Tanner Fellows Take New York
Tanner Business Fellows is a co-curricular program designed to attract and retain high achieving students while developing their networking and professional communication skills. Now in its third year, the program is proving successful in preparing top tier business professionals who will become leaders in their career fields. The students work extremely hard, and it pays off. They are given access to exclusive networking events with senior level executives throughout the school year and get to spend their fall break in New York City!
This year, the Tanner Fellows spent an action-packed weekend in New York exploring, learning and, of course, networking. After a delicious Yelp recommended brunch, the group made their way to the awe-inspiring Metropolitan Museum of Art where they explored a myriad of authentic artifacts from around the world including Egyptian tombs, detailed Grecian jewelry and elegantly designed indigenous dresses from the Lakota tribe of North Dakota.
Day two consisted of a morning tour of the old and new Wall Street Financial District in perfectly crisp, fall weather. After lunch near the 9-11 Memorial, students headed over to the Univision Building to meet with Vice President of Network Sales and Strome alum, John Kozack '93. Kozack briefly discussed his career path, but he really wanted to hear from the Tanner Fellows. He allowed the students to lead the discussion and truly engage in this valuable experience! Students asked thoughtful, open-ended questions that allowed Kozack to respond very authentically. He gave incredible advice like, "Always say yes, no matter what it is, you'll learn something and grow," and "Whatever you're good at, double down on it!"
The Tanner Fellows left Univision feeling inspired. Alonzo Clayton, senior Accounting and Finance, said, "Along with his career stories, Mr. Kozack gave us advice that helped us personally as well made us realize what he felt were lost soft skills in the upcoming generations that are very important in any professional field."
The final leg of the trip was spent at the Bloomberg Tower, thanks to the relationship of faculty member, Andrew Cohen with Bloomberg. Tanner Fellows received the grand tour and history of the tower and ended with an amazing view of the city from the Bloomberg breakfast room and a very relaxed Q&A with their tour guides.
David Catchings, a junior majoring in Digital Marketing, reflected on the benefits of the trip, "Overall, I learned a great deal about what these big companies expect from recently graduated students and I plan to use that knowledge to land a job right out of college."
The Tanner Business Fellows program was endowed by a gift from Dean Jeff Tanner and his wife, Karen. The Tanners believe that, "High achieving students make all of us better - faculty, students, and staff. Watching them blossom since we started the program three years ago has been a real joy but having alumni like John also recognize and confirm the quality of our current students is a great feeling."
