School marks third year of Summer Venture in Business

By Aseret Bertram

The third cohort of the school’s Summer Venture in Business (SVB) program was held in June 2019 and included 22 participants from all high school levels.

Students learned about business and college preparation topics, as well as future potential career pathways. According to surveys taken by the students, 100 percent of them agreed they felt well-educated on these topics and stated SVB increased their desire to attend college after high school. About 90 percent of the students’ interest and desire to attend the KU School of Business also increased. Summer Venture in Business continues to impact high school students — the future is bright for the students as well as for the program itself. The short stories below show the impact that the program has had on participants and current School of Business students.

Full circle

Freshman Malik Bauer is an SVB alumnus who now is also a part of the Multicultural Business Scholars Program (MBSP). His story as to how he found SVB and the opportunities it gave him is quite special. He was already interested in attending KU’s business school, but his high school gifted education teacher encouraged him to apply to the SVB to further explore the unique opportunities KU presents. To Bauer, the SVB program was unique because it allowed him to connect with minorities and members from underrepresented communities who are interested in pursuing a career in business.

“I made a connection with a counselor, Abdoulie Njai, who has become a mentor for me and aided me greatly in applying to programs like MBSP and [Business Leadership Program],” he said.

Summer Venture in Business enabled Bauer to envision a future in KU’s School of Business and specify what field he wanted to study.

“Without this experience, I’m not sure I would have looked into the programs I’m currently involved in,” he said.

Guiding the next generation

As a part of MBSP, scholars have the opportunity to join SVB during the summer and be an influence for the attendees. Sophomore Torrey Olson was one of the scholars who spent part of her summer helping high school students explore their college desires.

“My experience as a mentor for SVB was amazing. I met a lot of younger kids who were awesome and got to know what they were interested in and how high school is going for them. It was a fun program that was jam-packed with things to do.

I learned that I love making positive impacts on younger kids and trying to guide them through what college would be like academically.

The program is an amazing experience for high school students. They get to stay in the [residence halls] where they could possibly be living once they get to college. It also helps them understand all the majors or minors that are available from the school or business.”

The program will continue to host prospective students on campus. Applications for summer 2020 will open Feb. 1, 2020, with a priority deadline of April 19, 2020. The next program will be offered May 31­–June 2, 2020, at Capitol Federal Hall in Lawrence.

Rising freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors (eligible) are encouraged to apply. For more information, visit the School of Business website.