Aspirations Anonymous

When I was around nine years old, I would always sit at the dinner table with my mom, waiting for my dad to come home from a busy day at work. After changing out of his suit, he would come to the kitchen and start to talk about his day. The way my dad described it, work always seemed to be a fascinating experience, especially since it was under the leadership of Thomas Siebel. Mr. Siebel, a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was the founder and chief executive officer of Siebel Systems Inc., one of the world’s leading software companies. Soon enough, I had heard so much about Mr. Siebel that it seemed as if I knew him myself. The more I was exposed to such a successful influence, the more I became interested in the management field.

During the beginning of this summer as I was putting together my college list, I recalled the college I had heard so much about during my childhood, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; I jotted it down on the list for a more thorough analysis later on. Little did I know, this university was one that would match my interests most perfectly. Its College of Business in particular not only emphasized academic and analytic skills, but interpersonal and practical...