To the Students

By Mark Bailey

Your time at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business will offer you much of what you need to succeed and will then set you at the base of the rest of your life when you graduate. What you do now to prepare for that climb is critical for your future success. As a graduating senior I'd like to share some of the greatest lessons I learned from my college experience and what has happened because of it.

Lesson 1 - Learn through experiences, not just from textbooks.

One of the best ways to experience what you are learning in the classroom is through the school’s Go Global and SEED programs. Take advantage of these programs, not because they may look good on a resume, but because the experience can transform the way you see yourself and the world, and then better qualify you for your future.

Lesson 2 - Realize that there are no ceilings holding you down.

You have often heard that you are powerful beyond measure, but do you believe it? Identify what is holding you back from being your best self by asking, “Why or why not?” These two simple questions will help you identify why you do what you do and explain why you haven’t done what you don’t do. Although a humble practice, these questions will help you overcome personal fears and also expand your perspective; the answers will motivate you to do whatever it takes to improve. Aspects holding you down may be as simple as your unchallenged beliefs, misguided social norms, and uninspiring expectations. Know that regardless of what it is, only you have the control to change it.

Lesson 3 - Risk and failure breed success.

For most individuals the objective to gain a college education is to reduce the risk of failure in the job market. And for most individuals, this happens to be true. But that lack of failure doesn’t actually equate future success. It is because of what I have experienced while studying that I am better equipped to take greater risks, therefore exposing myself to some failures and greater successes. Failure is not an end but the start of a better path.

Through my time at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, I have travelled abroad learning about global business in Russia, Armenia, and Turkey. I have helped people escape poverty in Peru through SEED. I networked with wonderful people in London. I have competed in competitions, attended countless seminars, sat on councils, and become great friends with faculty. I invested in myself by taking opportunities and choosing to experience what was being offered.

Because of these experiences I have been able to take an opportunity to align myself with Medopad, a company I was introduced to while in London last spring with the school. This UK based company is a mobile health platform that securely delivers patient information directly to physicians. It aims to revolutionize the way doctors access important patient information by making it instantly available on an iPad or other mobile device. This is a huge mission! The people that drive this company realize that they are only limited by what their minds can conceive! And that it is only through taking advantage of opportunities and taking steps forward that the company will succeed!

I am excited for the next phase of my life with Medopad in London, and I hope that I will not soon forget what I learned because of my experiences here at the Huntsman School. My recipe towards success won’t be just like yours, but I am confident that you too will learn life-changing lessons, the ones not taught in textbooks, through choosing to experience your education at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business.

Mark Bailey