Category: Academics

This year I started the Masters of Science in Accounting program at SMU after I graduated in May with a bachelor degree in accounting from the Hilltop. I knew a few things before starting graduate school. I love Dallas and SMU’s presence in the city, so I knew I didn’t want to leave just yet. I knew that this year would be very different from my undergraduate years, but was hoping that some of the great things about SMU would carry over into my graduate studies. After a few weeks into the program, I am pleased to say that ALL of the great things about SMU have carried over.

The majority of my friends studying accounting in my undergrad years followed suit and joined the masters program with me; there is definitely the Mustang Spirit still in the graduate school. Thanks to attending SMU for my undergraduate studies, I have seen or have had most of my professors. I believe that this has fostered a better learning environment since that relationship is already in place. As a student in the MSA program, I still have all the access to SMU facilities and campus perks, am able to cheer on the Mustangs at Boulevards every home game and still have all the opportunities for networking and career help that SMU provides all students. The Cox School of Business has made what would feel like a year in limbo feel like a year as part of a community.

In conclusion, I am so happy I am attending SMU again for my graduate studies. I now understand how truly great SMU is; it makes every student whether they are undergraduate, transfer or graduate, feel a part of the SMU community.

-Liz Crowell

By Blake Ann Seeker

Declaring your college major is a big step in your academic life. Many students, myself among them, remain “undecided” for some time. It’s a good idea to take a variety of classes, weigh options with the help of advisors and professors, or even reach out to the Hegi Family Career Development Center before making the big decision. I was in this position of uncertainty for my first two years at SMU. Not to worry though, as pre-med student I had plenty of medical school prerequisite courses to keep me busy. When SMU’s Anthropology Department announced the creation of new Health and Society Major this past summer, I knew my search was over. The Health and Society Major uniquely takes an interdisciplinary approach to the practice and study of health in global and cultural contexts. It also offers two tracks—one physiological and the other social and cultural. Through this curriculum, I have enjoyed classes from genetics to bioethics to medical anthropology.

My favorite class of the semester was the capstone of the course, Health in Cross Cultural Perspectives taught by Dr. Nia Parson. I was one only of six students in this round-table style class and can honestly and emphatically say that I loved attending this class each week. After all that deliberation, I am truly very happy with my major decision. I am also now following the trend of most SMU students by adding another major and minor! I am thankful to attend a university where such a flexible and personalized degree plan is possible. Pony Up!

By Whit Rasmussen

For the UC curriculum, every student is required to complete a physical wellness course. Walking, fencing, ping-pong, triathlon and basketball are just a few of the many classes to choose from. For my wellness credit, I decided to check off a bucket list item and signed up for marathon training. I couldn’t hide the sense of accomplishment when I added the class to my upcoming semester list. That is, until I actually realized signing up for the class meant running 26.2 miles. For any cross country or track runners out there, 26.2 miles might not seem too daunting. For a mildly in-shape College sophomore just looking to check off a bucket list item, every long weekend run felt like finals week all over again.

To this day, almost a year after my marathon training, I attribute all of our class’s success to our professor, David Bertrand. Professor Bertrand educated, trained and inspired us through the grueling 3-month training program. Even though the class only met two times a week, we obviously had to train much more. Professor Bertrand often sacrificed a great deal of his time every week to schedule outside training runs, provide nutrition and training advice, or just hang out and have a good time.

As the weeks flew by and the marathon date moved closer and closer, what once seemed like a distant, unrealizable goal – to run 26.2 continuous miles – now seemed entirely possible. The sore legs, blistered feet and mental exhaustion became more and more bearable – our small class of 11 runners could feel the excitement looming. We were about to become marathoners! The final days leading up to the race seemed to take an eternity. Could we actually finish? In the end, the marathon was canceled due to the “icepocalypse” ice storm in December 2013. We were all clearly upset, we couldn’t achieve our final goal, 26.2 miles now seemed farther away than ever. Less than an hour after receiving the fateful email from the race directors, informing us of the cancelation, Professor Bertrand sent a follow up. It is hard to sum up an experience like training for a marathon in college with 11 other students, but Professor Bertrand’s email did just that. He reminded us of the amazing feat we had all accomplished.

Every runner in the class was prepared for that race and I have no doubt we all would have finished the race. Professor Bertrand reminded us that the race is not what mattered. The class was all about the experience of training for a marathon and succeeding. We all completed the training; all grew extremely close as friends and would never forget the lessons learning during that 3-month span. To this day, I remain in contact with everyone in my class and Professor Bertrand. The 11 runners in my class embody what is true of so many SMU students – we are ambitious, dedicated and committed to helping each other succeed. Marathon training wellness class is just one of an endless amount of examples. When you come to visit campus, ask other students to share their stories and I’m sure you will hear something very similar. If you choose to make SMU your home for the next four years, you’ll know exactly what I mean. Pony Up!

By Lauren Lyngstad

This semester, I have had the opportunity to be a student in the Cox School of Business Honors Marketing Practicum. This course takes place every fall for a select group of graduating Marketing majors, and it has easily been one of my favorite courses that I have taken during my time at SMU. Essentially, at the beginning of the year we start off with 25 students in the class. From there, we divide into five teams consisting of five students. The teams are chosen draft-style–the class designates five leaders and each leader chooses their team members with a goal of creating the best, most well-rounded team. After that, the fun begins!

