/news-archive/tag/bachelor-of-business-administration/ ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Tue, 17 Mar 2020 13:30:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2020/03/17/business-student-gives-back-through-internship/ Tue, 17 Mar 2020 13:30:46 +0000 /news/?p=76409 ... Business student gives back through internship at Junior Achievement of Arkansas]]> Smith, a wife and mother of two from Little Rock, had a productive 20-year career as a retail sales consultant with AT&T. Reflecting on a conversation she previously had with her older sister promising to obtain a college degree, she set out on a new path in August 2018. “In May 2018, my sister unexpectedly passed away,” Smith said. “I’m the baby of three girls, and my sister made me promise I would go back to school. I was the only one of us three who didn’t have a college education.” Smith took her sister’s death hard and took a leave of absence from work to reflect on life.  Smith first attended college at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, but left after her father became ill to help support the household. She decided it was time to invest in herself by completing her college education. “I asked my husband if he could handle the household bills so I could go back to school,” Smith said. “I really wanted to keep my promise to my sister. Now was the time to go back after 23 years.” Now a senior business major at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock, Smith says that college is a far cry from when she last attended decades ago. “When I went to school in the 1980s, everything was paper,” she said. “Now, everything is digital and classes are online. Being familiar with technology from my previous employer helped me keep up. I am a mom of two so I have to manage my time wisely, especially with a special needs son. My professors are amazing. They have been excellent resources in keeping me motivated in pursuing the end result, which is my degree.” One of her professors, Dr. Joe Felan, associate professor of management, encouraged Smith to apply for an internship with Junior Achievement of Arkansas, a nonprofit organization that provides work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy programs to young people in Arkansas. Felan, who serves as chair of the board of JA of Arkansas, said he thought Smith would be a perfect fit for the internship. “I am very excited to have Antwanette working with Junior Achievement of Arkansas,” Felan said. “She is a delightful student to be around and is always engaged in the classroom. JA of Arkansas offers kindergarten through 12th grade students the ability to have hands-on experience in what it takes to start and maintain a business. Last year, we offered 591 classes to a total of 13,447 students in Arkansas. Antwanette can use her academic experiences to help the organization as well as young people around the state.” After working with the organization since November 2019, Smith serves as a program coordinator. She oversees the Junior Achievement Student Company Program, which teaches students how to become entrepreneurs. “The program takes students from start to finish in starting a business, writing a business plan, and providing a solution that addresses a consumer or community need,” Smith said. “The program ends with a pitch competition, where the students pitch their solution to a panel of three judges in a ‘Shark Tank’-like situation.” In addition to helping students build entrepreneurial skills, Smith connects professionals who talk about their entrepreneurial and career journeys with students in schools and after-school programs. “The thing I like most about this internship is that I’m actually able to experience the immediate results of the programs we implement and put in place,” Smith said. “I’ve worked some jobs where you don’t get to see your work in action. I’m very proud of the impact we make on kids’ lives.” Smith plans to graduate from ����Vlog��ý Little Rock in December with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in business management. She’s also earning a graduate certificate in business analytics and would like to work in this field after graduation.]]> /news-archive/2018/06/21/tandie-kenser/ Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:12:17 +0000 /news/?p=70840 ... “Never too late” for a college education]]> When Tandie Kenser was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer seven years ago, doctors gave her a couple of years to live. She knew she was on borrowed time, and she had only one regret: never going to college. So in 2015, at age 48, she enrolled at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock, intent on earning a Bachelor of Business Administration. She told her advisor that she wanted to take 18 credit hours. Shannon Gwinn, director of Student and Career Services, advised her to start with nine credit hours, to ease into the college workload. “She pointed her finger at me, and said, ‘Not only am I going to take 18 hours, I’m going to make a 4.0,’” Gwinn recalled. “And she has. She had a good career in the credit union world, but she had never taken time to go to college, and that was on her bucket list.” Tandie, an ambassador for the College of Business, has completed 90 of the 120 credit hours she needs for a bachelor’s degree, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. She’s enrolled in two online classes this summer – History of Civilization II and Financial Markets – that she will finish as time allows. “There’s so many people who think they are too old or it’s too late, but it’s not,” she said. On June 14, though, she entered home hospice, and her prognosis is now “weeks but not months.” Instead of a funeral, she told her family that she wants a party to celebrate life. Her family quickly stepped in to make it happen. “There’s no more opportunity for her to get better,” said her mother, Gennie Adair of Vancouver, Canada, who is staying with her. “It’s sad, but this is the very best way for her to be able to participate in her own party, and it will be good.” The celebration, which included a mock graduation, was held June 30 at the Friendship home of Tandie’s daughter, Jessie Wright. Tandie also has a daughter, Kaitlin Tate of Fort Worth; a stepdaughter, Kim Kenser of Little Rock; and a stepson, Will Kenser of Gulf Shores, Alabama. She has seven grandchildren and one on the way. Tandie visited faculty and staff in the College of Business, and Dean Jane Wayland gave her a graduation cap and gown that Tandie wore at her party.  Adair has set up a $25,000 endowment that will provide scholarships for future non-traditional students in the College of Business. Contributions are also accepted online. Tandie, now 51, lives in Benton with her husband, David, who is a veterans services coordinator for Arkansas Hospice. They married on May 1, 2011, the day after Tandie finished her end-of-the-tax-season accounting rush. Just a few weeks later – on July 20 – she was diagnosed with cancer. She has tried chemotherapy and radiation, but her particular cancer involves the presence of a mutated KRAS gene, which means her tumors do not respond to many therapies. She has also sought alternative therapies, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy and had numerous surgeries to remove tumors. In 2014, her cancer metastasized to her lung, necessitating more surgery. Adair recalled a time when her daughter had undergone eight hours of chemotherapy and insisted that she be taken directly to ����Vlog��ý Little Rock afterward so that she could attend an extra-credit lecture about earthquakes. “She was so determined to keep that 4.0,” Adair said. “If it wasn’t for her going to the university, I don’t know that she would be here. I think it prolonged her life. She had something she was working toward and getting to her goal.” Tandie, who describes herself as a “Type A” personality, has a sense of her cognitive decline and limitations but also has found peace. She sold her motorcycle. She’s put reading aside. She’s spending time with family and friends. As for pursuing a college education, she has no regrets. “I didn’t want to be anywhere else,” Tandie said. “I love walking on campus. I like every professor I’ve had. It’s brought me joy. “Life is not fair,” she says matter-of-factly. “Fair is just a four-letter word at our house. I’m not a sad person, though I leak a little now and then. I never thought I was getting out of this alive, so I’m redirecting. I’ve been able to give things away and see people enjoy them. I have a lot of love from my family and support from my school, and I know that I’ve been very blessed. I don’t have one thing that I wanted to do that I haven’t done.” Tandie Kenser (seated) and her mother, Gennie Adair (center) visit Cindy Wallace (left) and Shannon Gwinn (right) in the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock College of Business.  Photos by Benjamin Krain  ]]>