morrison, Ex VP of External Relations Oyinkansola Ayobiojo, Ex Marketing Chair Quasie Jones, Ex Marketing Chair Brooke Hinton  Ex Treasurer Tobi Obegunde, Ex  HEMM Co-Chair Ruth Gillis-Harry, Ex Director of Professional Development Dave Thomas, and finally Ex Social Chair Joseph Smalls-Mantey. After a hearty round of applause for the seniors who have meant so much to BWUA, the board closed the meeing by surprising Jarrid with cake for his 21^st birthday!

Members Appreciation Picnic

The Member’s Picnic was hosted on Easter Weekend and was a great opportunity for all members not going home to spend Easter with their family on camps. Director of Marketing Lizzy Diggs did an excellent job in designing club shirts, which were necessary for entry to the picnic! The picnic was hosted on High Rise field close to Dubious College House. To the chagrin of all, the sun was shining, though it could have stood to be less windy. In all, everyone had a great time between chowing down on food, relaxing out in the sun, or playing pickup games of football and soccer. 

Leadership Event with the Marines!

Partnering with the local Marine Corps, BWUA hosted Leadership with the Marines, which was geared at developing the membership’s leadership skills through unconventional means. Three local Marines who are currently in the recruitment divison divided the members into three teams and put each team to the test with creative games. Each team elected a leader who was given all authority and responsibility for guiding his/her through the task. The leaders’ responsibility and privileges changed with each game. In the first game, the leader was charged with moving 3 imaginary packages from one side of the room to another. The catch was, however, that the subordinate team members were stuck stationed in four hoola hoopsm, each with a different handicap. One’s eyes had to remain shut, one could not his/her hands, one could not turn around, and finally one had to remain standing on one foot. The leader’s job was to direct his/her teammates according to their handicaps so that each of the boxes could be moved from one side of the room to the other side of the room all the while following the rules of the game. The second game was reminiscent of Twister, whereby teams had to cross an imaginary river by jumping on imaginary stones. Much to the amusement of everyone else, teams working on this challenge were seen stretching and twisting themselves about in order to complete the task!  The final game was probably the most challenging for the leader. Blue, green, yellow, and red Legos were strewn across a table and the leader was given a blueprint of a structure to construct. The catch, however, was that only the leader was able to see the blueprint for sixty seconds. He or She then had to direct his/her teammates in building the structure. To make it even more challenging, each teammate was only allowed to touch Legos of one particular color! Though the task was taxing, the Marines admitted that the BWUA teams performed better than average. In all, three tasks were fun and lighthearted ways to teach what it is to be a leader. In each activity the leader had full authority in coming up with the solution, and whatever decision reached by the leader was the course of action taken by the team. Furthermore, the leader bore full responsibility for the success of the team as a result of his/her decisions. In all, the Leadership Event with the Marines was an excellent addition to a GBM on Tuesday and all who attended have hopefully developed skills that they can take with them to the classroom and their future work places.

BWUA Opportunity with Bain

In a special treat for the membership, BWUA joined with Wharton Latino to host an Associate Consultant Meet-and-Greet on March 28. Attendance from both clubs was high, however BWUA members were in the majority. The meet-and-greet was relaxed and informal, and the consultants spoke really to encourage the students to choose the career path that fits them best be that Bain or elsewhere. Mike Gomez was the senior consultant present, and he boasted an impressive resume. He had worked at JP Morgan for four years in Investment Banking when he realized that the field was not for him and promptly took off to join The Peace Corps. He lived in Benin, West Africa for two years teaching entrepreneurship and small business skills before returning to the United States. Soon thereafter, he began working with Bain and asserted that he could not he does not think he could be happier anywhere else. He attributed part of his love for Bain to the strong sense of community among co-workers, saying “ In investment banking, the mindset is more if a man falls you keep going and leave him there. At Bain, if a man falls the team picks him up and keeps moving. No man left behind.” Also present was a 2010 Penn Graduate Julio Erdos, who having studied Mechanical Engineering found himself drawn to consulting. Julio asserted that he had not known early on that he would want to do consulting, however he also maintained that he is incredibly happy working where he is. He corroborated Mike Gomez’s statement about the family community at Bain and asserted that the variety of cases was also part of Bain’s appeal. Because any company can come with a complex problem, Bain consultants have to use a combination of qualitative and quantitative skills with a bit of creativity to get the job done. In the end, both Mike and Julio encouraged the all rising juniors to apply to Bain’s Building Entrepreneurial Leaders program in August to get a stronger feel for the consulting industry and to begin making connections if Bain is a company any member would like to work for post-Penn.

