Last winter, SVSU’s chapter of Delta Sigma Pi planned to host a week’s worth of events to help students prepare for success before and after graduation, but the weather had a different agenda – campus closings forced the co-ed professional business fraternity to cancel many large events.
This year, though, Delta Sigma Pi hosted a full, and successful, Business Week.
Vice President of Professional Activities Lauren Miller, a management and marketing junior, played a large role in planning the week’s events.
“The ideas for this year’s Business Week were a little personal on my end, as a trip with the Cardinal Business Edge program to Chicago presented opportunities to learn about a few different industries, specifically the insurance industry,” she said. “I learned so much about that industry there, and I know many people are unaware of its amazing career opportunities.”
The week included an insurance agent panel, where students were able to gain insight into the process of beginning a career in insurance from Saginaw Bay Underwriters, MCI Insurance, Farmers Insurance, Auto-Owners Insurance, Federated Insurance and Frankenmuth Insurance.
Other events included a “Brand Yourself” workshop that taught participants how to set goals and develop their personal brands; a “How to Adult” workshop on financial literacy that was facilitated by local financial institutions; and a discussion led by Gene Pickelman, president and co-founder of Tri-Star Trust Bank, about opportunities in the financial services industry.
Delta Sigma Pi Fundraising Chair and accounting senior Lindsey Summers attended part of the “Brand Yourself” workshop and found it beneficial.
“I got to sit down for a while and think about my goals for the next one, five and 10 years,” she said. “I think it’s important to check in on yourself every now and then to make sure you’re working on the goals you want to achieve and create new ones for yourself.”
She also attended the “How to Adult” workshop.
“Since I’m graduating this May and I’m going to be beginning my full-time career, I went to this event to learn about things like building credit, planning for retirement, and building yourself financially,” Summers said. “Of course, retirement is quite a few years away, but I learned that it’s really important to start planning for it now rather than later. The panelists were very helpful and answered any questions the audience asked. It was a really interesting and beneficial conversation.”
Miller said that her favorite event of the week was also the “How to Adult” workshop.
“The institutions that were represented were all so open and honest about things they wish they would have been thinking about at our age,” she said. “They were very complimentary to attendees who were taking the time to get ahead in the aspect of being financially stable in college.”
The events of the week were not just open to or beneficial for students in the College of Business and Management, Miller added.
“There were some criminal justice students at our insurance event and a variety of students (from different majors) at the financial literacy event,” Miller said. “I think that it was good for all students to hear about the many career opportunities in the insurance industry, as it is one of the few industries that is not major specific.
“Additionally,” Miller continued, “each and every student will be graduating and have to deal with the issues of credit, car loans or mortgages at some point in the lives, so learning about it sooner rather than later can be beneficial.”
