Before enrolling at UCLA Anderson, Brian Schoelkopf (’15), spent five years with the Gallo Wine Company. He says he returned to school to earn an MBA with the intention of making a double-switch: from sales to finance and from food and beverage to the health-care industry. Schoelkopf, who earned an undergraduate degree from UCLA in 2008, was recently elected by his classmates to be the Anderson Student Association president for the 2014-15 school year.
Schoelkopf says he knew he wanted to make an impact on the Anderson community from the moment he started the MBA program. “I remember sitting in Korn Hall during orientation in August and thinking ‘I’ve gotten into Anderson at the right time, right as it’s taking off, right as the value of the school is really taking off.’” Schoelkopf says all the pieces are in place at Anderson, the quality of the teaching, the courses and the other students, but those outside the community do not necessarily know the overall excellence of the program.
To that end, Schoelkopf says his top priority will be external communication, with both the Anderson alumni base and elite businesses in the region. “My class is really impressed with the program so far. We had high expectations coming in and the school has exceeded those expectations,” Schoelkopf says. “Now we need to show people the great things that are happening here.
“There is a unique sense of commitment to each other that defines the school’s culture,” Schoelkopf. “That doesn’t exist at every school and it’s pervasive at Anderson.” As an example of that commitment, he mentions the Anderson Career Team coaches, second-year students who successfully navigated their job searches and then volunteer to work with first-years to guide them through the process. “That’s not something found at every school.”
Schoelkopf plans to involve everyone he can, from alumni, “who become advocates outside the school,” to fellow students. “We’re going to crash that ‘uber-elite’ level,” he says.
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