Hats off to a G.A.L.A. Well Done!

This year’s G.A.L.A. (Galvanizing Adolescents Towards a Legacy of Achievement) was another incredibly successful event for BWUA. Hosted on the eighth floor of Huntsman Hall, and Community Service Director Ernest Owens deserves accolades for securing such a chic venue. The members followed suit, as everyone looked quite elegant. After taking a slew of pictures we moved into the buffet. Once again, Ernest Owens deserves credit as the buffet had substantial variety, accommodating big vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. Following dinner came a brief speech by Mayor of Philadelphia Michael Nutter, a Wharton graduate himself. The mayor congratulated the members of BWUA for having for the success they have already had in coming to Penn and encouraged them only to keep on striving higher. Following his brief address, there was a brief intermission before the keynote speaker in which there was a touching acapella performance of Eyes on a Sparrow by Samantha Thomas and Nina Dominique. Afterwards Pennsylvania State Senator Anthony Williams took the stage to deliver the riveting keynote address. Senator Williams began with comedy, reminiscing of his college days when as a Franklin and Marshall student he was always on Penn’s campus visiting his girlfriend. He commented on how he saw himself reflected in the membership. He, just like the members of BWUA, was incredibly ambitious and had aspirations of becoming a wealthy and distinguished member of society. After stumbling into business, he shot up the ranks of PepsiCo because of his strong and unique skill set. He was a master at marketing because as he says “I knew and understood both the streets and the boardroom.” His father, who was a state senator himself, began asking Senator Anthony Williams if he would consider public office. He consistently declined, but when the police nearly burned down his childhood neighborhood be left PepsiCo and began his career at public office. Senator Williams remarked that it warms his heart to see how BWUA membership cares about giving back to our community, as the lacktherof is a pandemic among African Americans according to Williams. He encouraged BWUA’s members to continue to invest in African American communities, and closed with a reminder that they are the future. Finally, Youth Action representatives Gavin Grant and Anthony Phillips closed by thanking BWUA for the event and graciously expressing how much its support has meant to them.

New Traditions, New Relationships

We were pleased to see the second GBM of the semester have almost as high of a turnout as the first! The focus was on inter-grade relationships within the organization as well as summer opportunities. The GBM began with the latter, with presentations on finding summer internship/work opportunities. The Resume Drop, a service recently launched by a Harvard Junior to connect top students to top employers was mentioned, however the focus was on the MLT program. MLT was founded John Rice, a graduate of Harvard Business School and an ex executive at The Walt Disney Corporation, and is dedicated to building up strong underrepresented minority leaders in business and business related fields. President Jarrid Tingle is an alum, and he encouraged all sophomores to apply. Dinner followed, and while everyone was eating the board announced a new tradition. From now on, we will be starting going over current events during dinner. Freshman Liaison Alex Wiggin’s hosted, covering topics from the Greek Debt Crisis in the Eurozone to NBA player Jeremy Lin’s launch to superstardom.  The focus then switched the interpersonal relationships. The upperclassmen spread out across the room, and freshman were encouraged to introduce themselves to as many new people as possible. Freshman were also encouraged to take down names and contact information and reach out to the upperclassmen accordingly. In sum, the second GBM was a smash and we hope to see everyone and more back again at our next event!

First GBM of New Board 1/28

            The first BWUA GBM of the year was a smashing success. Attendance was great, and people even came on time! The board looked dashing in their formal attire as they introduced themselves before everyone moved quickly into the food from Sangkee. Notable among the announcements was the switch to a new monthly GBM system instead of the previous bi-weekly one, which aims to give more time for committee sponsored events. The board also announced a renewed dedication to reinvention in the sense of both new initiatives as well as expanding the focus of the club past Finance. As everyone ate, the Director of Alumni Relations Lucas O’Connor and Director of Membership Taylor O’Hare began the GBM discussion. The discussion was an introspective look at BWUA, and discussed both its positive and negative aspects in addition to the future direction of the organization. Members remarked that they enjoyed the sense of community present in the club, and cited communication as an area in which the club could improve. Following the discussion, the board put on a lighthearted skit on the Do’s and Don’ts of Interviews. Historian Ashi Okonneh, Director of Professional Development Titi Oshinaya, and Director of Community service Ernest Owens all stared. This acted as a segway into an interview competition among the members, characterized by the brainteaser “How many Neflix DVDs get lost in the mail each year?”  After some funny responses, the GBM was almost over save a brief presentation from the founder of the Penn startup Lokalty. All in all, it was a thrilling GBM and a great way to start off the new semester.