For the past four years, this course, and SMU, has partnered with FOX. Every year, FOX Sports kicks off the course by visiting the classroom and proposing a semester-long project to the class. From there, the five teams of student compete to develop the best solution to the project that FOX has presented. This year, we have been tasked with developing a national campaign for FOX Sports 1 soccer programming. At first, I must admit that I was a little bit intimidated by the gravity of the project. After all, this was a NATIONAL campaign! After the intimidation period passed, our group got down to business. We started off the semester by conducting extensive secondary and primary research. From there, we began to develop ad campaign ideas to present to FOX.

Earlier in March, executives and employees from FS1 flew out from Los Angeles and also joined us via Skype. Our group was given a 30-minute meeting to present our research, campaign ideas and receive employee feedback. It was such a phenomenal opportunity to be sitting in a conference with some of FS1’s most influential employees. We walked away from the meeting with praise, criticism and a renewed passion for the rest of the semester. Currently, we are working on finalizing our final campaign that will be presented to FOX Sports later this month. It has been an absolutely crazy ride, but we have had so much fun dreaming up advertising ideas for social media campaigns, print ads, commercials and more. I cannot wait to see our final product, and I am crossing my fingers that FS1 chooses our project!

By Laura Spitler

One of my favorite classes I am taking this semester is Negotiations, taught by Steve Denson.  For me, it counts as a business elective to round out my marketing degree.  I initially signed up for the course, because I know that being good at negotiating is a very important skill to have in the business world.  I was also aware that a portion of the pay disparity between men and women comes from the fact that women are less likely to negotiate their starting salary and subsequent raises.  I especially like that the class format allows us to put into practice what we are learning without needing to fear for our grade if we don’t get it right the first time.  The majority of our grade comes from participating in our class negotiations, not quizzes and tests that you cram for and then forget a few months later.

We do negotiations in pairs, small groups, and as a whole class (we have a whopping class size of 17) as we learn how to negotiate everything from starting salary to real estate.  Professor Denson even brought in the people who sold the most expensive house in Dallas this year ($16.5M!) to teach our lesson on real estate.  Did I mention they are SMU graduates? –how cool is that!

Many people are scared to negotiate, but by doing so once or twice a week for this class, I am getting much more comfortable with it.  Two weeks ago, I was in Houston for a ballroom competition and when checking my team into the hotel, I put my negotiation skills to work.  That hotel charges $9 per car for parking and we had 9 cars; a negotiating novice would assume this charge is non-negotiable, but by befriending the young hotel desk staffers and appealing that we are college students on a budget who could potentially stay at their hotel again next year for this same competition, I was able to talk them down to only charging us for 2 cars, saving over $60.

By Faith Michael

One of the greatest opportunities college offers is the ability to take a class that allows the student to expand their horizons about the world. Called an adventurous spirit, I love exploring the world in ways that most people are unable to. For that reason, when SMU offered a beginning scuba diving course, I signed up for it immediately. For several weeks, my class, consisting of sixteen students, learned the fundamentals of scuba diving by literally getting our feet wet in the diving pool on campus. I met students from a wide variety of majors who had a passion to experience nature in the same way I did and we became more than a class, we became a mini-family. After hours of in-class lectures, diving exercises, learning different skills, and finally completing the online exam, I was awarded with my scuba diving certification card and college credit. In my opinion, it was a classic win-win situation for a college student.

As a biology and chemistry major, I have taken classes where we learn about the world and the various organisms that live in it, but taking this scuba diving course allowed me to jump straight into their environment and experience nature in its own habitat, something I wouldn’t have been able to do before. During the summer, I continued diving at a scuba park an hour from SMU and found a hobby where I could join academics and my passion together. I believe that this is one of the greatest gifts SMU provides for its students-the opportunity to take the lessons from the classroom and see their applications in the real world.  I, for one, am very grateful for this present that I know will last me a lifetime!

By Mehdi Hami

While my friends were under the sun or on a boat during Spring Break, I was learning. It may seem weird to “learn” during Spring Break, but it was the best Spring Break I’ve ever had.

I’m in a class this semester that covers the Italian Renaissance in Florence and Venice. To complement the in-class portion of learning about the Renaissance, we got to go to Florence and Venice over Spring Break! With ten other students in the class, we flew to Italy and stayed there for the whole week.

Liz Blumberg, Liz O’Neill, and Brie Strickland, three other Ambassadors, went on the trip and made it that much better! We visited the most historic sites of the Renaissance and learned about a period in history that was filled with art, intellect, and innovation.

 From going to museums and old palaces to eating pizza like it was the last thing left on Earth, I honestly think I only slept a total of 35 hours the whole trip.  Seeing the cities late at night after all the tourists had gone to sleep was definitely the best part of the trip. It’s crazy how different everything looks and feels in silence and with only a few people there where thousands were just hours before. Sleep is overrated, especially in Italy.

Who has time to sleep in Venice and Florence? I’m never going to look back on my Spring Break in Italy and tell myself, “Man, I really wish I slept; I was so sleepy that night.”

Thanks to SMU for the greatest Spring Break ever.

Pony Up!