In addition to building an impressive collegiate resume, Class of 2020 graduate Leslie Urena is leaving with a degree in Business Administration and Marketing with a Minor in Economics. During her four years in the CBE, Leslie has worked with the MARS (Marketing Analytics and Research Society) where she “conducted research for Miora, interviewing other students on why minorities aren’t pursuing a major within the STEM field.” Since her sophomore year, Leslie has worked with the UPS, where she started as an intern. She was later promoted to her current part-time position in Industrial Engineering.
As a member of the HACU (Hispanic Association for Colleges and Universities), she had the opportunity to travel to Chicago for an international conference where she would connect with several mentors and keynote speakers. In preparation for the conference, the organization had its members undergo various networking, resume-building, etiquette and vocational workshops.
She credits a lot of her success in the CBE to Nikita Lau. “When I started as a freshman, it was very intimidating to adapt to the college lifestyle. When I started to get more involved in club activities, I remember meeting her for the first time in the Financial Management Association Club. That’s when I started to get more involved. She helped me a lot, whether it was resume-building or networking, she was very encouraging and hands-on. I’ve always been able to go to her if I needed any help or had questions.”
Many would be surprised to know that Leslie attends acting school “to expand my knowledge in the film and entertainment industry.” She was recently apart of a student’s short film from Biola University, which involved them shooting on a big ranch in Ventura County. She is extremely pleased to announce that the Latino film will be entered into a film festival. Needless to say, upon graduating, she plans to work in the entertainment field to focus on film-making.
As she prepares to bid farewell to the CBE, she wants new students to keep this in mind: “If you want to achieve success, you have to work for it. With success, comes a lot of hard work but the trick is confidence. Sometimes, especially when you first start school, speaking from my own personal experience, I felt I was shy and wasn’t as confident to pursue a career that I wanted. It was mostly about pursuing a career that I was able to do and not a career that I wanted to do,” Leslie explained.
“Sometimes we think careers are hard or it may not be achievable because you hear it is too competitive of a field. Be confident and pursue what you feel you are passionate about.”